| DELMONICOS(V) USENET Cookbook DELMONICOS(V)
DELMONICO POTATOES
DELMONICOS - A casserole of potatoes, rice, and cheese
This recipe has been in my family for 100 years. The family
legend was that it came from the Delmonico Hotel in New
York, whose chef, Charles Ranhofer, had given it to my
great-great grandfather under some circumstance in the
1880's. I recently managed to track down a cookbook by
Ranhofer, published in 1893, and alas, it contains no recipe
that even remotely resembles this one.
Who knows? Maybe my great-grandmother got it from a newspa-
per. I guess it doesn't matter much. I've watched 4 genera-
tions in my family grow fatter and happier eating these
potatoes, so who cares where it came from `way back then.
INGREDIENTS (Serves 6)
3 lb potatoes (12-15 medium potatoes)
1/3 cup uncooked white rice
6 Tbsp butter
6 Tbsp flour
3 cups milk
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2 lb sharp cheddar cheese
PROCEDURE
(1) Boil the potatoes in salted water until they are
cooked firm, about 20 or 30 minutes. Let them
cool, then dice them into 1/2-inch cubes.
(2) Cook the rice in 1 cup of water with 1/4 tsp of
salt. Cook until soft, about 20 minutes. Drain.
(3) Make 3 cups of medium white sauce: heat the milk
in a saucepan; in another saucepan, melt butter
and brown flour in it. When flour is brown, dump
hot milk all at once into flour/butter mixture.
Add salt and pepper, simmer for 10 minutes or
more, stirring frequently.
(4) Into the white sauce, stir 1/2 pound of grated
cheddar and the cooked rice. Mix well.
(5) Mix the sauce with the cold potatoes, then pour
into a buttered baking dish. Sprinkle generously
with 1 1/2 pounds of cheddar. Bake 1 hour at 325
deg. F.
(6) Let it cool, and put it in the refrigerator. Wait
at least a day. Then reheat and serve.
NOTES
My grandmother always peeled the potatoes when she made this
recipe; I never do. I think that women of her generation
were taught by their home economics teachers that unpeeled
potatoes were a sign of moral decay.
The most maddening thing about this recipe is how much
better it tastes the second day. There is no reason why you
can't eat it fresh out of the oven, but if you can muster
the will power to put it aside after it has cooked and to
let it wait a day, the flavor will improve dramatically.
RATING
Difficulty: easy. Time: 1 hour to prepare, 1 hour to cook,
1 day to wait. Precision: Approximate measurement OK.
CONTRIBUTOR
Brian Reid
DEC Western Research Laboratory, Palo Alto CA
decwrl!reid -or- [email protected]
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| This recipe is one that the 4 members of my family (is that too
many cooks?) concocted 20 or so years ago. It's evolved a bit
over time, and varies slightly with the particular cook who's
making it, but we've never had a bad version.
Amounts are approximate:
. Make a medium-thick white sauce, of:
- 3 cups milk
- 6 tbsp flour
- 6 tbsp butter
. Then stir in:
- 2 cups sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
- 1/4 cup sherry or white wine
- 1/2 to 1 tsp salt
- 2 tsp nutmeg
- 2 tbsp dried minced onion
. Cook over lowest heat approximately 5 minutes, or until cheese
is melted and all ingredients are combined well.
. Pour sauce over approximately 3 pounds of potatoes that have
been pared, cubed, cooked until barely fork-tender, then drained.
. Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 1/2 hour, or until sauce
bubbles.
The sauce can be made earlier in the day, then added to the potatoes
when they're ready. The unbaked "Delmonicos" can be refrigerated,
even over night, then baked. We've found that they're best when
baked just a few minutes before serving. And if you use fewer
potatoes and have sauce left over, the sauce refregerates well and
is good baked with haddock or other white fish.
Elaine
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