Weekend Herb Blogging #104

It's the huge 2 years celebration for Weekend Herb Blogging and Kalyn has asked that we do something a little different - we're to post a recipe that has at least one vegetable and herb and to also vote for our favourite herb and vegetable.

I thought I'd take a subtle approach in regard to my favourite vegetable



Okay, so I need to work on my idea of subtlety but my enthusiasm is certainly understandable when you feast an eye on just a few of these potato-centric dishes I've made on this blog



For its sheer versatility, you're able to boil, steam, bake, braise, bbq, stew, mash, roast and sauté, turn it into pasta and even make the most scrumptious potato and chocolate cake. The range of species makes sure there's a potato to suit every need and it even comes in colours!

So yes, my vote for favourite vegetable must go to that ever humble spud.

Naturally the recipe I'll be making uses potatoes and since I don't have an oven I had to make something I could do on the stove top.

One of the herbs that just loves potato is rosemary.



With these two ingredients and some garlic cloves I'm able to make pan roasted potatoes, just like my mother makes and probably how she made them here in Italy.



Pan-roasted Potatoes with Rosemary and Garlic

Potatoes
fresh rosemary sprigs
garlic cloves, unskinned
olive oil
salt and freshly ground black pepper

For this dish I've used these Italian Yellow Potatoes



peel them and then cut them into even sized chunks.



Combine with the unpeeled garlic cloves, a grinding of salt and black pepper and drizzle over a little olive oil to coat and toss well.

Heat up a skillet and add a little more oil in the pan along with the sprigs of rosemary and under a gentle heat bring it up to temperature - the rosemary should start to sizzle.

Add the potatoes, tossing them through the oil and rosemary and allow them the colour on one side before tossing it again. If they are browning too quickly, then turn down the heat and deglaze the pan with a little white wine - place a lid on the skillet and let them steam.

The time taken will depend on how large you've cut them - these took around 20 minutes to make. The end product should be soft on the inside with a nice crispy crust on the outside.



You'll also find that the garlic cloves will have softened nicely during this time and can squeezed out of their skins - this is especially good if serving the potatoes with a meat dish.

Tagged with Weekend Herb Blogging