Sunday, May 17, 2009

Mediterranean Potatoes

Thanks to everyone for all your commiserations and good wishes after my recent illness. You are all so kind, and tolerant of my erratic posting and commenting. I’m afraid I’m still playing catch-up as I had an interview to do, and an assignment to write last week for Oklahoma Living. My editor had extended my deadline because of my recent bout of flu, but it was still a bit of a push to get it done in time. Sometimes the writing just refuses to flow. This piece was about a local mushroom farm – a fascinating place to visit – but tricky to write about.

Until I started doing research for this article, I had no idea what a complex process growing mushrooms is. If you’re interested you can take a short video tour of a mushroom farm here: http://www.mushroominfo.com/aboutmushrooms/howmushroomsgrow.html
The site also has lots of information about mushrooms, and some great recipes.

I did include a recipe for portabella burgers with the artcle, but this one was courtesy of Pam at:
http://fortheloveofcooking-recipes.blogspot.com/ Thanks so much for allowing me to use your recipe, Pam, you’re a brick.

Today’s recipe, however, contains no mushrooms. It’s based on a recipe I saw in the BBC Good Food newsletter for Spanish Potatoes, I changed it up a bit and called it Mediterranean Potatoes. These were super, the leftovers were also good cold, so you could serve them as a potato salad during the summer.

Mediterranean Potatoes


Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
4 tablespoons tomato paste
1 tablespoon paprika
A few dashes of hot sauce, Franks or Tabasco
2 lbs. russet potatoes, cut into chunks
1 bulb (head) of garlic, leave skin on but top and tail each clove.
Cracked black pepper, to taste
Juice of ½ a lemon
A handful of chopped parsley

Directions:

  • Put potatoes in a medium sized saucepan, cover with water and bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium high and par-boil for 4 –5 minutes or until potatoes are very slightly softened. Drain and allow to cool.
  • Pre-heat oven to 375°F
  • When potatoes are cool, mix olive oil, tomato paste, paprika, and hot sauce in a large bowl, add potatoes and stir to coat.
  • Add a tablespoon of vegetable oil to a roasting pan and heat in oven. When oil is hot carefully add potatoes and garlic cloves to pan, and season with cracked pepper.
  • Roast for about 40 minutes, turning half way through cooking, or until potatoes are crispy on the outside. Sprinkle over the lemon juice and roast for a further 5 minutes.
  • Transfer potatoes to a warm serving dish, sprinkle with parsley and serve.






11 comments:

Lyndas recipe box said...

Jan, these look so delicious! I love potatoes and this is a new way to try them. Thanks for posting this! I can't wait to try these!

Maria Verivaki said...

this is just how my husband likes his potatoes - perfect doneness

Pam said...

Oh Jan, these potatoes look amazing. My husband would love them because he LOVES Frank's Red Hot Sauce.

Thanks again for using my recipe for your article - you made my day.

Jason said...

Yummy, these do look quite tempting! I love the color too!

Paula said...

Oh my, I think that I would eat ALL of these. And then lick the plate! They look and sound scrumptious! Hope you are all recovered now, and congrats on completing your interview and article! :-)

Jennifer said...

That looks amazing, I love new tater recipes!

Donna-FFW said...

These potatoes sound incredible. I love the addition of the Red Hot Sauce. I am certain theyd be a hit here.

Lo said...

Those potatoes look fabulous! So glad I wandered over! They are not only gorgeous, but I can imagine they're tasty too.. definitely plenty of flavor there!

Glad you're feeling better too!

Sara said...

I love potatoes, I never tire of eating them. This looks like a great one to try!

Jan said...

Jan - Sorry to hear you've not been well recently {{hugs}}
I am really loving this potato recipe of yours!!!

Emily said...

I'm glad you're back. Hope you are doing well!

The potatoes look delicious. I love how much paprika they have in them. Yum!