Rosemary Accordion Potatoes
Accordion Potatoes – the name is self-explanatory.
Okay – so i gave you a picture just in case you didn’t get it.
Sometimes, if you’re a lover of cooking, you put the time and effort into making something special. You like to make something that is not only pleasing to the palate, but also satisfies visually. In fact, it is widely believed that you taste with your eyes first. I like to make something that when served on a plate, gets some ooh’s and aah’s from the peanut gallery I’m serving it to.
Here’s a little bit of trivia for you. The term peanut gallery originated from the days of Vaudeville when the audience who paid for the cheapest seats were served…you guessed it..peanuts. Sometimes the audience would throw the peanuts at the performers, thus coining the phrase “peanut gallery” and becoming known as an audience who heckles their host.
This phrase works remarkably well for me, because my family loves to make fun of me…
These potatoes, sometimes called Hasselback potatoes definitely get the ooh’s and aah’s.
They are a Swedish invention named after the restaurant who put them on the charts and are an elegant accompaniment for a fancy meal, or a fun side dish for a burger. Coat them in some olive oil and throw them into the oven, and an hour later, you pull out a thing of beauty.
This is a labor of love, but try it once, and you’ll be hooked. Because, you see, during the roasting process, the potatoes fans out and have petals of crispy goodness on the outside, while the center stays buttery and soft.
The variety of ways to fix these are endless, and you can make them plain or dress them up with a bevy of herbs, spices or even herbed sour cream.
I use a common method of tucking sliced garlic in between the petals of the potato. Being a fan of roasted garlic, this method beckoned me and I also added my favorite herb for potatoes – rosemary. Let me show you how I make these.
Before you begin, line a cookie sheet with foil and have it on hand. Preheat your oven to 425º. You need a hot oven.
Start by cutting up the potatoes in thin slices but not all the way through to the bottom. I used Yukon gold potatoes. You’ll need a freshly sharpened knive for this as a dull one would be oh so frustrating. The common method for slicing so thinly without cutting through the bottom of the potato is to set the potato on a wooden spoon. The curvature of the spoon prevents you from cutting through to the bottom, but I just cut away on a cutting board, and did a pretty bang up job, if I do say so myself.
Try to make your slices even and as thin as you can without shaving them clean out of the potato.
Your end pieces should be roughly as thick as the slices, but you may have to have them a tad thicker, just because of the way things work out as you get to them.
Now, thinly slice up some garlic..
Tuck 3 or 4 pieces of garlic into one of the wedges (one in each wedge) – carefully! Space them out a bit throughout the potato. Pushing them too hard or deep may cause the potato to split at the bottom. Continue to do the rest of your pan and place them at least an inch apart on the baking sheet. You need plenty of heat around all sides of the potatoes to crisp them up nicely.
Take some olive oil and liberally brush the potatoes all around. The olive oil will drip a bit into the potato slices and that’s okay. It’s a thing of beauty.
You’ll see.
Now sprinkle on some salt and pepper.
Be generous – potatoes need a lot of salt. If you’re using dried rosemary, go ahead and sprinkle some on now. If you’re using fresh, wait until just before you serve them, chop it up and sprinkle it over top before serving. Pop these into your super hot oven for 45 minutes. Check the largest one with a fork. Poke the fork tines into the middle of one of the wedges – there should be little resistance in the soft flesh of the potato.
If they’re done, pull them out, if not, leave an additional 5-10 minutes and check again.
Heavenly glory, would you LOOK at those?
Mmmmmmmm!
Some chopped chives are a nice addition at the end.
C’mere pretty baby…
Impress your friends or family with these potatoes soon! You’ll be glad you did.