Oven-Roasted Potatoes with Rosemary and Garlic

Name: Oven-Roasted Potatoes with Rosemary and Garlic
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 1 h 30 min
Total time: 2 h
Cuisine: French cuisine
Ingredients: Potatoes 2 kg; Rosemary 2 sprigs; Garlic 1 head; Olive oil 0.5 cup; Salt, savory to taste

Today it's oven-roasted potatoes with rosemary. There's a popular belief that the French invented the side dish, to decorate a plate. The French word garnir does mean to decorate, to fill out.

When the idea of a garnish first appeared, hardly anyone thought about its nutritional value. At a banquet, wild boar could easily be served with a garnish of wildflowers or pine cones, purely to please the eye. In modern cuisine, even French cuisine, a side dish is far more than decoration. Though even now, in “good” restaurants, refined dishes are served practically without a side, even if there's plenty of decoration on the plate, and the dishes look more like works of art, meant to be contemplated as much as eaten.

Gradually the side dish became an addition that improves the nutritional value and flavor of the main dish. The combination of tastes, the range of aromas and so on matter a great deal. A side can also make up for the imperfection or plainness of the main ingredient, or bring out the best in it. Someone once told me that in the Japanese dish of rice with chicken, the chicken is the side dish to the rice. Take that however you like.

At home, unfortunately, side dishes are limited to the simplest options: usually boiled or fried potatoes, rice or pasta, or just sliced fresh vegetables. As a rule, imagination goes no further.

And yet a well-made side dish can turn even disliked carrot patties into something not the tastiest, but quite acceptable, as an acquaintance of mine used to say.

Take a perfectly simple side, fried or baked potatoes with aromatic herbs and garlic: it turns a bland dish into a real masterpiece. Just the sight of a plate with such a side makes you want to sit down and have a good meal.

Potatoes with rosemary make a wonderful side dish, and you can even eat them without meat or fish. On their own they are both a side and a main dish. Give them a try, you won't regret it!

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Baked Potatoes with MushroomsBaked potatoes fried with boiled forest mushrooms and golden onion. A quick, fragrant breakfast with porcini or bay boletes. Step-by-step recipe with photos.

Potato Zrazy with MushroomsHomemade potato zrazy with mushrooms: mashed potato dough stuffed with wild mushrooms and fried onions, pan-fried until golden. A taste of childhood.

Deruny – Ukrainian Potato PancakesI tested different ways of making deruny and share the best one: crispy Ukrainian potato pancakes eaten hot, straight from the pan, with sour cream.

Country-Style Potato Wedges in the OvenCountry-style potato wedges baked in the oven with the skin on: small potatoes, salt, paprika and a little oil. A simple step-by-step recipe with photos.

Ingredients

8-10 servings

Potatoes 2 kg
Rosemary 2 sprigs
Garlic 1 head
Olive oil 0.5 cup
Salt, savory to taste

Step-by-step recipe

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Rosemary (Rosmarinus) is a unique spice, a low green shrub that grows mainly around the Mediterranean and in Europe. The name probably comes from Greek words meaning “a low bush with a balsamic scent”. The smell of fresh rosemary strongly resembles a fir tree, pleasant and sharp. Potatoes cooked with rosemary are a side dish in the masterpiece class.
But remember that rosemary is a very “strong” herb, and its aroma can completely overpower other spices. Use it with care.
This side dish is simple, but there are a few rules to follow. Potato skins contain a lot of trace elements, which makes them very healthy, especially if you're short on potassium. But of course the skins need to be cleaned thoroughly. Scrub the potatoes well with a stiff sponge, cutting away any damage and bits of soil with a knife. It's a bit tedious, but worth the effort.
Peel the garlic and grate it, or crush it.
Strip all the leaves from one sprig of rosemary and chop them coarsely. There's no need to mince them, it's enough for each leaf to be cut at least in half. Leave the second sprig as it is.
Cut each potato lengthwise into 6-8 wedges.
Put the potato wedges in a deep bowl and add salt. Salt to taste, of course. Sprinkle with the chopped rosemary and dried savory. Mix well and let stand for 10 minutes so the salt dissolves.
Add the grated garlic and mix again.
Drizzle the potato wedges with olive oil.
Line the bottom and sides of a deep, high-sided baking tray with foil. By the way, the shiny side of the foil is said to belong facing the food. That way the foil reflects heat and keeps it inside, where the food is.
Transfer the prepared potatoes to the baking tray, on top of the foil. Put the remaining sprig of rosemary on top, broken into stalks.
Cover the tray with foil, shiny side in. Be sure to poke a few holes in the foil with a toothpick so the steam doesn't blow it off during cooking.
Put the tray in an oven preheated to 180°C and bake for exactly 1 hour. Then raise the temperature to 220°C and bake for another 30 minutes.
Then taste. The potatoes should be done, but you may need to cook them a little longer.
Hot potatoes with rosemary are an exceptionally tasty side for meat, especially grilled meat or shashlik. Highly recommended.
But as it turns out, baked potatoes with a tasty crust are also great food on their own.