Sunday, October 05, 2008

Sfor-MAH-toa

Cookbooks are like old friends. I can flip through their pages and think, "Remember that party we threw?" or "My sister-in-law LOVED you!" or "What were you thinking?!"

When we had our garage sale, I got the chance to flip through a few old cookbooks that I had forgotten. At one point, I tried to collect the Christmas with Southern Living annual recipe cook books, but only made it three years, then skipped about eight years before buying another. When flipping through the 2001 issue, I found this yummy recipe.

The recipe says it's a souffle (here I go again with the eggs), but it really turned out to be more of a mashed potato pie. The recipe says it's known in Italy as a sformato,which is kind of a molded custard. Either way, it was a great change from mashed taters or rice and great with any kind of gravy.

Potato Souffle
Recipe Source: Christmas with Southern Living, 2001

2 lbs. baking potatoes, peeled and cubed
6 T of butter or margarine
1/2 cup APP flour
2 cups milk
3 T butter or margarine
1 large onion, chopped
4 egg yolks, lightly beaten
1/2 cup freshly shredded Parmesan cheese (I used cheddar)
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
1/4 tsp grated nutmeg
1 cup soft breadcrumbs
Garnish: fresh or dried thyme

Cook pototoes in boiling, salted water till tender. Drain and mash with a potato masher; set aside. Melt 6 tablespoons of butter in a heavy saucepan over medium heat; whisk in flour until smooth. Cook 1 minute, whisking constantly; gradually whisk in milk. Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until sauce is thickened and bubbly. Remove from heat and set aside.

Melt 3 tablespoons of butter in a large skillet over medium heat; add onion, and saute 10 minutes until tender and browned. Stir together mashed potato, onion, white sauce, beaten egg yolks, and next 4 ingredients.

Butter a 9" x 3 " springform pan. Add 1/2 cup breadcrumbs to pan, tilting to coat bottom and sides with the breadcrumbs. Freeze 1 minute to set crumbs. Spoon potato filling into pan; top with remaining 1/2 cup breadcrumbs.

Bake uncovered in a 400° oven for 50 minutes (mine took an hour) or until set. Cool 15 minutes before removing sides of pan. Garnish if desired; serve warm.

4 comments:

OhioMom said...

What a great way to serve potatoes, I bet these tasted wonderful.

shambo said...

That dish sounds so good. I bet it would be wonderful for Thanksgiving dinner.

Just the Right Size said...

It WAS good, even more evil...I thought of taking a slice or two and frying it up like a potato pancake! But I didn't. Arteries rejoice!

This would be an awesome dish to serve on a buffet. Slices really nice.

Anonymous said...

That looks incredibly rich and particularly evil! Yet, I'm relieved to find there's no heavy cream anywhere in this recipe. So that's a definite plus. I know we're gonna love this.
Thanks Kathy!

 

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