Recipe: Accordion Potatoes

Recipe: Accordion Potatoes

It has been brought to my attention that I have been writing a bit too much about chocolate. As if there’s such a thing.

However, I don’t want to give you a false impression of my eating habits, so I will change the topic (briefly) to non-chocolate things. Since woman cannot live by chocolate alone, I (occasionally) make other foods. In fact, I baked potatoes last week. See…

When I came across a recipe for Accordion Potatoes in Laura Calder’s French Taste: Elegant Everyday Eating, I was intrigued. Not only were they attractive, they reminded me of the potatoes my mom used to make. We had no name for them, but I loved their scored surface. To make the Nameless Potatoes, mom cut them in half horizontally, scored the exposed potato flesh in a tic-tac-toe pattern, spread on a little butter, and then sprinkled them with salt, pepper and paprika. Once baked, the scored sections popped open, giving boring old potatoes a waffled surface no eight-year-old could resist.

Calder’s version is more grown-up. While bay leaves and thyme replace the paprika and deep vertical scores produce a more dramatic effect, the premise is the same – playing with your food. Best of all, unlike my uncooperative salted caramel apples, this fun food is easy to make. As long as you don’t cut all the way through the potato, you can’t go wrong.

Is there any fun food you like to make? Or is the cold weather making me abnormally whimsical?

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Recipe: Accordion Potatoes

Summary: Also called Hasselback Potatoes, this herb-stuffed variation is a fun and delicious way to serve plain old spuds. This version was adapted from Laura Calder’s French Taste: Elegant Everyday Eating, published by HarperCollins.

Ingredients

  • 2 pounds medium baking potatoes
  • Bay leaves
  • Fresh thyme sprigs
  • Salt (kosher works well)
  • Fresh black pepper
  • 2 Tbsp olive or cold-pressed canola oil
  • 2 Tbsp melted butter

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 375°F.
  2. With the potato lying on its side, make vertical cuts no wider than your baby finger into the potato from the top to about 3/4 of the way down. Do not cut all the way through the potato. (If, like me, you do cut all the way through, just pin the pieces together with a tooth pick.)
  3. Slip bay leaves and sprigs of thyme between a few of the slices in each of the potatoes.
  4. Place the potatoes on a rimmed baking sheet ensuring they don’t touch each other.
  5. Combine the oil and melted butter. Drizzle them mixture over the potatoes.
  6. Sprinkle  the tops with salt and fresh cracked black pepper.
  7. Bake for 45 to 60  minutes or until the potatoes are cooked and the skin is crisp and golden. Baking time varies with the size of the potato and the thickness of the slices, so keep an eye on them after the 45 minute mark.

Variations

Try garlic and rosemary.

Cooking time (duration): 45-60

Diet type: Vegetarian

Diet (other): Gluten free

Number of servings (yield): 4

Meal type: dinner

My rating: 4 stars:  ★★★★☆ 1 review(s)

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14 Comments
  • cesibon
    Posted at 11:01h, 11 February

    These delicious things are also called Hasselback potatoes-yum! I have also used the same method to bake yams/sweet potatoes-also very yum!

  • Charmian Christie
    Posted at 11:07h, 11 February

    Hasselback? Love that name! Thanks so much for letting me know the alternative name AND that you can do this with sweet potatoes. Oh, I sense some Hasselback Sweet Potatoes on the menu soon.

  • sippitysup
    Posted at 11:33h, 11 February

    These potatoes always intrigue me but I have never made them. Your look extra enticing too. GREG

  • Judith Rutty Godfrey
    Posted at 14:18h, 11 February

    I am absolutely making these tonight! I’m wondering how they might be with rosemary and garlic between the slices???? The possibilities are endless no? My favorite fun food to make is also reminiscent of childhood–popovers! I still love watching through the oven glass as they ‘pop’! And did I mention that they must be slathered with butter that melts and drips off your fingers?

  • Charmian Christie
    Posted at 14:27h, 11 February

    Thanks, Greg. Everyone seems to have known about these but me. If you do try them, I hope they live up to your expectations.

  • Charmian Christie
    Posted at 14:31h, 11 February

    Oh, Judith, rosemary and garlic would be amazing! Possibly even better. Please report back.

    Popovers? I haven’t heard of them in years. Mom never made them, but I can imagine the fun of watching them “pop”. I used to beg her to buy JiffyPop because it was “as much fun to make as it is to eat.” I think your buttery popover would beat Jiffy by a country mile.

  • Jacqui
    Posted at 17:51h, 11 February

    I want to try your mum’s tic tac toe potatoes!
    And I’ve been meaning to make some popovers ever since I had an amazing popover sandwich at a tiny cafe in NYC.
    Nice one, C.

  • Judith Rutty Godfrey
    Posted at 13:06h, 12 February

    Made the awesome Accordion Potatoes last night, delish, delsih! I made a garlic, rosemary, S&P paste to slide in between the slices and when baked, they received a sprinkling of crumbled gorgonzola. Fabulous and pretty! Thanks again Charmian.

  • Charmian Christie
    Posted at 14:24h, 12 February

    Tic Tac Toe Potatoes. Of course! Finally, we have a name for them. Thanks, Jacqui. And that popover sandwich sounds illegally good.

  • Charmian Christie
    Posted at 14:26h, 12 February

    Oh, that sounds divine. I just love when people take a recipe idea and run with it. I’m definitely going to try the garlic/rosemary combo next time, but perhaps with a bit of lemon rind added to the mix.

    Thanks for reporting back! Wish I could have been at your table.

  • amish baby cribs
    Posted at 22:48h, 14 February

    Lovely potatoes! They are so cute and I bet these are all so tasty!

  • Charmian Christie
    Posted at 11:18h, 16 February

    Thanks. They’re quite tasty and infinitely versatile.

  • Nicole
    Posted at 13:09h, 14 March

    I made these potatoes recently for a Mad Hatter-themed tea party my sister had since they kinda look like caterpillars. These were one of the easiest things to make on the menu and everyone loved these more than anything else! Thanks for the recipe~

    I was afraid of putting too many bay leaves in the potatoes, so I alternated slots, but I won’t do that next time. I could really tell the difference between the well flavored bay leaf slices and the ones without the leaves.

    You can see pics from the tea party here: http://discojing.com/photos/2-19-11-mad-hatter-tea-party/

  • Charmian Christie
    Posted at 09:19h, 17 March

    What a great idea! They DO look like caterpillars. I am now regretting not calling them caterpillar potatoes and giving them a top hat and cane. I popped by your photos and just love the over-sized top hat your friend was wearing. Looks like you had a blast.

    Thanks for taking the time to let me know how your potatoes turned out and sharing how many herbs you used. Very helpful!