French Word A Week: Pomme de terre – Tartelette
French Word A Week: Pomme de terre
07.05.2010
Helene Dujardin
(Senior Editor)
47 Comments
Start with good potatoes.
I don’t know if you have noticed but I am not very good with routine. Monotony. Habits. I have my moments with continuity, stillness and straight lines. But as soon as Spring comes around, whoop-de-doo, I am like a butterfly. Especially when it comes to carbs as I found out while conversing with friends about our favorite carbohydrate.
I started with “Potatoes for sure!” only to recall a sudden love affair between my fork and a bowl of stir fried rice the week before. And let’s not forget the month I fixed myself a plate of spaghetti, sprinkle of basil, parmesan and olive oil everyday for lunch. Well, and beans. More so if they are surrounded with cassoulet. But deep down? I am a potato girl.
Wash them well and place in roasting pan.
So, you guessed it, the French Word A Week is “Potato” = Pomme de terre (click on word to hear the pronunciation).
I’m not “potatoes any way all day” though. Short of being able to cook them in the ashes of a good fire like we used to do back home, I’d rather have mine roasted than mashed. Come Spring and Summer and one of my favorite side dishes to make and eat is a simple bowl of warm roasted potatoes.
Drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper.
Every week at the farmers market, I load up on the tiniest white, red and purple potatoes I can find, wash them well, spread them out in a baking dish, sprinkle with salt and pepper, drizzle with olive oil and voila! A light accompaniment to a nice steak on the grill or a weeknight omelette. Add some chopped oregano, thyme or basil and you can pair this with almost anything you like.
Roast at 375F until the potatoes are cooked through.
If you are planning a brunch or a picnic for Mother’s Day this weekend this salad would be particularly great to bring along. It requires very little actual making time, roasts itself up in 30 minutes and keeps well for hours at room temperature.
If you need more picnic ideas as the warm days roll in, you can find more options in this article I styled and photographed for Charleston Magazine. The print version with the full length article with more pictures and recipes will be available on news stands this week I hear. No one on the staff asked me to promote them but I do love when they hire me(obviously!) and I love that we have such high quality prints, artisans and creative minds here in town. Makes me proud. Thank you for indulging me.
Tada! Warm potato salad with oregano.
Props:
– wooden bowl: Star Provisions, Atlanta
– dark Ovenex roasting pans (8×8 and 9×13): ebay.com
– wooden cutlery: Sprout Home
– other flatware/serving sets: etsy.com
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