Trust potatoes to be your comfort food

KENNEWICK — Chef RJ Harvey said he’s never met anyone who doesn’t like potatoes.

“Have you guys met somebody who says, ‘I don't like potatoes?’ If you have, don't trust that person,” Harvey said as he stood over a cooking table, prepared to dice an onion and two potatoes.

As the culinary director for Potatoes USA, Harvey likes cooking with potatoes. They’re “the best crop in the world,” Harvey said, a very versatile vegetable that tastes good and is nutritious. But for Americans, Harvey added, potatoes are also the perfect comfort food — something that helps us feel better in bad times and helps us gather and celebrate in good times.

“Typically, people here in this country love comfort foods, things that make them feel good,” he said. “We eat for a myriad of different reasons. And it's not just to fill our bellies up.”

Harvey was in Kennewick to show off his cooking skills at the annual three-day Washington Oregon Potato Conference at the Three Rivers Convention Center from Jan. 25-27. His job is, in part, to develop new and easy-to-make potato recipes in the Potatoes USA “Spud Lab” that show off the crop’s versatility and, frankly, its tastiness.

“Who has had French onion soup before?” Harvey asked the audience. “French onion soup is rich, it’s comforting, it’s cheesy, but the one thing it’s lacking is potatoes. I made it even better by adding potatoes to it.”

As Harvey held up a peeled russet, he noted people don’t have to peel the potatoes if they don’t want to.

“If you like the flavor of the peel and the nutrients in the peel, go ahead and just dice it up,” he said. “There's no real rules to this.”

To start, Harvey said to dice the onions and the potatoes. His preferred method for cutting onions is to slice a little bit off the top, a little bit off the bottom, and then cut it in half midway between the top and bottom.

“And then you know what you can do with this, you don't have to throw this away,” he said as he peeled the outer paper layer off the onion. “This can be used in things like vegetable stock or beef stock.”

After slicing the onion, Harvey put the butter in a pot, waited until it was melted, and then tossed the onions in to brown them.

“This is going to help slowly caramelize and cook your onions,” he said as he stirred. “Onions have a lot of natural sugar in them. So what we're doing is we're deepening that flavor; we're bringing out some of that color, and it's actually going to make them more sweet and more luscious and more delicious.”

Harvey said he adds a little bit of salt to the onions as they caramelize — which should take about 15-20 minutes — to draw out the water and help them brown faster. He also prefers to use yellow onions for this recipe because they’re sweeter and taste better when they are caramelized.

“Things don't like to brown when there's moisture in the pan,” he said.

Once the onions are brown, Harvey said, he adds the vegetable stock, thyme and Worcestershire sauce, which adds the savory umami taste and makes it “craveable.”

“It’s so good,” he said as he stirred the sauce in.

Harvey then added the potatoes, stirred them around, let the dish simmer for a few minutes, and then poured them into a skillet — though a Dutch oven or casserole pan will work, too.

While any potato will work, Harvey said he uses russets because they are a fairly common staple in people’s pantries.

“Typically, for things like soups, stews, casseroles, I like to use red, yellow or white potatoes, because they tend to hold up better while cooking,” he said. “But there's something about the richness of a russet that I really like in this particular dish.”

Harvey said he then covers the casserole dish or skillet with aluminum foil and puts it in the oven to bake at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for 25 minutes to give the potatoes time to cook and absorb some of the broth.

After that, Harvey said it’s time for the cheese.

“Now you'll start layering on some of that cheesy goodness,” he said as he begins peeling off provolone slices. “Different types of cheeses brown at different stages inside your oven. So it's really important that you pick cheeses that have different properties.”

A layer of provolone goes down first, Harvey said, followed by the grated Gruyère cheese. The provolone gives the dish its gooey, cheesiness, Harvey said, but by itself doesn’t have much flavor, while the Gruyère gives the dish more sharpness.

“The thing about Gruyère is it has a really high fat content so it doesn't really like to brown that nicely in the oven on its own. In fact, it tends to get a little greasy,” Harvey said.

Which is why Harvey said he tops it off with Parmesan.

