This Week’s Recipe: Braised Potatoes

Why Braised Potatoes?

This recipe may not sound that appealing or mouth watering, but try it and the smell and taste at the dinner table will be enough to win you over and craving more.

Just for the sceptical cooks out there, close your eyes and imagine bay leaf scented stock filling the air with a continuous hint of buttery roasting potatoes. Eating them is even better. The perfect mixture of tender golden potatoes, tasting rich and robust from the stock and aromatics, with deliciously roasted crisp edges from the ones that sat at the top - not to be forgetting the caramelised ones that cooked on the bottom dish.

This recipe is dead simple with the flavour of the potatoes making it what works so well. Use a waxy potato such as nicolas and kipflers that are in season (in Australia late January till begging of March) and I am sure you will be hooked.

Serve them with something simple, trust me; you will want the potatoes to shine by themselves.

Ingredients
800g waxy potatoes (such as nicolas, kipflers and dutch creams)
400ml good quality chicken or beef stock
3 dried bay leaves
2-3 sprigs thyme
20g butter, diced
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 lemon, zested
1/4 cup flat leaf parsley, optional
Salt
Pepper

Method
Preheat oven to 180 Degrees Celsius.

Scrub and wash the potatoes to remove any dirt (I find warm water best for this as mud and dirt often contain some oils). Leaving the skin on cut the potatoes in half or quartes depending on their size.

Place the potatoes snugly in a baking dish, studding them with the thyme sprigs, bay leaves and butter. Cover with stock until the potatoes are submerged and drizzle with 1 tablespoon of olive oil, sprinkle with lemon zest and season with salt and pepper.

Bake uncovered for 1- 1 1/2 hours or until the potatoes are golden, and have absorbed most of the liquid, making sure to baste or turn the potatoes every now and then.

Serve with a squeeze of lemon juice, a drizzle of olive oil and chopped parsley if desired.

Serves 4-5 as a side dish.

Bon Appetite.