Pommes Anna (Potato dish)

I found this recipe on Pinterest, and have copied it exactly as it was - there's a few little tips to go with the recipe that sound like they could be useful.

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This is one of my go-to recipes. It’s easy, requires almost no tending once it goes into the oven, and every time I make it, I cannot believe there are really only 3 ingredients. The magic of the recipe comes in the first two steps and in the use of a well seasoned cast iron pan. It’s an inexpensive recipe, and the active prep time is less than 10 minutes. You can certainly use a mandonline to slice the potatoes, but I’ve found it’s unnecessary. While it saves time slicing the potatoes, it increases the number of slices you have to arrange in the pan. So do yourself a favor and just make thin slices with a knife. I can’t claim authorship for this recipe, as I got it from a friend (who was coincidentally named Anna) years ago, and only recently learned that it is a very common recipe.

But I don’t have a well seasoned cast iron pan? Can I still make this recipe?

Of course you can. Though I suspect it will end up being simply a good recipe instead of a great one. If you are not using a well seasoned cast iron pan, you’ll probably want to throw in a few seasonings here and there, or at least add pepper.

Pommes Anna

Ingredients:
4-5 Tbsp butter
3-5 medium potatoes, thinly sliced
Sea salt

Method:
1. Melt a tablespoon of the butter in a cast iron pan and melt the rest of the butter in a small saucepan. Turn off the heat to the cast iron pan.
2. Sprinkle the buttered cast iron pan with sea salt and spread a layer of potatoes in the pan.
3. Drizzle the layer of potatoes with a little butter, and add another layer. Sprinkle with sea salt.
4. Repeat the butter, potato, and sea salt layers until you’re out of potatoes.
5. Cover the top of the pan with foil, and press down firmly to flatten the potato layers.
6. Slide the pan into the oven and bake at 450 for 20 minutes.
7. Remove the foil and bake for another 20 minutes.
8. Serve.

Notes: If you’re able, the best way to serve this dish is to invert the entire cast iron pan onto a serving dish. This makes a beautiful presentation with the crispy potatoes on top. However, if you can’t, just cut the dish like you were serving a slice of pie.