French-Style Potato Pancake

With knife, prick potatoes in several places. Place potatoes on paper towel in microwave oven, and cook on High 20 minutes, or until fork-tender, turning potatoes over halfway through cooking. Cool potatoes until easy to handle; peel off skin, leaving potatoes whole. (To save time, you can peel hot potatoes if you wear rubber kitchen gloves.)

On cutting board, roughly chop potatoes (do not mince or mash them), breaking potatoes into 1/2- to 3/4-inch chunks.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. In large bowl, gently toss potatoes with salt, pepper, and nutmeg. In nonstick 12-inch skillet with oven-safe handle, heat oil with margarine over medium heat until hot. Add potatoes to pan, tossing pieces gently to evenly coat with oil mixture. With spatula, flatten potatoes into a solid layer. reduce heat to medium-low; cook 7 to 10 minutes or until bottom and side of potato cake are browned. Gently shake pan to loosen cake from pan.

Place skillet in oven, and bake potato cake 15 to 20 minutes or until heated through.

Remove skillet from oven. Cover skillet with large round platter; invert to unmold potato cake. Garnish with parsley sprigs.

Tips & Techniques Do-Ahead Tip: If you like, you can approach your do-aheads in stages. First option is to cook and peel potatoes as in step 1, store covered in refrigerator -- not more than 2 days -- until ready to continue with recipe.

The second option is to prepare the recipe through step 4. Cover and refrigerate potato pancake in skillet up to 1 day before serving. (Leaving pancake in skillet is also an easy way to transport dish to another location.)

Reheat , uncovered, 20 minutes in 425 degree F oven or until hot. Invert potato pancake onto platter to serve.