What Else Do You Have to Do?

Oh, guys. You know for certain that I am enjoying this oddly temperate winter. Although I am sure it means we are all going to actually be cooked by the sun sometime soon, I love it. However, even I’ll fess up and say that there are benefits to cold weather. For one, it’s nice to be able to have the oven on for hours without melting into a puddle.

I recently gave in and caved on a real, live, paper subscription to Bon Appétit. After the demise of Gourmet, I sort of forgot how nice it is to hold an actual paper magazine in my hands and flip through it on a Sunday morning. I can see my Sidekick’s brow furrow every time I stack another one in the corner with the others, but if it keeps resulting in tender, rich, decidedly anti-artery side dishes like this potato galette, I think he’ll put up with it.

This calls for duck fat and caraway seeds. I was out of both, so used bacon fat and thyme instead. I’m pretty certain that any combination of fat and aromatic spice will make you swoon just as much as this one did. This is somewhat arduous to layer and fussy in preparation. Tossing the potatoes with the melted fat seems like a lot, while you’re doing it. I can promise you, it’s worth it. And it’s winter, what else do you have to do?

Duck Fat-Potato Galette with Caraway and Sweet Onions
from Bon Appetit's December 2011 issue

4 Tbsp. (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted, divided, plus more for pan
1/2 tsp. caraway seeds*
2 Tbsp. rendered duck or bacon fat, melted**
1 tsp. (or more) kosher salt
1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
2 lb. medium Yukon Gold potatoes, unpeeled, cut into 1/8"-thick slices with a mandoline or V-slicer
1 small sweet onion (such as Maui), very thinly sliced

Special Equipment: The outer ring from a 9"-diameter springform pan

Arrange a rack in middle of oven; preheat to 425 degrees. Brush a foil or parchment lined baking sheet with butter; set springform ring on top.

Toast caraway in a small skillet over medium heat until fragrant, about 1 minute. Let cool. Place in a resealable plastic bag; crush with a rolling pin or bottom of a skillet. Place in a large bowl. Add duck fat, 2 Tbsp. butter, 1 tsp. salt, and pepper. Add potatoes; toss to coat.

Arrange 1/4 of potatoes in an even layer inside ring on baking sheet, overlapping as needed. Toss onion in a large bowl with 1 Tbsp. melted butter. Arrange 1/3 of onion over potatoes. Carefully remove ring.

Bake until potatoes are tender, about 45 minutes. Brush with 1 Tbsp. butter. Bake until edges of potatoes are deep golden and top is crisp, 5-10 minutes longer.

Run a thin spatula under galette to loosen from foil. Slide onto a platter. Season with salt, if desired.

*I was out of caraway seeds, so substituted thyme for an aromatic. If you use thyme, you can skip the toasting step.
** I used bacon fat because we always, always have a surplus.