Hasselback Potatoes with Sauce Verte

From Haute Potato, Jacqueline Pham, Adams Media, 2013.

I am familiar with the Swedish roast potato, the hasselback, but tend to forget about it when I am making roast potatoes so I was happy to be reminded of it when browsing through Haute Potato, a cookbook the purpose of which is to improve the bad reputation that potatoes frequently have by elevating their role.

I took two potatoes of a long shape rather than round, scrubbed them clean, and then placed them in a pot of salted water. This was brought to the boil and then simmered for about 7 minutes to parboil the potatoes. They were then taken out and let cool.

When the potatoes were cool they were carefully sliced though not right to the bottom so that there was a section of potato that held the slices to prevent them falling apart. The slices were made about 0.25cm where possible. The potatoes were now left to dry a little while garlic butter was prepared.

A garlic clove was peeled and added to a mortar with a little salt and some white pepper. The pestle was used to grind this to a paste that was then mixed with about a tablespoon of softened butter. A little olive oil was added to make the mixture more pliable. This was now brushed between the potato slices. A little salt was sprinkled over the potatoes and they went into a 200ºC oven for 45 minutes. The potatoes became crisp on the skin edges and the slices had opened up somewhat to reveal the white flesh inside.

The sauce verte was made while the potatoes were cooking. Into the blender went about a cup of chopped parsley, a garlic clove, a little salt, a gherkin, about a tablespoon capers and a little lemon juice. These were blended and pureed. Some Dijon mustard was stirred into the mix, it was tasted and proved to be ready.

The potatoes, of course, were wonderful as roast potatoes generally turn out to be and these had the addition of being cooked in butter and garlic and had a crisp, crunchy crust. The sauce was a flavour burst that was perfect for the potatoes.

Taste: ✔✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