Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Garlicky Spuds a la Mode



There, the escape clause is in the French. Lazy me doesn’t know the principle nor the reasons why I need to bake them this way instead of directly, so she adds a smart phrase in the title to deflect the questions. Nor does lazy me adhere to quantities, but just throws in whatever she has, into whatever she has (large pan, small pan, whatever).

All I know is that I followed a recipe and the potatoes didn’t bake a whit. So I boiled some water, let the potatoes play around for 5-7 minutes, then transferred them to a greased bowl, put in a couple of spoons of butter, a couple of spoons of olive oil, some salt and fresh cracked pepper, studded some pods and cloves of garlic into them and baked them on 180 C for 20 minutes. Then when I noticed it was time to get going, I tossed them around with a ladle, increased the heat to 200 C and let them bake away till the most pleasant aroma filled the house. I then switched it off, popped as much garlic as I could out of its skin before I could stash it away for dinner, and went on my way.

This is a simple dish to make when you have some time, say about 40 minutes. If the potatoes are dirty, you need to scrub them, of course. But I find it worth the effort. I love them all wrinkled and soft when they are ready, the salt and the pepper not quite crust but somewhat crumbly when you sort of mop the bland spud against the seasoning that’s baked in the butter-oil mixture in the pan.

So here’s the recipe:

One lazy cook
Some baby potatoes, scrubbed, not peeled
Some garlic pods/cloves or both
Salt, to taste
Pepper, cracked, to taste
Butter, to grease baking dish + some more
Olive oil, a couple of spoons

Boil lots of water in a pan that's big enough.

Boil the potatoes for five minutes. They should be firm and hard, but not totally raw.

In greased baking dish, place potatoes and garlic. Add butter, oil, seasoning, mix well.

Bake in a pre-heated oven at 180 or 200 C, turning after 20 minutes.

Makes a nice snack. While the potatoes are quite bland, the garlic is lovely. It slides out of its skin in one fluid, clean movement, and goes down like velvet. Enjoy!

28 comments:

  1. Oh thats such a simple recipe... the pepper and garlic must taste amazing. very well written Sra

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  2. yum, I love roast garlic in their skins, it just melts in your mouth.

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  3. ha ha ha...ROFL sra...u r too much:) u scrub the potatoes, boil them, prepare the seasoning, bake them which all together takes some 40 mins n call urself lazy???? LOL....

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  4. Its sure is a nice snack SRA. Yeah u are right, bland potatoes with garlic and pepper will taste great. thanks..

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  5. do you eat the garlic just like that?? potatoes look cute that way. I have seen baked garlic been mixed with some butter to make garlic butter.

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  6. haha... any recipe that calls for a lazy cook, I'm ready for! :) Guess this one's right up my alley! :D

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  7. Loved your description of how made that dish!:D
    Italians make the beat baked Garlic in Olive oil dishes!! I love the smell of baked Garlic.I add it to the soups to get that smoky taste.
    Looks delicious sra.Don't tell me loads of starchy carby Alus are your dinner!Is there a meat on the side? That would be perfect!:)

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  8. Though I am not a big fan of unpeeled potatoes, your dish looks delicious...must be smelling really good once ready!

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  9. Thats sounds something different...hey you are too naughty girl..First i read the word lazy cook..again got doubt is it some ingredient?...read twice...:)))Thanks for sharing.

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  10. Nice lazy meal, but I was wondering if we can flavor a lil bit my adding mirchi powder or lemon juice..what do u say?

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  11. COOL!!!! Ready to pop in the mouth!!

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  12. hmmm, garlicky potatoes :) i'm thinking of baking my fries with some garlic thrown in, next time :)

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  13. Somehow different recipe sra! but interesting. aloo with garlic, great combo. I will try this. Thanks for sharing.

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  14. Sra, one lazy cook is always present in my house,(me off-course) but can't say about potatoes and garlic ;D
    I liked your presentation, those garlic pods look lovely. How did that garlic taste after baking/ cooking :)

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  15. saw your post through food blog desam....i love the way in which you started to this recipe....funny..looks good..

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  16. Oh ho, a garlic fix again? :) I totally know what you mean about sliding the cooked garlic cloves out of their skins! There is no such thing as "enough" garlic for me! As for potatoes, though, ever since I learned to zap them in the microwave, i haven't wasted any more time cooking them in any other way! :)

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  17. Thank you, Priyanka!
    Hi Saju, welcome, it does, doesn't it?
    Sia, LOL! Put that way, it sounds incongruous, I guess. But the laziness was for not peeling, for not bothering to find out about oven temperatures, not bothering to learn how to make the seasoning seep into the potato ...
    Prema, thank you.
    Sharmi, yes, I eat it just like that. It doesn't taste spicy or smelly, just sweet.
    Shyam, they store well too. And us lazy cooks can even use them for curries later.
    Asha, nope, I try to be as low-carb as possible. There was some palak paneer that I ate. Thanks.
    Tee, it smells awesome!
    Usha, don't you think the cook is the most important ingredient in the dish :)?
    Padma, sure we can flavour it. Only, I've not discovered the tactic to get the flavouring to seep into the potatoes - pricking all those million tiny potatoes will only mean more work, so I just let the seasoning roast with the potatoes and mop it up when I bite into it!
    Coffee, yep, that's the idea!
    Richa, do post that recipe!
    Jyothi, thank you.
    Archana, it was sweetish.
    Pratik, thanks, welcome to my blog.
    Shilpa, when I microwave something, I stand by the oven and can't wait for it to finish. In the ordinary oven, I do my thing and put it off when it has to be put off - funny, isn't it?

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  18. Sra, it's nice not to have to take the peeler, knife and cutting board out for any of this. You could also add a fried egg for a little more of a meal, too. Dare I say "a la mode?"

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  19. Lazy cook...hey am here.

    Garlic with their skins ?? !!!
    Can we eat that or do we need to peel it off?

    Could feel the smell. Thanks for sharing.

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  20. You scrub potatoes clean...no you are not lazy :) Can we eat the garlic too ?

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  21. I love this recipe, especially your "measurements." You're a girl after my own heart! Honestly, one of the hardest things for me about blogging is having to make the recipe again to actually measure so I can post it. Usually, I toss a little of this and that and taste as I go.

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  22. Susan, LOL! Yes, but a fried egg would also mean a frying pan, lighting the stove, cracking the egg ... too much work!
    SeeC, you can do as you like - I like eating garlic skins too!
    Sandeepa, of course, the garlic has its own charm - this is a two-in-one dish.
    Susan, yes, even now I often forget to measure ingredients and then write them down from a combination of memory and imagination - guilty secrets revealed!

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  23. WOW this is so good.....Roasted garlic.....YUM!...

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  24. Sukanya, yup, it's yummy!

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  25. Hi Sra,
    Your comment on my blog led me here.
    You have a great blog with some good recipes. I like this one a lot & it's so easy to make & I'll bet it's really tasty too! Like you , I find it very hard to jot down the quantities of the ingredients for posting a recipe.For that resaon the first couple of posts on my blog are just pics of the dishes I made!!You can't get lazier than that!:-)

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  26. TBC, welcome! And thanks for the nice words! LOL to your posting just the photos!

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  27. Hey! I've had this! And it's worth every bite! She politely insisted I finish off the pan and I didn't argue with that!

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  28. Suse, what fun to see you here!

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