Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Creamy Herbed Potatoes


It's time, once again, to talk about my strange relationship with potatoes. I don't like them unless they're so fried that they no longer resemble potatoes (i.e. potato chips and really crispy french fries). But every now and again, I find a recipe for potatoes that sounds delicious. Like Crash Hot Potatoes. Sounded fantastic. And they pretty much were. And now, there's this recipe that I stumbled across last week. It sounded amazing, so I made it. And it was pretty tasty....but I still don't like potatoes.

Creamy Herbed Potatoes
Difficulty: 3
Takes about half an hour, plus bake time.

You will need: at least two clean russet potatoes (more if you're cooking for more than four people), butter, cream cheese, heavy cream, milk, salt and pepper, herbs, parmesan cheese, onion.
First, dice an onion and remove it to a plate or bowl. Or if your cutting board is big enough, just leave it there. (I only used half an onion because not everyone around these parts really likes onion, but I couldn't even taste it in the finished product, so next time I make it I'll definitely be using a whole onion.)
Then, slice your potatoes as thin as you can possibly go. I registered for a mandolin after seeing this recipe, but we're not getting married for another six months, so I made do with a knife. My potatoes were varied in their thinness, but I think it worked out alright.Next, melt a stick of butter in a large skillet over medium-low heat. (If you're only using two potatoes, like me, reduce this to about half a stick of butter. Otherwise....well, you'll see.)Then toss in the onion and cook it up a little, about three minutes.

Add in the cream cheese (not all in one huge lump, it'll take longer to melt) in chunks, and stir around to get it to melt.
Next add three-quarters of a cup of heavy cream, and half a cup to one cup of milk, depending on how many potatoes you used (I used two potatoes and a half cup of milk).See how it's still all yellow? That's because I used more butter than I should have and it floated all up to the top. Stir that sauce until it's white. And while you're at it, add a hefty amount of salt and pepper. Remember: you're salting not just for the sauce, but for the potatoes, too. I think I ended up using about two tablespoons, and it was just a little weensy bit on the salty side. So salt it, taste it, and salt it some more. You'll want it to taste a little extra salty. Now's a good time to preheat your oven to 350F.Once it's all good, reduce the heat to low and stir in your herbs. Use whatever you've got. I used chives, rosemary, and parsley. If I'd been thinking, I would have used thyme, too. A teaspoon of each should do it. Stir it in and remove it from the heat.

Prepare a baking dish and toss the potatoes into it. And don't put the pan on top of your laptop. That's a silly thing to do.Pour the sauce over the top of the potatoes and sprinkle some parmesan on top.

Slide that baby into the oven and bake for about 45 minutes at 350F, until bubbly and beautiful.Dig in!

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Love the real pictures of your cooking. Really makes me want to try the herbed potatoes, because unlike you I LOVE POTATOES!