savory potato flan

about a week ago i was looking for something different to serve with dinner. i had half a bag of Yukon Gold potatoes handy and i decided to reach back into my bag of tricks and prepare a savory potato flan to accompany our meal.

i had made a potato flan before, but that time i had made it in a large casserole pan. this time i decided that it would be more fun to make them in an individual portion size to allow for greater plating flexibility.

a potato flan is very simple to make, but it is time consuming. between peeling and slicing the potatoes, preparing the ramekins and layering the dish, it does require a decent amount of preparation. however, these potato flans can be made the day before and then cooked, or simply reheated in the oven the next day.

we have been consuming our fair share of potatoes lately, as i’ve learned through experience that potatoes generally do not adversely impact my blood sugar. as a result, they have found their way into a number of my recent dinner preparations.

as we have done with just about every meal we’ve had recently, we tried to see if our son would have any interest. given his history with potatoes i didn’t hold out much hope that our little man would take to the potato flan, but much to our surprise he gobbled it right up from mommy’s plate.

savory potato flan

hardware

medium mixing bowl
six to eight ramekins
parchment paper
mandolin
whisk and other utensils

software

• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon onion powder
• 9 Yukon Gold potatoes, very thinly sliced (about 3 pounds)
• 4 oz pound gruyere, grated
• 4 oz emmenthaler, grated
• 1/4 cup parmesan reggiano, grated fine
• 3 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg

assemblage

• preheat the oven to 375 degrees
• whisk the eggs, heavy cream, salt, pepper, nutmeg and parmesan cheese together, then refrigerate
• butter the ramekins and place parchment paper at the bottom, then refrigerate
• peel and slice the potatoes using the mandolin
• begin layering the potatoes, gruyere and emmenthaler cheeses, and garlic and onion powder, pressing down gently with each layer until each ramekin is nearly full
• pour the custard mixture into each ramekin, pressing down slightly to distribute the mixture throughout the layers and allowing a few minutes for the custard to be absorbed
• place the ramekins in the oven covered with either aluminum foil or parchment paper and bake for one hour and ten minutes
• remove the foil or paper and cook for an additional fifteen to 15 minutes
• remove the potato flans from the oven and allow them to cool for approximately 15 minutes

presentation

the potato flans can be plated by simply turning them upside down onto a the dish you wish to use. you may need to run a pairing knife or other small pointed instrument around the edges to ensure the sides do not stick. then simply remove the parchment paper off of the top of the flan and prepare the rest of your meal.

the flan that i made this particular time was a little larger than i had anticipated for a single serving. so, i cut it in half, which added to the dramatic effect of viewing the various layers, and plated them with a pan seared steak and some baby spinach simply with a balsamic dressing.

if you have leftovers, or you prepared them in advance, they will reheat nicely the next day in a 400 degree oven for about fifteen to twenty minutes.

Tagged as: Black pepper, Butter, Cook, Garlic, Home, Onion, Potato