A full week of work and healthy eating under my belt makes me very happy to see the weekend. I’m cutting carbs and dairy from the diet which is so boring and makes me scarily observant as to just how much of my diet had been comprised of such, especially over the last month or so. Ah, cheese, the fat man’s chocolate, how I miss thee. I’ve read several articles about how humans can’t digest dairy properly, but it was when I saw that Khloe Kardashian could lose 11 pounds in a month just by ditching it…the sacrifice suddenly seemed worth it. And here we are, on a Friday night roasting a chicken (sans beurre!) with only non-starchy vegetables. It’s the kind of meal that would pair perfectly with my hands-down favorite recipe of the holiday season, Pommes Aligot.

The Chap made these for me as part of a birthday dinner and they are incredible! Much better than that of our favorite restaurant in Raleigh, Death and Taxes. I wish I had a photo, but they are equal parts cheese and potato masquarading as a boring side dish. Mmmmmm

The recipe came from one of my favorite newsletters, Tasting Table. Find the original recipe here. We modified the recipe a bit in the below. Now do yourself a favor and track down Tomme d’Auvergne immediately- we couldn’t find it! Sacre Bleu!

Pommes Aligot

(serves 4 or 2 if you are from the Midwest)

INGREDIENTS

4 medium Yukon Gold potatoes (about 2 pounds), peeled and quartered

Kosher salt

2 garlic cloves, minced

6 tablespoons (¾ stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 cup heavy cream, warmed

¾ pound Gruyère and ¾ pound fresh mozzarella – substituted for Tomme d’Auvergne)

Freshly ground black pepper

DIRECTIONS

1. Put the potatoes in a medium pot and add enough cold water to cover by 2 inches. Add enough salt so that the water tastes salty, like the ocean, and bring a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook until the potatoes can be easily pierced with a knife, about 15 minutes. Drain.

2. Pulverize potatoes in a food processor because who has a rice mill? Return to pot and set over low heat. Stir in the garlic, butter, cream and about half of the cheese. Once the cheese has melted, stir in the remaining cheese. (Mmmmm) Continue stirring until the potatoes can be stretched with a spoon like melted mozzarella. Season to taste with salt and black pepper.

Eat immediately! We enjoyed this batch for three days and reheated with just a little butter in a hot pan, stirringly frequently until warm.