Lyonnaise Potatoes is a dish of sliced potatoes sautéed with onions,
When prepared poorly, they can be like bad homefries.
Some versions have you start with un-boiled potatoes, but Elizabeth David advocated cooking the potatoes first.
Cooking Tips
Boil potatoes unpeeled until they are just done.
Peel and slice potatoes in 1/4 inch thick (1/2 cm) slices.
Melt butter in a frying pan, add potatoes and sauté until golden brown and slightly crispy in places. This should take about 15 minutes.
About 5 minutes after starting the potatoes, in another frying pan melt some butter, then sauté peeled, sliced onions until golden. This should take about ten minutes.
Mix the onions in with the potatoes when the potatoes are just about done. Cook a few more minutes, then season with salt and pepper, garnish with fresh chopped parsley, and serve hot.
Elizabeth David recommended using 1 medium-sized onion per 1 pound (450g) of potatoes, and for each of these, in each pan, 2 tablespoons of fat, either butter or beef-dripping.
A non-stick frying pan is a godsend for this.
Language Notes
“Lyonnaise” in French means “in the style of Lyons”, a city in the south-eastern quarter of France.