A few months ago, I was in the waiting room while my son was having his braces tightened at the orthodontist. I pay an awful lot of money to this doctor, and her waiting room is decked out with state of the art decor, an automatic espresso machine, the latest video games, fresh baked chocolate chip cookies and a selection of finer magazines. It's hard not to wonder how much less her services would cost if she was in a strip mall with more scaled back surroundings.
I was perusing the latest copy of Gourmet when Mario finished his appointment. He came out to grab his fresh chocolate chip cookies and entered a contest to win a new Nintendo DS. I got a phone call and herded him out to my truck. Once we arrived back home, I realized I had accidentally stolen the orthodontist's copy of Gourmet magazine. My conscience was bothered, but not enough to actually drive back with the book. I made a mental note to return it on our next visit, but of course, I forgot and besides someone else had ripped out a couple other pages...so I'm sure they don't really miss it.
My subconscious probably encouraged this illegal behavior because of the following recipe. The magazine's editor says it better than I could:
Since these potatoes are "hasselbacked," or sliced accordion style, the scallions and bacon fat really penetrate; the sour cream and bacon are the icing on the cake. (The dish has been known to elicit marriage proposals from strangers and tears from bacon lovers.) From Gourmet, June 2007
He's not kidding. These potatoes are begging to be paired with a thick, juicy steak. I'm probably a few months early with this recommendation-well, at least here in Minnesota. I won't crank the grill up until I can reach it without the use of snowshoes.
And someone who puts it even better than the Gourmet editor is Jim Gaffigan. I know Dooce posted this video a couple of months ago, but it resonated with me. It really touched me. Enjoy the video, laugh hard, then make these potatoes for your lovah.
Roasted potatoes with sour cream and bacon
6 bacon slices, cooked until crisp, drippings reserved
1 bunch scallions, thinly sliced, keep white and green sections separated
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper
6 medium russet (baking) potatoes (2 1/2 lbs.)
8 oz. Daisy sour cream
After cooking bacon, set it aside and transfer drippings to a small heatproof bowl and stir in white part of scallions, salt and pepper. Put oven rack on middle position and preheat oven to 450. Make deep crosswise cuts in potatoes 1/4 inch apart, leaving bottom 1/4 of potato intact-don't cut all the way through. Place each potato on a sheet of foil (about 1 foot long) and drizzle each with 1 tablespoon of the bacon dripping mixture, separating slices to allow some to drip into cuts. Gather up foil around potatoes, crimping foil to tightly enclose. Roast potatoes until tender 45-50 minutes. Just before serving, stir together the sour cream and scallion greens. Top potatoes with sour cream mixture and bacon crumbles.
