Recipe: Simple Crispy Potatoes with a bang!
If there is one thing that we love to play with as a side to just about any fire cooked feast, it’s potatoes.
Potatoes are a hugely versatile ingredient and considered a staple crop. We are even giving it a go with growing them in our little garden patch this year.
But out of all the ways in which we love to serve our potatoes, these simple onion and herb encrusted pots are an absolute winner in our house!
There is no exact science to this, it really is about using your intuition and exploring your preferences when it comes to how many potatoes and herbs you would like to use.
Ingredients
Potatoes, we use about 6 medium sized potatoes for 3 people but this may vary depending on what else you are serving.
Small bunch of hard herbs - we like to use rosemary and thyme as we have it growing in the garden
Good dollop of olive oil and chunk of butter - you can omit butter to make it vegan
4 cloves of garlic, smashed kept in skin
Seasoning: Salt, pepper and paprika
Small amount of flour for dusting over potatoes
Method
Preheat oven 180C
Start prepping your potatoes before cooking your main meal so that they have time to cool.
Scrub potatoes under cold running water to get rid of any mud on the skin. Cut up into rough chunks - I like to cut mine into quarters and keep them relatively chunky, see photo above.
Drop potatoes into boiling water and cook until relatively soft but not breaking up. A fork or skewer should be able to easily slide into the centre of your potato. As soon as this is possible, drain pots in a colander, dash over some vinegar and set outside to cool.
Once cooled and you are about 30mins away from your meal being ready, roll in flour (use gram flour if GF).
Put a few healthy glugs of olive oil and dollop of butter in baking tray. This is going to be soaked into your pots and help get those crispy edges.
Get your baking tray (we use small paella pan) really hot on hob or fire. Saute smashed garlic cloves, sliced onion and herbs in hot oil and melted butter. Season with some sea salt and crack black pepper into the mix. Once onions start to turn golden, the flavours from the herbs and garlic will have released into fats, it is then time to add your potatoes.
You want to coat your potatoes in that lush garlic, onion and herb mix but don’t move them around too often as they will start to break up. Be patient and listen to the hot tasty fats work their magic on your potatoes. Sprinkle some paprika to add a BANG of flavour if you wish. Use a spatula to flip them over so that you are building an even crust.
Once you are happy that the potatoes are coated, wack them in the oven for a final 20 minutes before serving with dinner. Taste and add more seasoning (s&p) if required. We like to serve ours with garlic mayo.