Hasselback Potatoes
I'm personally a very carnivorous human and I don't vote much for veges. But as mentioned by master chef Mr. Gordon Ramsey, vegetables can be far more rewarding than can be imagined if they are treated with some respect and given some attitude. This is one recipe that proved this concept to me.
The Hasselbacks are very easy to knock up and like my style of recipes are very versatile in preparation. All you need are some peeled potatoes, some melted butter, salt, pepper, an oven , a baking tray lined with baking paper and last but not the least your imagination!
The given quantities of the ingredients are not exact. Hence please feel free to adjust them to tantalize your pallet.
Ingredients:
- Potatoes - They should not be too large and should be somewhat round in shape
- Melted Butter - About 3 Table Spoons
- Salt
- Pepper - Freshly ground in to flakes and not in to dust!
- Cheddar Cheese - Grated, about a teaspoon per potato. This can be alternated with grated Parmesan as well
- Sour Cream - About one teaspoon per potato.
- Dried Oregano - Roughly 2 teaspoons
Method:
Peel the potatoes and submerge them in cold water until you start chopping them up. This will avoid them from going brown. Once peeled, get your chopping board out and lay two skewers parallel to each other on the board. you should be able to place a potato between the two skewers.
Now place a potato between the skewers and chop them making sure that the slices stay connected at the bottom. The skewers can easily be substituted with butter knives etc once you get the concept.
Once the chopping is done place each potato on the baking tray lined with baking paper with the chopped side up. At this point they will not look impressive at all. But wait! They are just getting started!!
Now brush each potato with the melted butter using a pastry brush or alike. Preheat the oven to 200 Celsius and place the baking tray in it. The cooking process it a three stage process with approximately 15 minutes spent on each stage.
Stage 1 (First 15 minutes elapsed) - Take the tray out of the oven and brush the potatoes with some of the remaining melted butter. Dust with some salt and pepper flakes and return to the oven.
Stage 2 (Second slot of 15 minutes elapsed) - Take the tray out once again and brush them with the remaining melted butter. Return to the oven.
Stage 3 (Third slot of 15 minutes elapsed) - Now comes the interesting part! Take the tray out of the oven and brush them with sour cream mixed with oregano. Sprinkle with some of the cheese of your choice and return to the oven for the final round or cooking. Leave them for 15 minutes more or until the potatoes are crisp on top and are soft inside.
Once the cooking is done take the potatoes out and let them cool on a metal rack briefly before dishing them out. The little creamy delights must be served warm as much as possible.
These little babies go very well with some baked or fried chicken, beef or pork and some of the cooking juices of the meat drizzled on them.
Easy dinner recipe.... done!
