autumn/ Jacques Pepin/ Poultry/ Savory

Duck or any meat Parmentier

I made the first Jacques Pepin dish, duck breasts in red-wine balsamic sauce, six months ago when we started featuring Pepin at IHCC. It’s fitting to end the Pepin rotation with another duck dish, a duck parmentier. (To see other Pepin’s dishes by IHCC home cooks, please click here.) I took the cue from Kim, the IHCC administrator extraordinaire, who put out a phenomenal gratin parmentier a few weeks ago.

Parmentier is potato-topped meat pie named after Antoine-Augustin Parmentier, who is credited with staving off a famine in the late eighteen century in France when he promoted potatoes as a good source of nutrition. Now Parmentier is part of the French cusine lexicon. There is a metro station in Paris named after him. Colorful panorama of potato recipes is on full display at the station while waiting for the train to come.

I made a variation of this French classic with duck confit, which I have on hand in the freezer. I’m glad to learn about this technique. The potatoes keep the meat moist and the meat, gives the potatoes flavor. A good marriage! I did my bidding by passing the cooked potatoes through a ricer to make them light and airy.

After preparing the meat and the mashed potatoes, layer them in a gratin dish. Cheese is sprinkled on top and baked until browned and crusty. Gruyere, tarragon and chervil add a distinctly French touch to the dish. There is a British equivalent of the Parmentier: the shepherd pie. I can imagine doing a no-fuss American version, by topping the meat pie with drop biscuits instead of mashed potatoes.

I like that Parmentier has a lot of range. Any kind of meat, including rotisserie chicken leftovers, can be used. Even potatoes can be substituted with biscuit dough. Both the meat and potato components can be prepared ahead of time, making it a great dish to have in our repertoire.

Jacques Pepin has certainly helped expand my repertoire to include some classic French dishes, whose accent marks I routinely butcher, but all are invariably comforting and delectable. To name a few: onion soup gratinee LyonnaiseRothschild soufflemollet eggs Florentine, crepes and brandade (salted cod) au gratin. They’ve brought much joy and excitement to our dinner table. Au Revoir Chef Pepin!

Any meat would do with Parmentier

 

Duck Parmentier topped with mashed potatoes and Gruyere

 

 

Onion soup gratinee Lyonnaise

 

Rothschild souffle

 

Mollet eggs Florentine
Brandade (salted cod) au gratin

 

Crepes

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9 Comments

  • Reply
    Kim
    September 29, 2015 at 11:41 pm

    Wow, you have knocked it out of the park with this gorgeous Duck Parmentier! I'm so impressed:) This is a dinner that soothes from the inside out and makes everyone feel so pampered and special. Loved your roundup of dishes. So many beautiful French dishes.

    I have to admit to giggling over the accent marks comment. Goodness knows I've done my fair share of butchering them as well. Thanks for the mention and your kind words. We are so happy to have you cooking with us:) I always enjoy your weekly posts. You are a fearless cook!

  • Reply
    Linda
    September 30, 2015 at 7:07 am

    It looks and sounds scrumptious, and the presentations are lovely!

  • Reply
    flour.ish.en
    September 30, 2015 at 5:46 pm

    Thanks so much for your kind comments. I fear the grammar police!!

  • Reply
    flour.ish.en
    September 30, 2015 at 5:48 pm

    Thank you for visiting. I'm glad you like what you see.

  • Reply
    Joyce Rachel Lee-Bates
    October 5, 2015 at 6:28 am

    Beautiful!

  • Reply
    kitchen flavours
    October 5, 2015 at 3:40 pm

    Such delicious looking parmentier! That's a delicious round-up! All the dishes you've made looks wonderful. I've got to try the onion soup one of these days!

  • Reply
    Zosia
    October 7, 2015 at 11:02 pm

    Wonderful round-up Shirley. I think I like your gourmet take on parmentier best of all, using a luxurious (to me) ingredient like duck to elevate this rustic dish.

  • Reply
    Deb in Hawaii
    October 19, 2015 at 6:50 am

    You made some wonderful Pepin dishes that were well capped off with this gorgeous-looking parmentier. The duck makes it so elegant. 😉

  • Reply
    Salmon Brandade | Everyday Dorie - Ever Open Sauce
    March 10, 2023 at 8:12 am

    […] does brandade au gratin, duck Parmentier, shepherd pie, chicken pot pie have in common? For one, I have made them all, which I don’t […]

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