Potato Pavé

New food recipe. I'd seen some IG Reels where someone said Potato Pavé was one of their family's favorite comfort foods. It sounded and looked pretty amazing...I mean, who doesn't love potatoes? 

Most recipes call for using heavy cream but I didn't have any and didn't feel like running to the grocery store, so I used half and half. Some recipes also incorporated in buttermilk in place of some of the cream, so there's room to experiment. Some recipes called for different herbs, but I have a pot of rosemary in the back yard, so that's why I went with it.

A couple other notes, a lot of the recipes also tell you to trim your potatoes into rectangular shapes. This helps ensure your slices are more uniform which makes things easier when you get to the layering step. I trimmed my first few but towards the end I was mostly just peeling them. It actually worked out well as I needed some different widths and lengths to fill in my loaf pan.  

One last note, this recipe isn't hard but it takes some time to make. Plan ahead, or like in my case, make it day 1 and serve it day 2.

Here's the recipe as I made it today.

Ingredients

1.25 to 1.5c Half and half, or heavy cream, or a blend of the two. Optionality, substitute some buttermilk for part of the cream. 

2T Fresh rosemary, finely chopped

2t Garlic, minced

1t Kosher salt, heaping 

3-4 lbs Russet potatoes (preferably large with similar size and shape)

1/4c Butter, melted

Black pepper

Olive oil

Directions

1. Combine cream, rosemary, garlic, and salt in a large bowl.
2. Prepare potatoes by washing, peeling, and trimming to uniform lengths. 
3. Preheat oven to 350.
4. Using a mandolin slicer, slice over the bowl containing the cream mixture. Remember to occasionally stir them to make sure each side is coated with the cream mixture.
5. Once all potatoes are sliced, line a loaf pan with parchment paper and begin layering the thin potato slices. Do your best to keep the layers as uniform as possible.
6. Every 3-4 layers, drizzle about 1 tablespoon of melted butter over the layer, then add a pinch of salt and black pepper. 
7. Repeat step 6 until you've used all potatoes.
8. Fold parchment paper to cover the last layer, or trim it to be level with the top of the loaf pan. 
9. Cover the loaf pan tightly with aluminum foil, then bake at 350F for 1 hour and 20 minutes. 
10. After 1:20, remove from oven and use a skewer, fork, or knife to check to make sure the potatoes are fully cooked in the middle of the pan. If they're not, put them back in the oven for 10 minutes then check again. 
11. Once fully cooked, you're going to press the loaf and allow it to cool to room temp. The easiest way is to use a second loaf pan filled with weights (e.g. cans of vegetable) to gradually press down on the layers as it cools.  Remember to place a later of parchment between the potatoes and the second loaf pan. I also lined the second loaf pan with a kitchen towel to insulate the canned vegetables from the potatoes. Allow it to cool to room temp (a small fan blowing on the pan will help).
12. Transfer the whole setup (second loaf pan plus weights) to the fridge and chill for several hours or overnight. 
13. After chilled, remove the potato loaf from the pan using a spatula to loosen it along the edges.  
14. Discard the parchment and slice the loaf into 1" thick slices.  You can also slice these in half for smaller serving sizes. This will yield blocks about 1" wide x 1.5" long x 2" deep (or however deep you layered them).
15. Heat a pan over medium-high heat with a thin layer of olive oil. 
16. Place the potato blocks in pan (it should immediately sizzle) and cook bottoms until golden brown, 1-2 minutes. 
17. Carefully turn and cook all sides until golden brown, about 1-2 minutes per side.
18. Serve and enjoy.

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Another Shrimp Ceviche Recipe

It’s no secret I love Mexican food. I posted a ceviche recipe recently thatI’ve made a few times now and it turns out great. My only complaint with that one is it’s a little light on juice/liquid in the finished ceviche. My wife also loves avocados and asked me to find one that includes avocado. So I stumbled across this recipe that had great reviews and seemed to be exactly what I was looking for. I love cilantro and a whole bunch may seem like a lot, but it works. The peppers will give it a nice medium spice level. 

Pro tip, I use this style vegetable chopper gadget that my wife got off Amazon. It’s awesome for quickly preparing things like salsa, pico, ceviche, etc. 

Here’s the recipe as I made it. 

1# Gulf shrimp, peeled, deveined, and tails removed 

Juice of one whole lemon plus enough lime juice (~9) to measure a total of one cup combined juice

1 Bunch cilantro 

4 Serrano peppers

2 Roma tomatoes, diced

1/2 Medium-large Red onion, diced

1 Jalapeño pepper, diced

1 Medium cucumber, peeled and diced

1 Avocado, diced

1T Clamato

Salt and black pepper to taste

Sugar to taste

Marinade

1. Juice lemon and limes so that you have 1 cup of combined juice.
2. Roughly chop cilantro and transfer to blender.
3. Add a pinch or two of salt to blender.
4. Remove stems from Serrano peppers, roughly chop, and add to blender. 
5. Add enough juice to the blender to allow you to blend the cilantro, Serrano peppers, and salt (I used about 5oz). Pulse the blender a few times, but you don’t want to make a purée; you still want good sized pieces of cilantro leaves.
6. Cut the shrimp into small pieces (I usually cut them into thirds) and transfer to a glass bowl.
7. Pour the blended juice, Serrano, and cilantro over the shrimp along with the rest of the juice, and stir with a spoon until well mixed.
8. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and put it in the fridge to “cook” for 20 minutes.

Prepare Remaining Ingredients 

1. Finely chop the following ingredients: tomatoes, onion, jalapeno, and cucumber.  Combine in a large bowl.
2. Add Clamato.
3. Check the shrimp to see if the cooking process is complete; they should be opaque. If they’re not done yet, give them a stir and put them back in the fridge for another 10 minutes.
4. Once the shrimp are fully cured, transfer the shrimp and all liquid/marinade to the bowl with the remaining ingredients.
5. Add black pepper and salt to taste. Optionally, you can also add sugar to tame the acidity, but I didn’t add any.
6. Stir to mix well. It’s pretty much ready to serve at this point, but I usually give it another 15-20 minutes for the flavors to meld. 
7. Dice the avocado and add it right before serving.
8. Serve with tostada shells or your favorite corn chips.

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