Potatoes what?

Being friends with a chef who cooks for us often has taught me not only about foods I have never heard of before but also the techniques.

Our friend Martin has been a private chef for the last 20 years but comes from a long history of working as the executive chef in restaurants in NYC, the Hamptons, NJ, and various other places. 

A couple of weeks ago, Martin had us over on a Sunday night, a Sunday night when the kitchen was torn apart. I laughed when he called to invite us; I told him I wished he would all day. 

We had Filet Mignon Steaks, Roasted Asparagus, and Potatoes Romanoff.

I eat small portions and get filled up quickly, but I ate almost everything on my plate that night. Martin was amazed while he watched me eat. It made him happy. It made me happy because the food was delicious and all the food we ate for the last week was either made in the microwave or toaster oven.

The steak was a perfect medium-rare and very tender. I love asparagus anytime, but those potatoes! Holy shit, they were good. They were also in the oven before we got there, so I didn’t get to see how he made them. 

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I asked what kind of potatoes he made. He said, “Potatoes Romanoff.” Potatoes what? I had never heard of them before. I never play a food know-it-all with Martin and asked him about the potatoes. He told me he shredded baked potatoes added some shallots, cheddar cheese, sour cream, salt, and pepper. Everything is lightly tossed and piled high in a casserole dish, then baked until golden brown and crispy.

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I looked up recipes and the history of these famous potatoes, and Martin was right on the money with the ingredients and technique.

Potatoes Romanoff originated in a restaurant in Greenwich Village in the city called The Strip House. A second location of The Strip House was located in Las Vegas; how fitting!

The Strip chef, John Schenk, made a special potato gratin that went perfectly with steaks. Chef John took a dish he remembered his mother making while he was growing up and turned it into an upscale dish. The dish his mother made was funeral potatoes.

I’ve heard of funeral potatoes but never really knew what they were. Well, duh, potatoes, but what else? Funeral potatoes were a side dish served at a luncheon after a funeral or at a potluck dinner.

Funeral potatoes are a hot dish and are popular in the midwest; however, I’ve seen them in a Pennsylvania Dutch Amish cookbook. The main ingredients are hash brown potatoes, cheddar cheese, cream of chicken or mushroom soup, sour cream, butter, corn flakes, or crushed potato chips. The casserole is usually served with baked ham.

I decided to make Potatoes Romanoff this week, and the dish came out just like Martin’s. We didn’t have it with steak, but with stuffed peppers. I was going to make mashed potatoes but tried these instead. I will be making them again.

It’s late as I am finishing up this blog post. I got home from belly dance class around 8:20 pm; it was almost 9 pm when we ate dinner. I made corned beef earlier in the day and made Rueben sandwiches. This is how my brain works…On Saturday, I saw a vendor making Rueben panini sandwiches at the Troy Farmers Market. It wasn’t gluten-free, so I could only wish I could have one. Sunday morning, while grocery shopping, I bought a…you guessed it. A corned beef!

Dance class was great again tonight. The three new belly students from last week came back again this week! I was thrilled when they said how much they like the class and how fun it is. That’s always been my goal! ✅ Yip!

I am exhausted and will literally have to drag my ass upstairs to bed. That’s a wrap. Goodnight!