“Parmesan is not really classic for French onion soup,” he said. “French chefs are probably rolling over in their graves right now.”

“I’m not one for conformity,” he said.

The three cheeses together add a pop of umami, what Harvey called an “umami bomb,” akin to the flavor burst that comes from a good pizza.

Finally, he adds one more layer of provolone to protect the other “delicate cheeses,” and slips the whole thing back into the oven at 375 degrees for 10-12 minutes. Out of the oven, it should bubble and ooze, he said, and atop all of that, he sprinkles some fresh thyme and salt flakes to help further accentuate the savory taste of the umami.

“And what's really cool about this is as you eat it, you get those little tiny pops of crunch in every bite,” he said as he held up a skillet of casserole. “And so you get the gooeyness of the cheese, you get the little pops of salt that are happening, you get that crunchy bit. And then underneath this layer, you get this wonderful and delicious kind of stewed potato and it’s got all the carmelized onion bits in there.”

It can be eaten as a side dish, Harvey said, though he prefers the casserole as a meal itself. Harvey also said it makes fantastic leftovers.

“I don't know about y'all, but I love my food to be sexy, luscious and delicious,” he said. “Tender potatoes, caramelized onions, gooey cheese. I mean, I can't think of anything that's better than that.”

French Onion Potato Casserole Recipe

Made with rich and inviting russet potatoes, simmered in a hearty vegetable stock with caramelized onions, fresh cracked black pepper, and baked until a gooey layer of provolone, gruyere, and parmesan cheese, the French Onion Potato Casserole recipe is comfort food at it cheesiest, starchiest best.

• 6 cups (900g) Yellow Onions, peeled, sliced ¼ inch

• 2 tablespoons (28.4g) Unsalted Butter

• 2 teaspoons (2g) Salt

• ½ tablespoon (3g) Freshly Ground Black Pepper

• 1 quart (960ml) Vegetable Stock or Vegetable Broth

• 2 tablespoons (30ml) Worcestershire Sauce (optional)

• ½ teaspoon (~1g) Dried Thyme (Fresh Thyme can be subbed)

• 1-½ pounds (0.68kg) Russet potatoes, peeled, diced 1-inch cubes

• 8 ounces (226g) Provolone Cheese Slices

• 4 ounces (113g) Gruyere Cheese, grated

• ⅓ cup (30g) Parmesan Cheese, grated.

• Garnish with flaky sea salt (such as Maldon) and 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves.

To make:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 F (190 C).

2. Peel and slice the onions about ¼ inch thick. In a heavy bottomed pot over medium high heat. Melt the butter and add the onions. Cook the onions for 2-3 minutes or until they are slightly translucent. Add the salt and pepper and continue to cook the onions until they begin to caramelize. At this stage it is important to stir the onions regularly so they do not burn. Once the onions take on an even dark brown color (about the color of milk chocolate and should take about 20 minutes) add the vegetable stock, Worcestershire sauce, and thyme, scraping the bottom of the pan to release any caramelized flavor. Reduce the heat and allow the sauce to simmer for about 5 minutes.

3. Stir in the diced potatoes and remove from the heat.

4. Spray a piece of aluminum foil with nonstick spray. Place the foil (oiled side down) over the casserole and place in the preheated 375 F (190 C) oven for 25 minutes. Remove the aluminum foil and arrange the cheese in the following order: take half the provolone slices and arrange them on the top in an even layer, follow with the shredded gruyere, grated parmesan, and another layer of the provolone (off set the provolone so the second layer fills any gaps from the first). Bake the casserole for an additional 10-12 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly, potatoes are tender, and the top is golden brown.

5. Remove the casserole from the oven and garnish with the fresh thyme and flakey salt.

6. Enjoy right away, its OK to burn your mouth; it’s part of the fun and a crucial part of the experience.

For more good potato recipes, check out www.potatogoodness.com and click on the recipes tab. Source: USA Potatoes website www.potatogoodness.com.

Charles H. Featherstone can be reached at cfeatherstone@columbiabasinherald.com.