A Geneva Christmas: White Wine Potatoes Recipe
From the archives
In A Geneva Christmas: Longeole sausage, I think I got your mouth watering talking about longeole, or fennel seed sausage. But did you see the potatoes in the photo? That’s THE essential side dish: potatoes cooked in broth and white wine.
I translated and adapted this recipe from A la mode de chez nous, Plaisirs de la table romande, a book on cooking in French-speaking Switzerland, by M. Vidoudez and J. Grangier.
Recipe
potatoes cooked in white wine and broth
Ingredients
1 kg / 2.2 lbs type 2 all-purpose potatoes Olive oil, just enough to lightly coat potatoes 1 tablespoon spelt flour (farine d’épeautre), or otherwise whole wheat 240 ml / 1 cup chicken broth 1 onion, diced 1 laurel leaf 3 whole cloves 300 ml / 1 1/4 cup dry white wine 1 bouquet garni Fresh parsley, chopped Salt and pepper to tasteInstructions
Fennel-flavored Longeole sausages for Christmas, made by Jacky Bula butcher in Geneva
- Scrub potatoes. If you really don’t like potato peels, or your potatoes have lots of black spots on them, peel them. Just remember: all the fiber and vitamins are in the peel.
- Chop potatoes into large cubes. Put potatoes in a large saucepan. Coat lightly with olive oil and mix well.
- Sautée for 2 or 3 minutes, stirring constantly.
- Heat broth. Pour hot broth over potatoes. Add chopped onion, laurel, cloves, salt, pepper and bouquet garni. Bring to a boil. Cover, then lower heat and let it boil gently.
- Cook until potatoes are soft, about 15 or 20 minutes, depending on the kind of potato and the kind of pan.
- While the potatoes are cooking, mix flour and olive oil in a small utility bowl, until it becomes a smooth paste. Add a couple tablespoons of the hot broth from the potatoes to paste, and beat with wire whip until smooth.
- Add paste to potatoes, and beat gently with a wire whip. When smooth, add white wine.
- Continue cooking, stirring often so that it doesn’t stick, and gently boiling until the sauce starts to thicken.
- Taste. Add salt and pepper if required.
- Sprinkle with chopped parsley when serving. Traditionally, in Geneva this is served with longeole sausage at Christmas, but it goes well with many dishes, for example a smoked cooking sausage from the canton of Vaud.
Cooking notes: I use a Kuhn Rikon Durotherm to maintain the vitamins and decrease cooking time. This also allows you to use less liquid, which gives a more intense flavor. In this case, you would use just enough broth to cover the potatoes.
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