Herb Garlic Roasted Potatoes

 I know that it’s been awhile since I’ve posted anything on my blog. I was home for a few weeks and don't do a whole lot of cooking while I'm there....I spend most of my time eating out with family and friends. Now that I’ve been back at Micheal’s, we’ve been on the go practically every day and eating out, at least one meal and sometimes two, on those days. We still have takeout containers in the fridge from the meals that I couldn't finish and some leftover pizza. I have only cooked once and that was scrambled eggs for breakfast last Saturday.  I told Michael that we have to stay home today and tomorrow so I can get some cooking done....before the groceries that we bought on Sunday have to be tossed.

I had a can of crab in the fridge that was in need of use before it spoiled so decided to prepare Michael’s favorite food…crab cakes. I usually serve fried potatoes with the crab cakes but was beginning to feel that I had done those to death and wanted something different. I had noticed an interesting looking recipe in the Winter 2010 edition of the Penzeys Spice catalog and had been planning on making that for several weeks but never seemed to be able to get around to it. Today I had the time and inclination to make the above mentioned potatoes.

Herb Garlic Roasted Potatoes
Print Recipe

2 heads of garlic
5-6 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
1/2 teaspoon thyme, crushed
1/4 teaspoon sweet paprika
6 large Idaho baking potatoes

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Slice the tops of the garlic off, and brush with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil. Wrap in foil and bake for 45-60 minutes or until browned and fragrant. Let cool slightly. Push out the garlic cloves into a bowl. Add 1 tablespoon olive oil , salt, pepper, thyme and paprika. Mash with the back of a spoon until it resembles a thick paste. Add a bit more oil if it is too stiff.

Turn the oven up to 425 degrees F. Slice each potato into 3 or 4 thick slices. Spread generous amounts of the garlic paste between each slice and put the potatoes back together. Press them so they stick together. Put each potato on a piece of foil and drizzle with 1-2 teaspoons of oil. Sprinkle with a bit more salt and pepper to taste on top. Wrap tightly. Bake on a cookie sheet at 425 degrees F for 1 hour. Check to see that the potatoes are soft and have a caramelized crust on the bottom. If not, put them back in the oven for 10 to 15 minutes more. It really depends on how large the potatoes are. Serve whole smaller potatoes or several slices of larger potatoes to everyone. This recipe can be doubled or halved easily depending on how many people you have at your table.

Serves 6-10

Note:  Garlic mash can be made the day before and store it in the fridge. Take it out and let it come to room temperature  before adding to the potatoes just before cooking.

Cut top off of the garlic bulb/head

Brush with olive oil

Wrap in aluminum foil and put in oven to roast. After about 30-40 minutes I could really smell the garlic...yum!

Garlic after it has roasted for 60  minutes.

Squeeze garlic into a small bowl

Add olive oil

Add salt

Pepper

Thyme - I know...the picture is a bit blurry and the color is off.  I usually take a couple of pictures of each step but didn't this time.

Paprika. So....have you noticed that I'm left handed? It's really kinda of nice for a change because I have to hold the camera in my right hand in order to snap the pictures.

Mash the garlic until the mixture becomes a paste

The garlic mash....yummy. I think I may prepare this sometime when I'm roasting a chicken or turkey or it could even be used on fish.

Using potatoes that have had a very good scrubbing, cut into three or four slices.

Spread with garlic mash

Drizzle with olive oil

Sprinkle on some salt (I used kosher salt) and pepper....makes the skin taste soooo good.

Wrap each potato in aluminum foil, place on a baking sheet and bake for an hour. I had to add five minutes to mine since they were so big.

These potatoes were very good! The garlic had a nice mellow flavor due to the fact that it had been roasted, I could taste the thyme, which went well with our crab cakes since they had thyme in them too. I even ate the skin and I rarely eat the skin of a baked potato.

I'm so glad that I made the whole recipe instead of cutting it by half as I had originally planned.....I can use the leftover for home fries tomorrow. They should be awesome!

Michael said this was the best meal we've had all week. Gotta love him....he knows how to keep the cook in a good mood.