Individual Pommes Anna

This Individual Pommes Anna, or Anna Potatoes recipe is buttery, aromatic and perfect for a beautiful single serving. It's one of the prettiest, easiest ways to serve potatoes!

This is the side dish I go to when I want to be a little fancy without making something difficult that takes too much time.

Picture Brisket Stew or Lemon Roasted Chicken sitting next to it a couple of these pretty potato stacks. Can you imagine how good the sauces would be, seeping into the tiny crevices between thinly sliced potatoes?

This is a very easy "cheat" method to make individual Pommes Anna -- we use a muffin tin to shape and bake them.

What exactly is Pommes Anna?

• Named after a mid-19th century Parisian beauty, Pommes Anna, or Anna Potatoes, is a classic French dish of thinly sliced, layered potatoes cooked in melted butter.
• The layered thin potato slices are shaped into a cake-like formation and cooked until crispy.
• The starch in the potatoes holds the "cake" together. For this reason, the potato slices should not be rinsed or soaked in water.
  

How to Make Individual Pommes Anna

- Add finely chopped thyme and salt to a large mixing bowl and set it aside.

- Clarify the butter: Add the butter to a small sauté pan and turn the heat to low. Melt the butter completely and then use a spoon to remove the milk solids from the top surface. Then pour the clarified butter into the mixing bowl with the thyme, leaving any milk solids that have settled to the bottom in the pan.

Recipe Tip: Don't skip clarifying the butter because removing the milk solids allows the butter to have a higher smoke point.

- Preferably using a mandoline, slice the potatoes as thinly as possible, but not paper thin! Add all of the slices to the bowl with the butter, and use your hands to be sure the slices separate and all become well coated.

- Use a pastry brush to add a small amount of the melted butter to 8 cups in a muffin pan. Then line them with parchment paper rounds. (You can get the size right by outlining the bottom of the cups from the muffin tin on the parchment.) 

- Divide potato slices evenly among the prepared muffin cups, layering them in a circular pattern. Lightly press the top of each one to make sure the potatoes are packed. Drizzle any remaining butter-thyme mixture over them.

- Cover the muffin tin lightly with foil and place in a preheated 375°F oven for 20 minutes. The potatoes should now be tender.

- Remove the muffin tin from the oven, turn it up to 425°F, and cover a baking sheet with parchment paper. Very gently, use a small offset metal spatula to remove each potato "cake" from the muffin pan, and place them on the parchment-lined baking sheet. Be sure to take each parchment round off the bottoms as you go. Place them back in the now 425°F oven until the edges of the potatoes are golden, about 10 minutes.

Making Them Ahead

Although they're at their best immediately after they're cooked, Pommes Anna recipe can be made a few hours ahead, and reheated in the oven just before serving.

Serving Suggestions

• As I mentioned, meat and chicken dishes are fabulous with Pommes Anna. A few more that would be great with it are Mushroom Pork Stew, Pesto-Crusted Lamb, and Rosemary Ribeye Steak.
• And to have a vegetarian meal, I love it with this slow-cooked red cabbage stew.
• And if you're planning a brunch, and want to take it up a notch from hash browns and eggs, how about serving Individual Pommes Anna with eggs?

More Must-Try Potato Side Dishes

I hope you love them!

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