Preheat oven to 400f (200c). Take out an oven safe 9” or 10” non-stick pan or really well-seasoned cast iron pan, plus another similar sized oven safe pan or pot to use as a weight during baking (I also set a burger press on top of that).

Place butter in a small pot on the stove over medium heat. Once melted, reduce heat to low and cook until foamy on the surface. Skim foam off with a spoon and discard. Continue cooking a little more until milk solids separate and the liquid turns from a semi-translucent yellow to a clear golden liquid. Strain out milk solids through a fine sieve or just pour clarified butter into a bowl slowly while leaving milk residue behind in the pot. Clean the pot. Pour ¼ cup of the clarified butter into the non-stick pan, swirling it around to cover the entire bottom. Pour remaining clarified butter back into cleaned pot. Add minced garlic to cook on medium-low heat for 30 seconds or until fragrant. Stir in salt, pepper, parsley and herb of choice. Set aside to cool.

Traditional Pommes Anna call for peeled potatoes but I am lazy and also prefer the rounder shapes of unpeeled spuds so I don’t peel them – you decide for yourself. Slice potatoes thinly, just a little less than ⅛”. I highly recommend a mandolin for thin and evenly-thick slices in relatively little time. If you don’t have a mandolin, slice carefully with a sharp knife. Thicker slices will take longer to cook. Place sliced potatoes in a large mixing bowl and toss with cooled garlic herb butter.

Arrange potato slices in the buttered pan, starting with one slice in the middle and arranging slightly overlapping slices concentrically around the pan. Choose the nicer slices for the bottom as that will be the top later. Repeat until all potato slices are used – see blog post for process photos. You should have 4 layers. If you have enough potatoes for a partial layer, center them in the middle so you get a slight dome. Place a sheet of parchment paper on top, followed by the pan or pot you’re using as a weight. Place pan on stove top over medium heat to brown the bottom for 4 to 5 minutes. Transfer into preheated oven to bake, covered with the weight on top, for 25 minutes, pulling it out midway to give the pan a good shake to loosen potatoes to prevent sticking (remove the weight and parchment briefly to do that). Put the parchment and weight back on top and continue baking. At the end of 25 minutes, remove parchment and weight and bake uncovered for 20 minutes more or when a skewer inserted in the middle pierces and emerges easily indicating the potatoes are tender and creamy.

Run a spatula all the way around the potato edge to loosen from the sides of the pan. Shake pan to loosen potatoes on the bottom. At this point, I very carefully and very gently slide a silicon spatula underneath to check if there is any sticking and to see if further browning is desired. The potatoes are tender at this point so they can break easily. If needed, very gently loosen them without disturbing the shingled design and place pan back on the stove top over medium heat to brown, likely no more than 3 to 5 minutes.

Before flipping Pommes Anna onto serving plate, it’s important to drain off the remaining butter under the potatoes. Use a lid to keep potatoes in place while tilting the pan to do this. You can reuse the butter.

Flip onto serving plate while Pommes Anna is still warm. To flip, cover pan with a serving plate that is slightly larger. With one hand holding the pan handle and the other firmly pushing the plate against the potatoes, take a deep breath and flip in one swift move! If any potatoes slide out of place, gently place them back. Depending on different factors (e.g. the pan, oven temperature calibration), you may still want more colour on the top. If so, broil a few minutes until desired golden brown. Sprinkle flakey salt on top. Cool slightly to allow potatoes to set then slice into wedges. Enjoy!