Cookbook review by Tracey Zabar
Delight your guests with these adorable potatoes. The use of a chopstick to prevent you from cutting each potato all the way through is brilliant—I used two, one in front and one behind. Happy Thanksgiving!
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Recipe for Hasselback Potatoes with Butter & Sage from The Vegetable by Caroline Griffiths and Vicki Valsamis
Serves 4
50 g (1¾ oz) butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 garlic cloves, finely sliced
Small handful of sage leaves
8 small royal blue or other roasting or all-purpose potatoes, about 1 kg (2lbs, 3 oz) in total, left unpeeled
Sea salt, for sprinkling
20 g (¼ cup) coarse fresh breadcrumbs
2 tablespoons finely grated parmesan
Malt vinegar, for drizzling (Optional)
Preheat oven to 400 F
Scrub the potatoes well and set aside to dry
In a small saucepan, gently heat the butter, oil, garlic until foaming. Add the sage leaves and cook, stirring for about 2 minutes, or until leaves are crisp and the garlic is just starting to brown lightly. Remove from the heat. Using a slotted spoon, remove the garlic and sage and drain on paper towel.
Place an unpeeled potato on a chopping board and rest a chopstick next to it, lengthwise, on the side closest to you. Using a sharp knife, make thin parallel cuts (¼") intervals through the potato, down to about three-quarters of the way through, or until you hit the chopstick. The chopstick will stop you cutting all the way through. The closer the cuts, the crispier the result – a great opportunity to practice your knife skills!
Place cut potatoes in a large roasting pan, sliced side up. Brush generously with about half of the browned butter mixture. Sprinkle with sea salt and fresh ground pepper.
Bake for 30 mins, then remove from the oven and brush with the remaining butter mixture, ensuring you get plenty in between the slices. Return to the oven for an additional 20 mins, then sprinkle with the breadcrumbs and parmesan.
Bake for final 10-15 min or until golden and crisp on the outside, and tender in the center. Serve immediately, scattered with the crispy sage leaves and garlic, and sprinkled with a drizzle of vinegar, if you like.
Excerpted from The Vegetable. Copyright © 2017 Caroline Griffiths and Vicki Valsamis. Photographs Copyright © 2017 Chris Middleton.
