Garlic and Herb Potato Stacks

This Saturday we traveled to the far Northwestern corner of New Jersey to recycle a few large household items. There are only two days a year when you can drop certain things off and under the gun to get there before closing time, we started our weekend by getting lost, thanks to our Garmin, which for some ungodly reason, would not except the destination address correctly and sent us into God's country. The Nudge had no choice but to ask directions at a local gas station.

NW New Jersey is horse and farm country. Our annual State Fair is actually held at a horse farm and competition site and in the summer it is home to a large farmer's market. Once we took care of the recycling, The Nudge drove me to the fair grounds to see what's in season.

I bought a wonderful bunch of golden beets (and the greens were pristine for sauteing), a head of romanesco broccoli, white corn, oak leaf lettuce, and the cutest little baby potatoes. I know my Shop-Rite has bagged baby potatoes but I never know how old they are (I expect months sometimes) and these puppies were dug the day before.

When I saw this recipe in a little obscure quarterly magazine on-line, I just had to make them. Now I had premo potatoes.

Last night was the perfect time. I planned on a grilled spatchcocked chicken, the corn on the grill with the chicken and a batch of potato stacks.

This dish reminds me of a cross between Hasselback Potatoes and Pommes Anna but much more flavor.

I have a confession to make. I am not a potato person. I do get a hankering for a over-baked, baked potato with lots of butter and sour cream from time to time. You know the ones I am talking about. They come wrapped in foil, sometimes a prisoner of a warming oven for hours, but the starchy interior is something I can never obtain at home, so I don't try.

Two things I liked about this recipe, portion control and ease of preparation.

They are baked in a muffin pan, each one is equivalent to one potato, perfect for a buffet (and transports well), and if you can't find good baby potatoes (like me) just use regular Idaho potatoes and a Texas muffin pan. The slices need a bit of air space around them to properly crisp around the edges but small enough to contain the heat to bake to perfection.

Although there is a basic list of ingredients, you can up the herbs, double the garlic or keep them plain. Either way, they are delicious.

Remember to save 1/4 cup cheese for topping (I was bad and didn't read the directions before dumping all the cheese into the mixing bowl).



Garlic and Herb Potato Stacks
Adapted from Raleys.com
Makes 12 Stacks

* 1 pound Yukon gold potatoes (2" in diameter)
* 3/4 pound red potatoes (2" in diameter)
* 3/4 cup finely shredded Dry Jack (Romano or Asiago works well), divided
* 1/4 cup butter, melted (I halved it with Meyer Lemon olive oil)
* 2 tablespoons fresh herbs (such as rosemary, thyme and sage)
* 1 tablespoon spicy-brown mustard
* 3/4 teaspoon Steakhouse pepper (coarse ground)
* 1/2 teaspoon sea salt (I used a smoked sea salt)
* 4 cloves garlic, minced

1. Preheat oven to 400° (I baked mine in my toaster oven) and spray 12 muffin cups with nonstick spray.
2. Cut potatoes into very thin slices (using a handheld mandolin), discarding rounded ends.
3. Place in a large bowl with 1/2 cup cheese, butter, herbs, mustard, pepper, salt and garlic. Mix well with your hinds, separating potato slices so that all are as evenly coated with mixture as possible. Get your kids to do this.
4. Stack slices in prepared muffin cups. Scrape bowl to remove all butter mixture and spoon over stacks, top with remaining 1/4 cup cheese.
5. Bake for 20 minutes, uncovered, then tent with foil and bake for 20-25 minutes more or until potatoes are tender when pierced with a sharp knife.

Nutrition per serving:
120 calories
7g total fat
12g carbs
1 g fiber
1 g sugar
18 mg cholesterol
180 mg sodium