I can already feel the backlash for this one and we are still sharing it because it is so good, works well and is fun. While this may appear to be a bowl of lumpy mashed potatoes it is actually something far beyond that. The idea stemmed from polenta. What if you were in an area rich in potatoes and not in corn. Could you mimic the texture of a cornmeal porridge with this delicious tuber? We have cream of wheat and cream of rice, why not cream of potato? In this case, I peeled Yukon gold potatoes, reserving the potatoes and their peelings. I sauteed the skins in a mixture of butter and olive oil and when they were brown added some smashed garlic cloves, onion and crushed red pepper flakes. Once everything was caramelized I deglazed the pot with water and simmered the mixture for twenty minutes. I then strained the broth and reserved it as I prepared the potatoes. I cut the potatoes into chunks and then pulverized them in a food processor to a coarse, meal-like texture. Then I minced an onion and sweated it in a blend of butter and oil. When the onion was tender I added the minced potatoes and their juices and stirred them together. Then I added the potato skin stock and began cooking the mixture in the style of polenta, maintaining a low heat and adding some water when things got too stiff. When the potatoes were tender and the mixture was thick I pulled it off the heat, added some aged Comte, truffle oil and another knob of butter; and stirred it together. A few leaves of basil and lemon thyme added an intense aroma and layers of flavor to the finished bowl. After a family tasting it earned three thumbs up.
