Featured in Tastespotting.com on 12th Oct 2012
I’ll admit the only reason I made this is because it looks so cool. Like an armadillo or a fat fan or an accordion. A restaurant in Stockholm invented these and hence they took on the moniker of the restaurant. (The restaurant was called Hasslebacken!). I like fancy looking food, but I don’t really have the patience to make it look fancy. That’s why I’m always envious of pastry chefs. How many hours of practice and restraint does rolling out a perfect sugared rose take?! When you look at a hassleback potato you’re thinking it involves a fair bit of work. Well, it involves some work, but nothing more than slicing and stuffing. On a day when the whole of Bangalore was cooped indoors because of the bandh – I figured I might as well give it a go. The final product is a potato that is crisp on the outside and soft in the middle. Almost like soft crisps. (Oxymoron, I know!). Also since it’s mostly served with Sour Cream, you’ll be safe no matter how it turns out!
P.S. Yes, I’m exactly like Monica Geller in this situation – I will be friends with the foreign student if it means I get to eat sour cream everyday! (The last line is for those fools who used the TV show friends as role model behavior for most of the 90’s and 00’s – that fool includes me!)
Hassleback Potatoes
Prep time: 10 mins
Baking time: 45 mins
Serves: 4
What you need:
4 Med Potatoes, washed and scrubbed clean
4 Garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 Tbsp Butter, melted
1 Tbsp Olive oil
Salt and Black Pepper to taste
Sour cream and fresh Herbs to garnish
½ Cup shredded Cheddar Cheese (optional)
What to do:
Preheat the oven to 200°C. Make slits in the potato that don’t go all the way through the bottom. (Think Accordion people). Slice garlic thinly and insert slices into every other slit. Place potatoes in a baking dish and pour melted butter and oil over them. (I used a pastry brush to evenly spread the same).
Bake for 45 mins. Check for doneness at 35-40 mins. Remove from oven, transfer onto a serving plate. Season with salt and pepper. Spoon sour cream and garnish with fresh herbs like cilantro or chives. It’s a wonderful accompaniment to your meat main course.
Another way to enjoy it by itself, is to sprinkle grated cheese over it in the last 5 mins of baking. When the cheese gets all bubbly and melty, remove from oven and serve as an indulgent snack. (Ahem.. if you want to give yourself a cardiac arrest, spoon some sour cream over the melted cheese – we live once … I say go ahead!)
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Love the dessert spoon idea! Thanks Radha 🙂
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Nigella Lawson tells you to put the potato in a dessert spoon and slice them. The knife will hit the spoon and you know that you cannot cut further. Another site suggested to slit the potatoes and put them in cold water to which a little salt has been added so that the slits widen making it easier to drop the garlic in them. Some have put in a sprig of rosemary in each potato. Though I like the flavour I decided not to add it. Your recipe was pretty perfect and the pictures were great.
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wow! Good on you Radha… better late than never, I always say.. he he he. Glad your daughter enjoyed it! Any changes / suggestions for the recipe?
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Finally made this and posted it. My daughter loved it.
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That looks so so gorgeous !
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yummy:)
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Bookmarked. Have to try it at least this once!
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