Mini Pommes Anna ~ A rustic French side dish made of sliced potatoes gets a mini update, making it elegant and worthy enough for a Thanksgiving side dish.
Mini Pommes Anna
This is a four ingredient dish consisting of potatoes, butter, salt and pepper. It’s simple to make and easy to assemble. And it also will be the first of a few side dishes and mini appetizers I will be sharing for Thanksgiving.
I know, what’s a baker doing going savory? Don’t worry desserts are still on the table, I just thought it would be nice to break it up a bit and share with you some simple but delicious holiday appetizers and side dishes.
With that out of the way . . . Pommes Anna is a classic dish that is usually made in a skillet or a cast iron pan. But I decided a few years back to minify them – what a surprise, right?
And I have to say this is the only way I make a Pommes Anna now. Partly because it’s easier but also partly because everyone that I serve this to, loves the look of the delicate layers of potatoes stacked high.
A few notes:
- Make sure to buy petite Yukons or small potatoes that will easily fit in a muffin pan or popover pan.
- Most classic Pommes Anna recipe call for clarified butter and to start on the stove top and then finish in the oven. I bypassed the clarified butter and the stovetop and threw it straight in the oven, turned down the heat and baked it low and slow.
- You can use a knife to thinly cut your potatoes or use a mandoline. I however did not have a mandoline handy, so I improvised and used a vegetable peeler instead. I have to say, I’m quite impressed with the results and how easy and successful a vegetable peeler can be to get paper thin slices.
Mini Pommes Anna
Makes approximately 12 Mini/Individual Pommes Anna.
Heat oven to 325 degrees F. Lightly butter walls of muffin wells.
Ingredients:
- 2 lb. bag of petite Yukon gold potato
- 5 tablespoons of unsalted butter, melted
- 1 ½ tablespoon of kosher salt
- 2 teaspoon of black pepper
Instructions:
- Wash and peel potatoes. Slice potatoes as thin as you can with a knife or use vegetable peeler to get paper thin slices. Placed sliced potatoes in a bowl and toss with melted butter. Start in the center and form the first layer by overlapping each slice in a circular pattern. Lightly sprinkle layer with salt and pepper. Arrange second layer working in the opposite direction of the first. Lightly sprinkle layer with salt and pepper. Continue layering potatoes in opposite directions, sprinkling with salt and pepper along the way until pan wells are filled to the top.
- Cover top of pan with foil and bake for 20 minutes. Remove foil and bake for about another 15 minutes until edges start to turn golden brown. To remove, cover the top of pan with foil and turn it upside down onto the foil. Tilt the pan with one corner and carefully lift a small opening of foil in the opposite corner to drain any excess butter. Transfer released Mini Pommes Anna to platter and serve.
definitely not complaining over the savoury post. For after all, life cant be all about the peaches and cream right? 🙂
Looks great, I love new ideas for potatoes!
Lovely side dish. I adore the mini’s….makes it much easier and fun to serve I imagine. And now I must never let my husband see this recipe as he would haunt me until I made this for him. 😉
those are beautiful!
Oooh, adding these to our holiday menu!
I have never made these… but would definitely love to try! Excellent job!!
These. Look. AMAZING.
I’m not a huge mashed potato fan (shhh…), but I would definitely go for some of these on Thanksgiving.
This is such a great idea. Unique!
Naomi these look crunchy and pleasing to the eye.
Thanks for showing us that potatoes DO have an elegant side, Naomi; simple, yet absolutely charming. I’d love to see what you do for carrots!
How delicious. Simple, quick and pretty too (=
So worthy of a Thanksgiving side dish that I think I shall replace one with this!
Absolutely gorgeous! I can’t wait to try these!
Simple. Beautiful. Want some. Now.
Yum! These are so simple, but so impressive looking! You had me at four ingredients. 🙂
Oh boy, that top shot just took my breath away!
It looks DIVINE!
yum!! i can only imagine the cripsyness of those stacks!!
I love the small size of these – a great way to “indulge” without overdoing it and the size makes them feel special!!
A wonderful side dish!!
Yummy!!! These look absolutely delicious and crunchy and.. mmmm:)) thanx for this great recipe!
This is so totally brilliant! I love Pommes Anna.
This inspires me to host a dinner making everything in muffin tins. Maybe someday soon.
Yum. Yum. Yum.
Definetly going on my appetizer/ dessert holiday party menu.
Yukons are my favorite tater. I know I would love them prepared this way.
I attempted these but they came out a greyish color and not nearly as golden and crispy as yours. Any thoughts on why?
How does one make money from blogs? How does one go about it or start it?
I wonder if anyone knows how far in advance you could prepare the potatoes? If I slice them and put them in water in the fridge in the morning do you think they would be OK to then assemble and cook for an evening meal?
These Look amazing and Lovely side dish.
I must be a slow worker because the melted butter needed to be reheated several times before I was finished, so the potatoes looked pretty beat up by time I finished putting this dish together. I cheated the next time I made this and just brushed melted butter on each layer before salting. It cut the preparation time in half and I wasn’t fishing potato slices out slimey butter. No difference in the taste or appearance, either.
I just made these again today with wonderful results. I thought I’d share my review from my Mastercook cookbook from 11/20/10: Holy smokes – these were divine. I should have left them in the oven to get a little crispy, but it didn’t really matter. They were silky and wonderful. I was too lazy to assemble them as the directions called for. I browned butter and put it in a bowl, added the potatoes and salt and pepper and thoroughly mixed it together. I then stacked the potatoes in my hand like poker chips and assembled the stacks. These were wonderful and pretty to look at. Be sure to fill the pans as high as you can. Filled to excess you can probably count 1.5 per person.