Duchess Potatoes
Prized for its presentation, this fancy French potato dish dates back to the 1700s, when it was created — and given its aristocratic name — to help elevate the reputation of the humble tuber in France, where it had yet to be widely embraced by home cooks. It requires a little more effort than your typical potato side: You boil the potatoes, mix them with an extravagant amount of butter, cheese and eggs, pipe them onto parchment and bake until toasty. But it’s visually striking, and the results are too: Creamy potatoes enrobed in a delicate crust. Duchess potatoes are typically piped into dainty circles or baked in a casserole, but this version skews modern, with quirky squiggles inspired by the whipped ricotta crostini at Misi. Pipe them as you like, and cook them off as time permits; they can be prepared and refrigerated in advance, then baked off right before dinner.
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