Recipe: Oven-Crisped Red Potatoes

Oven-Crisped Red Potatoes
with Thyme and Pumpkinseed Oil

Serves four as a side dish

Creamy red potatoes are best for roasting, because they hold their shape during the long cooking time. Instead of cutting the potatoes into uniform pieces, I like to cut them all different sizes—from 1/2 inch bits that get really crispy to bigger 1-inch chunks that stay waxy-starchy. Thyme—fresh or dried—adds to the potatoes' earthy wine-friendliness, but the pumpkinseed oil—a specialty of Austria—clinches it.

I first tasted this earthy-nutty oil, drizzled on some pate, when I was in Vienna competing in the 1997 World Championship of Sommeliers. I love it so much I tend to drizzle it on anything starchy—bread, roasted vegetables, pasta, even lentils. Stir in the pumpkinseed oil and seasonings toward the end of cooking so that they perfume the potatoes but don't burn and become bitter. The garlic, herb, and pumpkinseed oil flavors are fabulous with the savory-herbal tang of Austrian Gruner-Veltliner and Riesling whites.

Wine Recommendations:

Austria Grüner-Veltliner, Walter Glatzer, Nigl
Austrian Riesling, Erich Salomon, Brundlmayer

1-1/2 pounds red potatoes, scrubed and cut into different-sized
chunks, from 1/2 inch to 1 inch
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons pumpkinseed oil
3 medium garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 tablespoon fresh thyme, or 1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon kosher salt or sea salt

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Place the potatoes in a large bowl and toss with the olive oil to coat. Spread them in an even layer on a rimmed baking sheet and roast, turning once, until the small ones are very brown and the large ones light golden, 40 to 45 minutes.

2. While the potatoes are roasting, combine the pumpkinseed oil, garlic, thyme, and salt to taste in a small bowl.

3. Remove the baking sheet from the oven, drizzle the pumpkinseed oil mixture onto the potatoes, and turn the potatoes to coat them with the oil. Return the baking sheet to the oven and roast an additional 5 minutes to allow the potatoes to absorb the seasonings.

4. Spoon the potatoes into a serving bowl and serve immediately.

Buy the Book!

from:
Everyday Dining with Wine
by Andrea Immer
Broadway
Hardcover, $29.95
ISBN: 0-7679-1681-6
Recipe reprinted by permission.