Pan-Fried Potatoes (French Pommes Parisienne)

These elegant French potatoes are pan fried until golden and crispy. For this recipe, it is important to use clarified butter, so it doesn’t burn during cooking.

4-5 lb Yukon gold or russet potatoes
4 Tbsp. clarified butter or ghee
kosher salt
black pepper, freshly ground

Peel the potatoes and place into a large bowl of cold water.

Using a melon baller, scoop out balls of potato, trying to keep the potatoes as round as possible.

In the end, you should have approximately 2 lbs of potato balls.

Place the balls into a separate bowl and keep covered with water as you are working.

This recipe may seem quite wasteful, but the leftover potatoes can be used to make mashed potatoes, potato cakes or any number of potato dishes.

Just before cooking, drain the potatoes and dry them well with paper towels.

Preheat a large, stainless-steel pan over medium-high heat. Add the clarified butter to the pan. Once melted, add the potatoes and shake the pan to coat the potatoes with the butter.

During cooking, it is important to constantly swirl the potatoes in the pan to ensure they cook and colour evenly. You may need to use tongs to flip some of the potatoes over, if they have a flatter side to them.

The potatoes will be done once they are golden and tender all the way through. This should take approximately 15 minutes or so. If the potatoes are golden, but not yet cooked through, you may need to turn the heat down slightly.

Once the potatoes are golden and cooked through, season to taste with salt and pepper and serve immediately.

Makes 4 servings.