Hasselback potatoes for NYE. Happy 2012!

I’ve been traveling around to see my family over the holidays, which means good home cooking and fun meals.


For our New Year’s Eve dinner, we had a roasted beef tenderloin, big soft rolls, lots of vegetables, and two utterly fabulous desserts – my mother’s lemon meringue pie and my aunt’s chocolate roulade with chantilly cream.


My contribution, in addition to horseradish and mustard cream sauces to accompany the beef, was Hasselback potatoes.

Hasselback potatoes aren’t new – according to lore (aka the internet), they were first prepared at the Hasselbacken restaurant in Stockholm over sixty years ago – but I’ve seen them popping up quite a bit lately (eg, Serious Eats has a grilled version, the Barefoot Contessa seasoned them with rosemary on a recent holiday special). 


Their striking presentation makes them a perfect addition to a holiday dinner, yet they’re fairly easy to make… just the sort of side dish I like!  The key is to slice the potatoes into thin slices without cutting all the way through; a good trick, from Cook’s Country, is to set each potato between a pair of chopsticks while making the slices, to keep the knife from cutting through.  When the potato bakes, the slices fan apart slightly for an accordion-like look.

These would be good with all sorts of different flavor combinations; I used crushed garlic and thyme.  If you prefer, you could try Parmesan, chives, rosemary, sliced garlic, breadcrumbs, etc.  


Happy New Year – I hope it’s filled with happiness and, of course, great food!


Hasselback potatoes
8 medium Yukon Gold potatoes
1/3 cup olive oil
2 tbsp fresh thyme leaves
3 cloves garlic, put through press
1/2 tsp salt


Preheat oven to 425 degrees.


Scrub potatoes well.  Slice off a small portion of the bottom of each potato so that it sits flat.  Rest potato between two chopsticks and make about 1/4 inch slices along its length, making sure not to cut all the way through.


In a large bowl, combine oil, thyme, garlic, and salt.  Coat each potato in the oil, ensuring that some of the mixture coats all of the cut surfaces and tucking some of the garlic and thyme in between the slices.


Place potatoes on a baking sheet and roast for 40 minutes, or until potatoes are tender.