Taters and not so healthy (but delicious) sides

Scalloped Yukon Gold and Sweet Potato Gratin with Fresh Herbs - pictured

· 1 1/2 pounds medium Yukon Gold potatoes

· 1 1/2 pounds medium red-skinned sweet potatoes (yams)

· 2 cups heavy whipping cream

· 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter

· 2 garlic cloves, minced

· 1 tablespoon minced fresh Italian parsley

· 1 tablespoon minced fresh rosemary

· 1 tablespoon minced fresh sage

· 1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme

· 1 1/2 teaspoons fine sea salt

· 3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

· 1 1/4 cups (packed) coarsely grated Gruyére cheese (about 5 ounces)

· 3 slices bacon

Fill a large bowl with cold water. Working with 1 Yukon Gold potato at a time, peel, then cut into 1/8-inch-thick rounds and place in bowl with water. Repeat with sweet potatoes. 

Combine cream, butter, and garlic in medium saucepan; bring to simmer. Remove from heat. Mix all herbs in small bowl. Mix sea salt and black pepper in another small bowl. 

Butter 13x9x2-inch glass baking dish. Drain potatoes, then pat dry with kitchen towels. Transfer half of potatoes to prepared baking dish. Use hands to distribute and spread evenly. Sprinkle with half of salt-pepper mixture, then half of herb mixture. Sprinkle with half of cheese. Repeat with remaining potatoes, salt-pepper mixture, herb mixture, and cheese. Pour cream mixture over gratin, pressing lightly to submerge potato mixture as much as possible. 

DO AHEAD: Can be made 6 hours ahead. Cover with plastic wrap and chill. Remove plastic wrap before baking. 

Cook bacon until crisp. Drain and let cool, then crumble and add to top of potato mixture.

Preheat oven to 400°F. Cover gratin tightly with foil. Bake 30 minutes. 

Uncover; bake until top of gratin is golden and most of liquid is absorbed, about 25 minutes longer. Let stand 10 minutes; serve.

The Best Crispy Roast Potatoes Ever Recipe

This is adapted from a recipe by J. Kenji López-Alt.  

If you only own one cookbook, it ought to be The Food Lab by JKLA.  The recipes are great and stuff you will really want to eat.  The explanations are thorough and the experimentation behind them is really enlightening.  He’s a genius – with a sense of humor! Kinda like YOPP.

There are lots of great cooks in Your Old Pal Pete’s house.  Daughter MJ turned us on to KJLA’s cookbook and we are forever grateful – thanks kiddo!

• Kosher salt

• 1/2 teaspoon (4g) baking soda – this is where the genius of KJLA comes in, see below for some ‘splainin

• 4 pounds (about 2 kg) russet or Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cut into quarters, sixths, or eighths, depending on size (see note)

• 5 tablespoons (75ml) extra virgin olive oil (Note: if you are adventurous, KJLA suggests duck fat, goose fat, or beef fat for interesting flavors)

• Small handful picked fresh rosemary leaves, finely chopped – dried rosemary can work too but fresh herbs are always best if you can get them

• 3 medium cloves garlic, minced

• Freshly ground black pepper

• Small handful fresh parsley leaves, minced

Adjust oven rack to center position and preheat oven to 450°F/230°C (or 400°F/200°C if using convection). 

Heat 2 quarts (2L) water in a large pot over high heat until boiling. Add 2 tablespoons kosher salt (about 1 ounce; 25g), baking soda, and potatoes and stir. Return to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and cook until a knife meets little resistance when inserted into a potato chunk, about 10 minutes after returning to a boil.

Meanwhile, combine olive oil, duck fat, or beef fat with rosemary, garlic, and a few grinds of black pepper in a small saucepan and heat over medium heat. 

Cook, stirring and shaking pan constantly, until garlic just begins to turn golden, about 3 minutes. Immediately strain oil through a fine-mesh strainer set in a large bowl. Set garlic/rosemary mixture aside and reserve separately.

When potatoes are cooked, drain carefully and let them rest in the pot for about 30 seconds to allow excess moisture to evaporate. Transfer to bowl with infused oil, season to taste with a little more salt and pepper, and toss to coat, shaking bowl roughly, until a thick layer of mashed potato–like paste has built up on the potato chunks.

Transfer potatoes to a large, rimmed baking sheet and separate them, spreading them out evenly. Transfer to oven and roast, without moving, for 20 minutes. Using a thin, flexible metal spatula to release any stuck potatoes, shake pan and turn potatoes. Continue roasting until potatoes are deep brown and crisp all over, turning and shaking them a few times during cooking, 30 to 40 minutes longer.

Transfer potatoes to a large bowl and add garlic/rosemary mixture and minced parsley. Toss to coat and season with more salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately.

Some wisdom from KJLA:  The potatoes should be cut into large chunks, at least 2 to 3 inches or so. For medium-sized Yukon Golds, this means cutting them in half crosswise, then splitting each half again to make quarters. For larger Yukon Golds or russets, you can cut the potatoes into chunky sixths or eighths. 

Large chunks of potato maximize the contrast between exterior and interior.

Parboiling the potatoes in alkaline water breaks down their surfaces, creating tons of starchy slurry for added surface area and crunch.

The choice of oil, duck fat, goose fat, or beef fat means you can get whichever flavor you want.

Infusing the oil or fat with garlic and herbs gives the potato crust extra flavor.

The boiling and roughing-up steps are the real keys. They create a thin slurry of mashed potato that clings to the surface of the potato chunks, which ends up crisping beautifully in the oven as the potatoes roast. 

Pectin begins to break down at around 183°F (84°C), but its breakdown is also greatly affected by the relative pH of the cooking medium. The lower the pH (i.e., the more acidic), the less it breaks down. Conversely, the higher the pH (the more alkaline), the faster it breaks down.

Sweet potato hash browns - One good meat side dish for breakfast or any meal

· Six slices of bacon, chopped

· 3 T olive oil

· Two medium to large sweet potatoes – peeled and shredded or chopped into ¼ inch cubes

· 1 shallot, finely chopped

· 3 cloves garlic, crushed

· ½ t cumin

In a 13-inch saute pan over medium-high heat, add the bacon and olive oil. When the oil heats and the bacon begins to sizzle, add the sweet potatoes and spread out as much as possible to allow the potatoes to rest in the pan in 1 layer. 

Leave the potatoes to cook until a quick toss reveals browning on the side in contact with the pan, about 5 minutes. Continue to toss and let stand until most sides of the potatoes are golden and the bacon bits are crisp, 3 to 5 minutes longer. Then add the onions, garlic, cumin and season with a nice pinch of salt and a grind or 2 of pepper. 

Cook the same way, allowing everything to sit in the heat of the pan for 5 minutes or so. You will need some discipline because it will smell so good but waiting a few more minutes to get everything more crisp is time well spent.

Usually sweets are not good for you but sweet potatoes are healthier than regular spuds because they have more fiber, a lower glycemic index and more minerals and vitamins. In this recipe they are really great with the smokiness of the bacon and cumin is perfect with sweet potatoes so this has a really nice, interesting flavor profile.

You can substitute a half-pound or so of breakfast sausage instead of bacon. We also added a chopped red or yellow pepper and that was good, too.