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Cook the Book: Baked Purple Hedgehog Potatoes

Posted by Alaina Browne, April 24, 2007 at 1:00 PM

In early 2003, Heidi Swanson, an enthusiastic cookbook consumer, made a resolution: "When you own over 100 cookbooks, it is time to stop buying, and start cooking." From that resolution sprang a food blog—one of the earliest, in fact—called 101cookbooks. Things have come full circle, and Heidi finds herself writing cookbooks these days. The recipe that follows is adapted from her latest, Super Natural Foods.

BAKED PURPLE HEDGEHOG POTATOES
with Yogurt-Mint Dipping Sauce
- serves 4 to 6 -

Ingredients
8 smallish purple potatoes

6 large cloves garlic, sliced into razor-thin rounds

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon harissa

fine-grain sea salt

For the yogurt-mint dipping sauce
1 cup plain yogurt

2 cloves of garlic, smashed and chopped

1/4 cup chopped fresh mint

1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

1/2 teaspoon fine-grain sea salt

freshly ground black pepper

Procedure
1. Preheat the oven to 375°F.

2. Wash and dry the potatoes, or scrub them if they're dirty. Proceed as if you were going to cut each potato into very thin crosswise slices, but cut only four-fifths of the way through; the potatoes must remain intact.

3. In a small bowl, toss together the garlic, olive oil, harissa, and a couple pinches of salt.

4. Tuck garlic slices deep into potato crevices; rub the outsides with any leftover harissa-spiked olive oil.

5. Sprinkle potatoes with salt, and place them on a baking sheet or in a baking dish.

6. Cover with foil, and bake for 25 minutes. Uncover; bake 20 minutes more, or until fork-tender.

7. While the potatoes are baking, make the dipping sauce. In a small bowl, combine the yogurt, garlic, mint, cilantro, salt, and a few grinds of pepper; stir well. Serve potatoes with dipping sauce on the side or drizzled on top.

Photograph courtesy of Heidi Swanson

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Tags: Cook the Book, CTB: Super Natural Foods, Heidi Swanson, potatoes, recipes, Serious Recipes, vegetarian