3 Herbs Roasted Potatoes

I am FaceBook friends with Top Chef Master Suvir Saran… I think I shared a little bit of how we became friends before.

I love he keeps sharing pictures  in his profile of his farm in Vermont, his pets, his travels and the dishes he creates. Among one of those dishes are his Farmhouse Crispy-Creamy Potatoes. This was one of the first recipes he posted from his Masala Farm book when we first became “friends”. The pics he shared just looked utterly divine.

Photo Courtesy of Masala Farm Cookbook by Chef Suvir Saran

Suvir is a fan of people making his recipes and telling him all about our experience making them and eating them… So here’s my experience with his recipe.

I’ll start with the caveat that I try to follow recipes as much as I can but I then start changing things here and there to make it easier on me, trying to sacrifice the least possible in flavor or texture. Suvir’s original recipe calls for par-boiling the potatoes before roasting them. I am guessing this is what gives the potatoes the “creamy” part in the title. I debated… but I just could not spend almost 2 hours making this dish. I was getting hungry… and time was of the essence.

Another thing… The original recipe also calls for roasting these potatoes on a cast-iron skillet in the oven. The exact same cast-iron skillet I do not own. And even though I do have skillets with metal handles that can go into the oven, when making this for one, the skillet would not fit my toaster oven, so that part of the recipe had to also be modified.

I am sure by now Suvir is probably saying – “Madelyn dear… this is no longer my recipe!” But I can tell you, the mixture of herbs, spices and roasting time makes for a delectable and mind-blowing dish!!!!! And you’ll even have left-over oil and garlic to make other dishes. And I have Suvir to thank for showing me how to combine ingredients and technique. That’s what a true Top Chef Master is all about. Thanks Suvir!!!!

Follow me into my interpretation of Suvir Saran’s Farmhouse Crispy-Creamy Potatoes …

3 HERBS ROASTED POTATOES

3 medium red potatoes

½ tsp Herbes de Provence

2 tbs butter

2 tbs canola oil

1 tbs olive oil

10-12 sage leaves

1 ½ sprig of rosemary

1 ½ sprig of thyme

1 head of garlic, with the top cut-off so the cloves are exposed

Salt and Freshly Cracked Black Pepper

1. Pre-heat oven to 350F.
2. In a skillet over medium heat on the stove, melt the butter with the oils. Add 5-6 sage leaves and one sprig of rosemary and thyme, each. Reserve the rest of the herbs… they’ll come into play a little later. Allow the butter and oils to get infused with the flavors of the herbs.
3. Meanwhile, cut the potatoes into 1 – 1 ½ inch cubes and place in a roasting pan or pyrex dish. Season with salt, pepper and Herbes de Provence. Massage the potatoes to make sure they’re all covered with the seasoning.
4. Carefully, remove the larger sprigs of herbs from the skillet and place them snuggly amongst the potatoes. Transfer the infused oil/butter mixture with all the sage leaves to coat the potatoes in the roasting dish. If possible, turn the potatoes a few times to make sure they’re all coated with the butter/oil mixture.
5. Place roasting pan in oven for 30 minutes.
6. After 30 minutes have elapsed, remove roasting pan from oven and add the garlic head. I divided it in two so the garlic love could be spread more evenly thru the dish. Snuggle the garlic amongst the potatoes. Add also the remaining sage leaves, rosemary and thyme. I removed the rosemary and thyme from the stem and cut them a bit to help me spread the love as well.
7. Return the pan to the oven and continue to roast until the potatoes are golden brown and crisp and the garlic is tender, for another 30 minutes. The original recipe calls for 30-45 additional minutes in the oven but I found that 30 minutes in the oven and turning it off after those 30 minutes and leaving the potatoes there to rest was good enough for me.
8. What I did… I turned the oven off and went off to meditate for 30minutes and the potatoes were ready and not too hot and ready to eat. Remove from the oven and serve immediately. As per Suvir’s recommendation, make sure you serve a few roasted garlic cloves along with each serving of potatoes.

These potatoes are AMAZING!!!! They are real show-stoppers!!!!! I had them with a side salad and the potatoes were the star of my plate. I can also see making these with some sautéed mushrooms or warm succotash vegetable salad.

I know I cut some corners in the preparation by not pre-boiling the potatoes, but red potatoes are still creamy and tender on the inside when roasted. They crisped up… maybe not the same way as in a cast-iron skillet, but the look and texture were incredible. A true restaurant-quality dish.

And the left-over oil, herbs and roasted garlic are incredible to sauté mushrooms the next day… a recipe that keeps on giving!!!! What else could we ask for???

Tags: food, Masala Farm, Suvir Saran, Top Chef Master, vegetarian