There are a lot of seasonings, but not too much.

Difficulty: 1/5

Ingredient Availability: 5/5

Time: 40 minutes

I love potatoes. I love them so much that I often do not mind eating fries with no seasoning, refusing to add ketchup or other sauces. I personally do not find ketchup a good companion for potatoes. Anyway, before I lose you, this recipe has a really neat trick to that makes good potatoes even easier than I thought possible before. On top of that, it’s made on the stove rather than in the oven. Most crispy potato recipes that I’ve ever seen are done either in the oven or in a deep fryer. Roasting is a pretty sure way to get crispy ones, but it often takes at least an hour. This recipe can be made in less than half that time. With all that in mind, I had pretty high hopes for this recipe.

Key Ingredients and Omissions:

I didn’t omit anything that wasn’t optional. However, I wish I did have the optional rosemary, thyme, and garlic to infuse the oil and butter before cooking the potatoes.

1. This recipe is way too simple to have this section. Perhaps the choice of potato is important, as a starchy potato will brown much better than a waxy one. I used Russets.
   

Tools:

• Microwave

• Sharp Knife

• Skillet/Pan

Cooking Review:

Potato Prep: 25 minutes (includes time to cool potatoes)

The so called trick in this recipe is that the potatoes are cooked most of the way through in the microwave before being cooked in the skillet. Of course, you can steam them or bake them instead, but when you want potatoes ASAP, why not do what’s quickest? So, after I had peeled and quartered the potatoes, I microwaved them for 4 minutes. While I let them cool, I combined the spices so that they’d be ready for the skillet all at once. I then cut the potatoes into smaller pieces.

Cooking Potatoes: 15 Minutes

This step is hardly cooking, especially since I had already microwaved the potatoes. Instead of regular olive oil, I used some olive oil that had been used in a turkey confit along with the butter that this recipe calls for. After the butter had melted, I put in some oregano, in hopes to add a little more flavor to the end product. Once the oregano had begun to sizzle, I removed it and added in the potatoes along with the seasonings. From there, I mainly just stirred and tossed everything every for a few minutes to get even browning. I decided to add some minced garlic about 5 minutes in, but I should have held off even longer, as the garlic did get a little darker than I would’ve liked. I cooked mine a little longer than what the recipe said because I like my taters on the crispier side.

Analysis:

Full disclosure, I made this recipe once before this and they were honestly some of the best potatoes I’d ever had. With that being said, the infusion of the thyme, rosemary, and garlic really does make a difference. While these potatoes were tender and tasted pretty good, they weren’t as good as the first time, where I included the optional step. You can tell that the seasonings work well together and just needed to be a little bit stronger this time. Be sure to be generous with your pinch of salt. It’s a lot of potatoes you’re cooking, so don’t be afraid of the salt. Also, despite me cooking them a little longer than what the recipe suggested, they still weren’t as crispy as I would’ve liked. All in all, I’m giving this recipe a 7/10. If I were to rate is purely from my memory of the first time I made it, I probably would’ve given it a 10/10. Because there was such a noticeable difference between the two attempts, it really shows how much of a difference the chef and day makes. The recipe has the potential to be great, but on an off day it’s just pretty good.