Garlic Rosemary Fondant Potatoes with Crème Fraîche

Why You’ll Love this Recipe

• These potatoes melt in your mouth with a slightly crispy outside
• The simple ingredients are easy to find in your local grocery store
• Turn a basic potato into a velvety, delicious dish

What are Fondant Potatoes?

This classic French potato preparation, known as pommes fondant or fondant potatoes in English, results in a super creamy texture that literally melts in your mouth with a slightly crispy exterior. Fondant potatoes are traditionally served with a roasted protein, which can be almost anything you want. They are particularly great with beef, chicken, and lamb.

Fondant potatoes can be made with gold potatoes (Yukon golds) or russet potatoes with equally good results. We slightly prefer russet potatoes as they end up being a bit more luscious and creamy than the gold potatoes in this preparation.

The concept of fondant potatoes is quite simple! You cook them on the stove to achieve browned outsides, then finish them in the oven braised in a buttery stock spiked with herbs and garlic.

Ingredients

Here is what you need to make this fondant potatoes recipe:

• Potatoes: Russet potatoes are our choice but Yukon Gold potatoes are great as well.
• Crème Fraîche: Crème fraîche is a rich and tangy cream condiment that is similar in texture to sour cream. It makes the perfect accompaniment to these melty potatoes!
• Chives: We use chives to mix into the crème fraîche and as a garnish for the final plated potato dish.
• Clarified Butter: Cooking the potatoes in clarified butter gives them their crust as well as a delightful buttery taste without having to worry about the milk solids burning. You can use ghee in place of clarified butter in this recipe for similar results.
• Kosher Salt and Pepper
• Unsalted Butter: Butter is added just before roasting to give these potatoes an extra buttery flavor.
• Rosemary: Fresh rosemary sprigs are added to the pan with the potatoes to provide a nice herby flavor.
• Garlic cloves: Whole cloves of garlic are added to the pan as well for a hint of garlic flavor without being overpowering.
• Vegetable Stock: Unsalted vegetable stock is best to use in this recipe.

See recipe card below for quantities.

Substitutions

Here are a couple of common substitutions for the ingredients in this recipe:

• Herbs: We use rosemary to go with the garlic, but you can have success with just about any fresh herbs you like. Sometimes we add thyme with rosemary and the flavor is great.
• Potatoes: You can use Yukon Golds instead of russet potatoes with great results
• Vegetable Stock: We use vegetable stock, but you can certainly substitute that with chicken stock or even beef stock for a different flavor.
• Clarified Butter: You can use ghee in place of clarified butter. If you can't find clarified butter or ghee, then regular unsalted butter can be used as a last resort. You should note, though, that the milk solids in regular butter will likely brown and can burn if they heat is too high.
• Crème fraîche: If you can't find crème fraîche in your grocery store, you can use sour cream in its place for similar results.

How to Make Garlic Rosemary Fondant Potatoes with Crème Fraîche

These are quite simple to make and require just one oven-safe frying pan or cast iron skillet. Simply cook the potatoes in clarified butter to achieve the browning on both sides, then pop into the oven with the herbs, garlic and some butter and let them finish for a nice easy side dish!

Equipment

Here is what you need to make this dish

• Oven safe frying pan or cast iron skillet
• Tongs to flip the potatoes

Step 1: Prep the potatoes

• Fill a large bowl with cold water to hold the potatoes while you prepare them. Peel the potatoes and cut them into cylinders, approximately 1-2 inches in diameter. Using a peeler or the back of a knife, smooth out each cylinder so there are no jagged edges. Cut each potato log into 1-inch pieces. You should get about 5 pieces per whole potato, depending on the size of the potato.
• Place the potatoes into the bowl of cold water for 30 minutes to extract excess starch. 

Step 2: Prepare the crème fraîche

• While the potatoes are in the water, prepare the crème fraîche by mixing in the chives. Refrigerate until the potatoes are ready to serve.

Step 3: Cook the potatoes on the stove top

• Preheat the oven to 425°F.
• Next, remove and rinse the potatoes from the water bath. Dry the potatoes very well with a paper towel and return them to a dry bowl. Add 1 tablespoon of clarified butter, salt, and pepper to the potatoes. Mix well to coat and season potatoes.
• Add the remaining clarified butter to a large cast iron skillet or other oven-safe sauté pan and heat over medium heat on the stovetop. Add the potatoes in a single layer and cook for about 8 minutes. You are looking for a deep golden brown on the potatoes on the bottom flat sides. Turn them over and cook for an additional 2 minutes.

Step 4: Finish the potatoes in the oven and serve

• Turn the heat off and add the unsalted butter, stirring it in until the butter melts completely. Add the sprigs of rosemary and garlic, spreading them out between the potatoes evenly. Add the stock so that it fills the skillet about halfway up the sides of the potatoes. Place the pan in the preheated oven for 15 minutes. Baste the potatoes with the liquid in the pan and return for another 5 minutes. The potatoes should be soft and can be pierced easily with a toothpick.

• Once done, remove the pan from the oven and let it sit for a few minutes to cool slightly. Transfer potatoes to a serving plate with a small amount of the crème fraîche on top of the potatoes. Garnish with additional chives and flaky sea salt if desired. Enjoy!

Variations

Here are a couple ways to change up this recipe:

• You can make a buttery rich sauce from the liquid the potatoes cook in by straining it after the potatoes are done. Then reduce in a pan on the stovetop and flavor with other seasonings as you desire. Pour sauce over the potatoes or with accompanying proteins like chicken, beef, pork or seafood.
• Make fondant sweet potatoes! They work well also and you can flavor them in a number of ways.

Storage

How to store leftover fondant potatoes:

• Leftover fondant potatoes are not nearly as good as ones fresh out of the oven. The slight crisp texture on the outside will be lost, but the flavor will still be good. Store for up to 5 days in the refrigerator in a covered, airtight container.

How to reheat leftover fondant potatoes:

• The best way to reheat leftover fondant potatoes is in a 325°F oven until warmed through.

Can you freeze leftover fondant potatoes?

• We do not recommend freezing leftover fondant potatoes as they will not have the best texture when reheated.

Troubleshooting

The most common problem when making fondant potatoes is related to browning the potatoes. If the potatoes are not dried well enough when they come out of the water bath, they will not brown properly. Be sure to dry the potatoes well before coating with the clarified butter.

What to serve with Fondant Potatoes

The classic pairing for these creamy potatoes is beef - especially roasted beef. However, chicken, lamb, pork or just about anything will be complemented by fondant potatoes. 

What Wines To Drink with Fondant Potatoes

We recommend matching the wine to the protein, the potatoes will certainly be fine with any wine.