Marquise Potatoes

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Digital kitchen scale
• •Small wide saucepan
• •Potato ricer or fine food mill
• •Heavy baking tray and parchment
• •Sturdy piping bag
• •⅝ to ¾ inch (16 to 18 mm) open-star piping tip
• •Soft pastry brush

Instructions

1. 1

   Reduce the tomato

   Put the tomato purée in a small, wide saucepan and cook over medium-low heat, stirring frequently at first and almost constantly as it thickens. Reduce it until a spatula drawn across the pan leaves a clean track that stays open and the purée sits in a dense, deep-red mound. Begin weighing when it looks close: scrape it into a tared bowl, and return it to the pan if it weighs more than 6 oz (170 g). The finished reduction must weigh exactly 6 oz (170 g). If the bottom catches, don't scrape it. Transfer the unburned purée to a clean pan and continue over gentler heat. Ça se rattrape. Let it cool until warm.

   The reduction, not the oven, decides whether the Marquise holds its grooves. A wet purée makes the potato paste spread.
2. 2

   Cook potatoes gently

   Put the potatoes in a saucepan and cover them with cold water by 1 inch (2.5 cm). Bring to a gentle simmer and cook for 15 to 18 minutes, until a knife passes through the center without resistance. Keep the water calm. A hard boil knocks floury potatoes apart and leaves them waterlogged.

3. 3

   Dry and rice

   Drain the potatoes thoroughly, return them to the empty hot pan, and set them over low heat for 2 to 3 minutes. Shake the pan until the surfaces look floury and no moisture gathers underneath. Pass them through a potato ricer or fine food mill while hot. Never use a food processor here; its blade ruptures the potato cells and turns a light paste into glue.

4. 4

   Make croquette paste

   Let the riced potato stand for 1 minute, then work in the softened butter, salt, white pepper, and nutmeg with a wooden spoon. Add the yolks one at a time, mixing only until smooth. If the potatoes still look wet before the yolks go in, return them to low heat and stir for another minute; once the yolks are added, aggressive heat risks curdling them. Weigh exactly 1 lb (454 g) of finished croquette paste for the Marquise. Reserve any small excess for another use.

5. 5

   Fold in tomato

   Fold the 6 oz (170 g) tomato reduction into the 1 lb (454 g) croquette paste while both are warm, mixing just until the color is even. Pipe a small test rosette onto parchment. Its grooves should remain sharply visible. If it slumps, spread the paste in a wide bowl and chill it uncovered for 10 minutes, then test again. If it remains loose, stir it over the lowest heat for 1 to 2 minutes, cool briefly, and retest. Ça se rattrape. Don't add flour, which makes the potatoes heavy and dulls their flavor.

6. 6

   Pipe the crowns

   Heat the oven to 450°F (230°C), or 425°F (220°C) convection, with a rack in the upper third. Line a heavy baking tray with parchment. Fit a sturdy piping bag with a large ⅝ to ¾ inch (16 to 18 mm) open-star tip and fill it no more than two-thirds full. Using Ordinary Meringue (No. 2382) as the shape reference, pipe 12 broad, tall crowns about 2 inches (5 cm) across, spiraling upward and releasing pressure before lifting the pointed tip. The meringue is a model for the silhouette only and never enters the potato mixture.

   A large grooved tip is not decorative fuss here. The grooves create the bronzed ridges that identify the preparation and give each soft-centered potato its delicate crust.
7. 7

   Gild without flooding

   Gild the Marquise, meaning brush their exposed surfaces very lightly with beaten egg. Use a soft pastry brush and barely touch the ridges so they remain sharp. If egg gathers in the grooves or puddles around the base, wick it away with the corner of a clean paper towel before baking. A heavy coating glues the definition shut; a thin film gives the proper golden sheen.

8. 8

   Bake and serve

   Bake for 8 to 12 minutes, until the ridges are bronze, the tomato-red sides look dry and set, and the bases release cleanly from the parchment. The potatoes are already cooked, so this last hot oven is for setting and gilding, not prolonged baking. If they are hot and firm but still pale, place them beneath a fully heated broiler for 20 to 40 seconds, watching without looking away; this is the home equivalent of a salamander's final color. Transfer them carefully to a warm platter and serve at once. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Good canned tomato purée is the correct pantry choice when fresh tomatoes are watery or pale. What matters is a clean tomato flavor and a strong natural red, followed by patient reduction until the purée is nearly as dense as paste.
• •Use a scale for the finished components. The book's proportion is exact: 1 lb (454 g) croquette paste to 6 oz (170 g) reduced tomato purée. Measuring the tomato before reduction misses the point entirely.
• •Ordinary Meringue (No. 2382) supplies the visual model, not sugar or egg white for the potato mixture. Pipe a broad base and taper upward into a proud point, keeping the grooves deep enough to catch the gilding.
• •Serve Pommes Marquise beside roast veal, beef, or poultry with a proper jus. Their tomato note is concentrated but restrained, so they remain a garnish for the meat rather than a competing sauce.
• •A large open-star tip is essential to the intended form. A spooned mound will still taste good, but it won't be a Marquise; the word carries the technique.

Advance Preparation

• •The tomato purée can be reduced up to 3 days ahead, cooled, covered, and refrigerated. Bring it back to room temperature before weighing and folding it into the warm potato paste.
• •Pipe the Marquise up to 24 hours ahead and chill them uncovered until firm, then cover loosely. Gild them only before baking so the egg doesn't soften the ridges.
• •For longer storage, freeze the ungilded shapes on their tray until solid, then pack them carefully for up to 1 month. Return them to a lined tray, brush with egg while frozen, and allow 4 to 6 extra minutes in the oven.
• •Once baked, they are best served promptly. If necessary, reheat them for 5 to 7 minutes at 400°F (200°C), uncovered, so the ridges recover their light crust.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 165g)