Pommes boulangère two ways

Back when James was growing up in Greece and not everyone had an oven, it was tradition to take any large tray bakes to the local bakery and put them to slow cook in the ovens while they were cooling down after the day’s bread making came to an end. The same tradition was true in France, which is where this classic pommes boulangère recipe comes from, boulangère meaning bakery. We’ve Elevated this super tasty and simple-to-make dish by using our BB Bone Marrow Broth (or BB Roast Root Vegetable Stock for a vegan option). Those are naturally packed with nutrition, while we also offer you two choices. First up is classic white potato version, where we give you an option to leave skin-on as it not only adds fibre and lowers down the glycaemic index of the dish, but also adds in high amounts of potassium, vitamin C, magnesium, phosphorus, calcium, iron, and zinc. The other is using sweet potatoes, again high in fibre, but also an incredible source of vitamin A, as well as vitamin C and potassium. Vitamin A is super important for DNA health, as well as immune function. When it comes to white potatoes, Jason recommends varieties such as cara, marfona, maris piper, King Edward, vivaldi, sante and estima, whose skins are cleaned easily without damage or bruising. Back in the days when he worked in food prep, his interview cook-off at Marks and Spencer back in 1999 was in part, research and application of potatoes to enhance the chain's chilled ready meal category. A fascinating and challenging brief, it needed him to optimise his chef skills and classic repertoire, and work alongside potato growers to get the very best out of a humble ingredient, and achieve maximum taste, texture and nutritional benefit. The dish also uses Lyonnaise-cut onions, chopped garlic, thyme leaves, our wonderful aromatic stocks, and simple seasoning to let all the magic happen low ’n’ slow in the oven. These can be served straight away as a table centre piece/family meal, or chilled and/or frozen to draw upon later in the week.

1. Preheat the oven to 160C/310F (fan) or 180C/360F (convection)
2. Lyonnaise the onions (see the skills video)
3. Heat a frying pan with a small amount of oil and sauté the onions until softened but without any caramel colour
4. Add the crushed garlic and  thyme and cook for 2-3 more minutes
5. Slice the potatoes 5mm or 1/4 inch thick into bowl of cold water
6. In a suitable sized oven-proof roasting dish, begin layering by adding a splash of the stock first, then potatoes, then the onion mix, then potatoes
7. Repeat until the dish is full, with potatoes on top
8. Flood any remaining stock into the dish
9. Add a butter wrap and cover with foil
10. Cook in centre of oven for around 60 minutes until a knife draws out easily
11. NB: Sweet potatoes cook quicker than white ones