Crisp Baby Yukon Gold Potatoes

I don’t know about you, but sometimes I have a hard time coming up with side dishes to accompany an entree, particularly when it comes to starches, even more particularly when it comes to something new or different. As a main dish is usually a good bit of work, I don’t want my side dishes to be trouble. I like to avoid trouble as often as I can.

Here is a super easy, tasty, and versatile way to prepare potatoes. It can be a tiny bit tedious putting them all face-down on your baking pan, but if you develop a rhythm, you can get that done pretty quickly, and that is the hardest part. These work well as a snack, particularly if you melt cheese on top before serving them. (Yum!) They work well with a hot sandwich with a side of ranch dip or ketchup, or, as you can see here, with an elegant chicken dinner. (The recipe for the chicken can be found here.)

Add this to your repertoire of potato recipes. It’s perfect for those last-minute meals.

Crisp Baby Yukon Gold Potatoes
Slightly adapted from Epicurious.com

1 1.5-lb. pkg. Melissa’s Baby Dutch Yellow Potatoes, halved
1 T. canola oil
½ t. dried thyme leaves
½ t. kosher salt
¼ t. freshly ground black pepper
Few gratings fresh nutmeg

Preheat oven to 450° F.

In a medium mixing bowl, toss potatoes with oil, thyme, salt, pepper, and nutmeg until coated. Arrange on a foil-lined baking sheet, cut side down. Roast potatoes until crisp and golden brown on the bottom, 25-30 minutes. Serve with ranch dressing, or your favorite dipper.

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Rustic Mashed Potatoes with Caramelized Onions

Every time I make mashed potatoes or, really, any potato dish at all, I think of a wonderful woman whom I had known all of my life, Betty Pitliangas, who passed away last summer. She was like a second mother to me, so the loss was particularly hard. Betty loved potatoes in any form. “Potatoes,” she would tell me, “are my favorite vegetable.” So I made sure that whenever I had her over for dinner I'd fix some potato dish that was really special. Last night I thought about her when I whipped up this company worthy version of mashed potatoes with caramelized onions. Betty was a great experimenter in the kitchen, and with my first bite I knew this was a dish of which she would heartily approve. It makes a tasty side dish, particularly with beef. It also served as an excellent base for the leftover Swedish Meatballs that I served on top. Mr. O-P is not at all a fan of mashed potatoes, but gobbled these right up.

Rustic Mashed Potatoes

with Caramelized Onions

1 medium onion, thinly sliced (I used a mandolin)

2 tablespoons butter

1 teaspoon malt vinegar (lacking this, you can use cider vinegar)

1 teaspoon granulated sugar

1-1/2 to 2 pounds Melissa's Baby Dutch Yellow Potatoes, scrubbed, but unpeeled

1/3 cup cream

1 tablespoon butter

Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

In a 9” saute pan, melt butter. Add thinly sliced onion and cook over medium high heat, stirring occasionally, until they become soft. Stir in the vinegar and sugar and continue to cook over medium heat until they have caramelized. While the onions are cooking, halve the potatoes and place them in a 2-quart saucepan and cover with water. Over medium-high heat, bring to a boil and cook until fork tender, 25-30 minutes. It helps to time things so that both onions and potatoes are ready at the same time, but if the onions get done beforehand, just turn off the heat and leave them on the warm burner.

When potatoes are fork tender, drain them, and return to the warm burner to allow for evaporation of excess water, a minute or so. You'll see a lot of steam come up during this process. Warm the milk and cream, and mash the potatoes in your preferred method, adding the melted butter and cream to yield a creamy texture. Fold in the caramelized onions and serve immediately.

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