Ripert's Potato Goat Cheese Royale

I think it's safe to say that just about everyone loves a creamy and cheesy little potato bite. I suppose that's why Eric Ripert's Potato Goat Cheese Royale stood out to me the very first time I laid eyes on them. I knew I had to have them. Plus, the recipe is only five ingredients. It doesn't get much better than that!

Grab some baby yukon potatoes, a good-quality goat cheese, some cream, an egg and some chives. Boil the potatoes until tender, scoop out some of the flesh into a bowl to enjoy another time, add a dollop of goat cheese, and fill the potatoes with the egg and cream mixture. Top with chives and bake for about 15 minutes. These are delightful!

Here are some tips I learned along the way. My potatoes were a little smaller than Chef Ripert's so I halved the custard (1/2 cup cream and 1 egg). I still had some custard leftover. I would suggest doing the same. If you need more you can always make the rest, but I doubt you will need to. Next, potatoes require a lot of salt. Boil them in overly salted water. After scooping the flesh out sprinkle them with a little more salt. Add salt and pepper to your custard. Prior to baking sprinkle with even more salt. Trust me. I did all this and still had to salt them when they came out of the oven.

Please make these. They are delight little bites and they really hit the spot. They are delicious served hot right out of the oven, but they are also just as good warm, or at room temperature. This is the kind of thing that gets better when it has a chance to sit and the flavors meld together. I bet you could even make them ahead of time and reheat them and they would have a little more flavor.

Feel free to change up the recipe and use different kinds of goat cheese and herbs. Personally, I think a sun-dried tomato goat cheese with a little bit of basil on top would be my favorite! Just make them. You can't go wrong!

Potato Goat Cheese Royale

Adapted From Avec Eric

by Eric Ripert

Serves 6-8

15 baby Yukon Gold potatoes (about 1-1/2-2 inches in diameter)

4 ounces fresh goat cheese

1 cup cream

2 eggs

 salt and pepper, to taste

1/4 cup sliced fresh chives

Note: You probably only need about half of the custard mixure (1/2 cup cream and 1 egg). Also, you will need to use quite a bit of salt to season these potatoes. Feel free to experiment using different varities of goat cheese and herbs!

Cook potatoes in heavily salted water until tender. Drain and let cool.  

Preheat the oven to 375F.

Cut the potatoes in half and scoop out some of the flesh. Place the potato halves on a baking tray and spoon a little goat cheese into the center.

Whisk together the cream and eggs and season with salt and pepper.

Fill the potatoes with the custard mix (I used a small squirt bottle to do this) and sprinkle with chives on top.

Bake the potato custards in the oven for about 12-15 minutes, until set. Serve immediately. They are also good luke warm.

Unfortnately this particiular potato didn't have as much of the cream mixture as the others. Most of them were creamier!