"Homemaking Thursday" : Potatoe Pie

Phew, sure things can change from a day to another ! On Tuesday afternoon, U's school phoned to let me know he had been sick twice. I went to bring him back home, took good care of him, phoned to have an appointment to the doctor's the same evening ASAP, and then he was sick two other times (at home). I gave him a shower. We went to grab his big brother at school & went to the doctor's appointment. He was sick once again in the waiting room, and then in the pharmacy when we went to grab the medecines. Cleaning again & again, doing loads of laundry, and running a bit everywhere totally got me worn out by Tuesday evening. Gastro ? Nope. Tonsillitis. Which made him feel nauseous. Poor little one. After a bad night (restless but wasn't sick, only once at 11pm), he was so tired yesterday morning (um, so were we !!!!) that he slept all morning on the sofa. He managed to eat a bit for breakfast, for lunch and dinner & hasn't vomited since Tuesday evening. (knock on wood, ladies, please) He was feeling better by yesterday afternoon & played with his brother a lot. Thank goodness this didn't happen on Friday or Saturday when we'll be leaving on vacation !! I still haven't packed any of our stuff for the vacations, and I'd love to go to the hairdressers on Friday morning/afternoon. I guess I'll be busy the next few days. I think I'll schedule (will pre-write) a post or two for next week. Most probably on Tuesday & Friday. Something like that. Well, I'll see.

So now it's 01.40pm as I'm typing and boys the both went to school, U was well enough to go, and this morning apparently happened without any problem. Phew.

OK so now let's move on to a new recipe that I may have quickly shared with you a long time ago, but I thought it would be nice to say it again, with the help of photos. (these photos were taken in November 2008, btw) It's my recipe for the simple but yet very comforting Potatoe Pie. The thing is that I found this recipe a long time ago, and now I don't measure the quantity exactly so my quantities for the recipe are, well, approximative. (yes, let's say that !)
So this is what you basically need for this
* * * POTATOE PIE * * *

- 1 round pie dish (with a bit of high edges, see what I mean ?)
- 2 rolls of shortcrust pastry or you can homemake it & get two circles of the same size (a bit larger than the dish base)
- 4 or 5 medium size potatoes(I'd advice you to have 6 of them, but peel only four, then you'll see if that's enough)
- 100ml *approximately, remember* liquid cream (I used the same I used for making the chantilly cream)
- 50 g unsalted butter *still approx.*
- salt (I used organic salt with herbs)
- 1 egg yolk (or two if your eggs are very small)
- a bit of olive oil (you'll see why)

Now, you'll see how easy this is.
Preheat your oven at 210°C/410°F.
Put a big circle of wax paper inside your pie dish.
Install the fist roll of pastry.
Pour a little bit of olive oil on this first roll & spread it all over in the pastry bottom (not the edges, they won't need). I do this so that the cream won't water down the pastry.
Sprinkle with a bit of salt. (don't be too afraid, the potatoes will absorb a lot)
Peel 4 of your 6 potatoes. Rince them. Cut them into slices of 0,05 cm each (5 millimeters, or 0.2", if you prefer) Not too thick, not too thin. And start arranging them in the dish, starting by the edges & going to the center. I make circles, not a spiral, but I guess you can make it as you want. They must overlap each other.See if you need to peel another (or two) extra potatoe(s) or not, otherwise finish arranging the last bits of potatoes ... um ... a bit where you want !Now you must take a microwave-safe bowl & pour the liquid cream & add the butter in it. Microwave till the butter is melted in the cream. Really watch out because the cream will easily boil ... and frankly, I'm sure you don't want to have to clean your microwave ... uh ? Once it's melted, add salt. And also sprinkle with salt the potatoes in the dish.
Now with a knife, make a hole in the middle of the second roll of pastry. A 4 or 5 cm hole (1.57" to 1.97"). Apply the second roll of pastry on the first one, to cover the potatoes with. And make the edges of the second roll go behind the edges of the first roll. In a word, the second roll's edges must cover the first roll's edges. Clear ?
Break an egg & keep the egg yolk. (see if you have a use for the white, who knows ?) And now "paint" the pie's top with the egg yolk. If one egg is not enough, then break another one ! :D And paint away !Put the pie in the oven now. I know, there's nothing in the pie. Cook for 15mn at 210°C/410°F. After these first 15mn, take the pie out the oven. Be careful & wear gloves, por favor. Now, with a teaspoon, pour little by little the cream + butter mix, through the hole, and make your pie dance so that the liquid goes in the smallest parts of the pie. If you see that the cream reaches the top of the hole, stop pouring. You may have some of that cream + butter mix left, but you'll be able to pour it on the potatoe pie once cooked, if you want to.
Put the pie back in the oven, for 45 extra minutes. Be sure to check it from time to time, but don't worry, it shall get a little brown. Obviously don't let it burn, and if you have an hesitation, take it out of the oven & check with a knife's blade if the potatoes are cooked enough. (or not)
Ta Da, the pie is ready !! :) Enjoy !OK, time for me to leave now. I hope you'll enjoy the recipe, and don't hesitate to let me know if you make it one day ! I'd love to know !

I hope you're all having a delightful day, my dears. Thanks so much for stopping by ! xoxoxo