When you have a German as a husband, it is very hard to stir away from cooking potato every night because obviously that is all he wants. And my children are not much better… So on  the menu tonight, Hachi Parmentier and Petites Carottes Confites.

Hachi Parmentier

Ingredients: 2 lbs of potatoes, 1 cup of heavy cream, 1 lb of lean ground beef, fresh parsley,  1 medium onion, 1 cup of swiss cheese, seasoning…

To make the Hachi Parmentier, you will need to make mashed potatoes, so peal the potatoes, place them in a big pot, cover the potatoes with water, and add 1 tablespoon of kosher salt. Cook until potatoes are cooked through and are soft. Drain the water , mash the potatoes with a potato press until very smooth. Stir in the heavy cream that you would have previously warmed up in the microwave for 2 minutes. Stir until the potatoes make a smooth “puree”, not too runny and not too thick. You may need to add more cream if needed. Seasoned to taste with salt and pepper. Put aside. Now you need to prepare the beef that will go in the mashed potatoes. Slice and dice your onion. Saute your onion in a frying pan in 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Saute your onion until golden and translucent. Stir in the beef and cook it until it turns brown. Add 1/4 teaspoon of pepper, 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1/4 teaspoon of fresh parsley ( dry parsley is fine too). Taste and add more seasoning if you think it requires more salt.

You can either fix the hachi parmentier in a single dish, or you can do individual servings just like I did. I used single circular cake mold of 2 1/2 inches to make my single serving. First put a layer of mashed potato, then put a layer of beef, cover again with a layer of mashed potato. Sprinkle swiss cheese on top of each individual dish. Put in oven for 15 minutes in oven at 350C. The swiss cheese should golden. Watch carefully that the swiss cheese does not burn though. When ready, remove from the oven and remove the molds.

While the hachi parmentier is cooking or even when you are cooking the potatoes, cook the carrots.

Carottes confites: 1 pack of mini carrots, 1 Tb of butter, nutmeg to taste, salt, pepper, and brown sugar.

Melt the butter in a little saucer, place carrots and cook them in the melted butter, sprinkle nutmeg, salt and pepper. Throw in 1/2 cup of water, cover with a lid and cook until the liquid has evaporated ( about 10 minutes). The carrots should be cooked but still a bit crunchy. Sprinkle 1 Tb of brown sugar and mix. Cook until the brown sugar caramelized but does not burn.

Bon Appetit!