14-hour crispy potatoes with meaty washed rind sauce

Potato + cheese – could anything be more comforting? It is worth the 14 hours…

Serves:

6

Prep Time:

45min

Cook Time:

210min

Rest Time:

720min

Cuisine:

American, French, Australian

Pont L'Eveque is a cow’s milk cheese that originated near the rolling green hills of Pays d’Auge in Normandy, France.
Like most traditional European washed rinds, this cheese comes from Benedictine monasteries. Back then, monks had large herds and strict routines, which meant they could transform milk into cheese on a daily basis. These slowly acidified cheeses with high moisture had the perfect surface to grow and propagate B. linens bacteria, which give washed rinds their distinctive pong and meat-like consistency.
Pont l’Évêque comes in various sizes, but always in rectangles or squares. The finest examples are made in autumn, and we like to eat them as close as possible to their best-before date, when the chalky centre has broken down to a soft, fudgy consistency with a deliciously smooth, creamy finish and a substantial yet palatable ‘stank’ factor. This cheese gets less credit and fame than it deserves. We always have it in our fridges, especially as winter approaches. Recipe inspired by Poppy Cooks.

 

Ingredients:

Method:

  1. Preheat oven to 120°C. Line a 20cm x 10cm x 6cm loaf pan with baking paper.
  2. Place duck fat in a large bowl. Add potato slices and 2 tsp salt flakes and toss to coat evenly. Carefully layer potato into the prepared pan, making sure there is duck fat between each layer. Place a piece of baking paper directly on top, and bake for 2 hours 30 minutes – 3 hours until potato is soft when tested with a skewer.
  3. Remove from oven and immediately stack a second loaf pan of the same size on top of the potato, weighing it down with cans or baking weights and making sure the entire surface is evenly pressed. Chill for at least 12-14 hours.
  4.  Lift potato from pan and cut into 6 even pieces. Heat the extra 2 tbs duck fat in a medium frypan over medium-high heat. Add potato pieces and fry, cut-side down, for 3-4 minutes on both sides until crispy. Transfer to a wire rack, pat off excess fat with paper towel, season with salt flakes.
  5. Meanwhile, to make the cheese sauce, preheat oven to 180°C. Place Pont l’Évêque, cream and mustard in a small ovenproof dish. Bake for 10 minutes, stir to break up any big clumps, then bake for a further 2 minutes. Stir again, scatter with freshly cracked black pepper and serve immediately alongside the potato.
Recipe by Studd Siblings for Delicious Magazine. Photography by Chris Court. Styling by Kirsten Jenkins.

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