New Favorite Sides Part I: Hasselback Potatoes

A perfect day.  Just us.  Special trips to the store for ingredients.  Lots of time to cook.  A great bottle of wine.  And getting a good night sleep.

We were given some great quality sirloin strips.  AND Chris fixed our grill!  I can't believe how long we waited to fix it.  Chris is back to his manly self. :-)  I wanted to round off the perfect steak with a few sides, but not just any sides.


Debby at A Feast for the Eyes is a fellow food blogger who lives in Pacific Grove, my home town.  Being a close friend of my mother's, she's been my "blogger mom" through my foodie adventures of the last year.  I have her to thank for inspiration, spell checking, and encouragement.  Not to mention, HER BLOG IS FANTASTIC.  Please do visit!

When Debby did these Hasselback potatoes, I thought "they look so interesting!"  Almost like little spines, or a crustacean of some sort.  I learned a few fun tricks to these and they are just so cool looking!

New Favorite Sides Part 1: Hasselback Potatoes

Don't forget the garlic?!

4 red potatoes
2 tbls butter
2 tbls olive oil
2 cloves garlic
1 tbls chopped rosemary
grated Parmesan cheese
salt and pepper

Do you remember my little rosemary Christmas tree from the holidays?  See my holiday rolls.  Well the little guy is thriving outside.  And if you look closely you can see the tree behind it trying to bud because Spring is here... despite the rain.

Here's the new trick I learned: place the potato in a wooden spoon before cutting.

Carefully make slices about a quarter inch apart.  The spoon will prevent you from slicing all the way through.

Then for the garlic.  Throw a couple cloves into boiling water.  Remember that trick from this lovely side?

In they go about 5-6 seconds, just to get the skins loose.

Perfection and ease.

Slice them thin.

And I mean thin.

Place a slice of garlic between every few slits in the potato.

Bursting with garlic!!!  These are four happy potatoes!

Melt the butter and olive oil together.

Brush it on to the potatoes.

Sprinkle with the fresh rosemary, salt and pepper.

Bake at 400 degrees for an hour.  Then top with Parmesan cheese and finish for another 10 minutes.

Not your average spud.  Great for dressing up any meal.  Stay tuned to see the finished meal.