Paisano: Maine Fries

Simple Supper



I've just started rereading John Thorne's Serious Pig: An American Cook in Search of His Roots. In case you don't know Thorne, he is one of the finest food writers alive today — if not the finest. His writing is careful, thoughtful, clear, and evocative. The recipes he offers are the same. In fact, they're more than simple recipes, they're an expression of the fundamental characteristics of the ingredients, for instance, potatoes.

This simple, almost meatless, meal was perhaps the best thing I've eaten this year.

There's a chapter named "Maine Fries" that examines Maine potatoes and their affect on Maine culture and ends with a careful explanation of how to make pan fries. These are not simple leftover potatoes quickly cooked in hot fat. No, these are 1/2-inch cubes of raw potato slowly cooked in butter or lard until they're browned and crispy on the outside and molten on the inside. He recommends taking an hour or so to cook them over very low heat — and he's right, the slow cooking, as slow cooking often does, makes a huge difference building new flavors, extracting hidden flavors, and intensifying all flavors.

So last night I made a batch of Maine fries for supper. Not as a side dish, but rather, according to Thorne's recommendation, as the main dish. I confess, I did run out of patience (it didn't help that I didn't start cooking them until almost eight) and didn't thoroughly brown all sides of every potato. But I did use home-rendered lard and toward the end I added some diced onion and my last bit of homemade pork confit cut into cubes. This simple, almost meatless, meal was perhaps the best thing I've eaten this year.

I highly recommend getting the original recipe from Serious Pig, but here's what I did:

Maine Home Fries
Serves 4 as a main dish.

4 md. Red Bliss potatoes (about 5 oz. each) — cut into 1/2" cubes
1 1/2 tbsp lard (or bacon fat)
2 oz. pork confit (or 4 strips bacon)
1/2 md. yellow onion — diced
Salt and pepper

(If using bacon, cook it gently in a 12" cast-iron skillet over medium-low heat until medium crisp. Remove bacon and drain, then coarsely chop.)

Heat lard or bacon fat in a 12" cast-iron skillet over low heat until it begins to give off steam. Add potatoes. You should be able to see the bottom of the skillet between pieces — you want separation so the potatoes fry instead of steaming. Cover the pan and cook 20 minutes.

Turn potatoes over. (Thorne warns to use a thin spatula to make sure the browned potatoes don't stick to the pan, but I had zero sticking problems with my cast iron skillet.)

Cook, uncovered, another 10 minutes then turn potatoes over to an un-cooked face. Repeat twice more and after third turn, add onions and confit or bacon to pan. Season generously with salt and pepper and cook a final 10 minutes.

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