Back in 2019 (I can’t believe I’ve been doing this that long), I wrote about making home fries, because there wasn’t a recipe for it in the recipe book.
Then, in 2021, I wrote about making potato hash instead of frittata, again, because that’s what I wanted to make instead.
In both cases, I was convinced that what I wanted to make wasn’t available to me, and I was sort of right, but I was sort of wrong. Because last week, as I was looking through trying to figure out what to cook, I realized that this very basic recipe for Pan Roasted Potatoes was essentially what I had been tweaking all this years—potatoes in a cast iron pan on the stove with garlic, olive oil, and salt and pepper.
And in the hash-as-frittata post, I had done what my dad had wanted here, writing the following:
Also smattering of herbs—I chose rosemary and thyme, which, with the sweet potato, seemed very fall festive. (Typically, I do red or regular potatoes and parsley or cilantro as a garnish at the end.)
So I guess all this tweaking I thought I’d been doing over the years was really just here all along? [Cue the romantic music at the end of the film.]
Finally returning to where I started, I swore I would follow the recipe this time—which is mostly did, though I did avoid the winter-y herbs and went with parsley and dill at the very end once the potatoes were off the heat, because they were what I had and they were fresher for the season. I usually get antsy and move the cooked potatoes around a lot, but I let them sit. I crushed the garlic instead of dicing or garlic pressing it.
I even used the leftover oil in the still-hot cast iron to cook up some kale, all of which we served with this delicious chicken recipe. And look how they turned out—as delicious as ever, if slightly more beautiful because of my care, tenderness, and careful reading.
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