Greek Potatoes

mainstcuisine — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 15:17:26 +0000

Potatoes are always a favorite in our house, particularly with my husband. For years, I’ve roasted potatoes in every possible way and love to make them when he’s at the grill. They’re just easy and when guests are over, I can get them into the oven and then chat with my guests until they’re ready.

Some months back I was entertaining some girlfriends and served these potatoes to accompany grilled chicken and a salad of heirloom tomatoes. They were a hit and again simple to prepare.

I used small red-skinned potatoes in this recipe as you can see from the photo, but you may also want to try Yukon Golds.

Greek Potatoes Recipe

1 1/2 lbs red-skinned potatoes, washed and cubed

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 tsp dried oregano

1/2 tsp Kosher salt

freshly ground black pepper, to taste

14 cup homemade chicken stock

1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

2 tbsp fresh oregano, chopped

Method

Pre-heat oven to 400.

Toss potatoes in baking pan with olive oil, garlic, oregano, salt and pepper. Spread evenly in pan.

Roast potatoes for 15 minutes. Add chicken stock, tossing potatoes to evenly coat. Roast for an additional 10 minutes.

Increase temperature to 425. Add lemon juice, tossing potatoes to evenly coat. Roast for an additional 10 minutes. Edges should be golden and potatoes should be cooked through.

Servings: 4

For your kitchen consideration: A Potato Ricer

mainstcuisine — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 19:34:32 +0000

: The potato ricer from Kuhn Rikon.

Earlier this week I made mashed potatoes as a surprise for my husband. He’s your typical meat and potatoes guy. In fact he calls himself a “meatatarian.” So to accompany some pork chops I prepared mashed potatoes using a funny looking tool called a potato ricer. He was pretty happy and I have to admit: I love mashed potatoes.

But let me tell you a little bit about this interesting kitchen tool. About 11 years ago I was reading a magazine article that talked about obtaining the best consistency for mashed potatoes by using a potato ricer. No more big lumps or gluey texture. I promptly headed off to my nearest kitchen supply store and found a potato ricer for about $20.

Now the one that I use has these very long handles, which can make things a little difficult for pushing the cooked potato through the metal disk with the holes in it. It does deliver the wonderful bits of potato that can be gently mashed into potato perfection, but it does tap into your upper body strength (or lack of it).

Just recently, I stumbled across a great LA Times article in which staff writer, Leslie Brenner writes quite eloquently about the benefits of Kuhn Rikon’s potato ricer. She tested one from Oxo as well and found the former to be much easier to use. Just taking a quick look at the photo, you can see that the handles are shorter and it also has a storage place to hold the disks. I’m always misplacing mine.

I’ve added the link to Ms. Brenner’s article here: http://www.latimes.com/features/food/la-fo-tool19dec19,1,2860635.story?coll=la-headlines-food

Her article includes a fantastic recipe based upon an original recipe by well-known French chef, Joel Rubochon for mashed potato puree with fresh, black truffles. I think it may be worth trying especially with the holidays approaching.

Here’s some food for thought, the next time mashed potatoes are on your menu consider using Yukon Golds or thin-skinned red potatoes. Along with Russets these two varieties are wonderful mashed. In fact, the Yukon Golds have such a wonderful buttery taste, I think you can cut down on the butter and keep the ingredients simple by adding just warmed milk, butter, fresh ground black pepper and a little coarse salt to taste. I may have to run to the store to pick up some of those (along with steak) for tonight’s dinner!

Main St. Cuisine's Weblog » Yukon Gold

Greek Potatoes

For your kitchen consideration: A Potato Ricer