Ideal to serve as a side for barbecues, planchas, or with grilled meat or fish, these buttery roasted potatoes are a delight.
How do you prepare potatoes in your country? The French like them either
- boiled in water (or steamed), served hot with a knob of butter or salted butter (or sometimes a dash of olive oil or a creamy white sauce made with yoghurt and/or cream, minced garlic and/or shallot and/or onion, herbs such as chives and seasoned with salt and pepper)
- cubed pan fried with either oil, duck fat and butter
- as French fries (they are called frites in French)
- baked in the oven in various ways and sometimes en papillotte, wrapped in aluminum foil, sometimes just roasted
And of course, we use lots of potatoes in French savory recipes, potato gratin of course, omelets, cheezy casseroles such as tartiflette (with Reblochon cheese and bacon)…
Here is how I like to roast potatoes in the oven, my elder daughter Elodie being the one who love to make regular incisions into the flesh of potatoes. You might be surprised by the amount of butter but only a small knob is needed on each half potato. Thanks to those strips, butter penetrates well into the flesh.
Potatoes are crispy on top but well cooked and soft inside.
Season with just a bit of fleur de sel and freshly ground pepper. You can have fun if you want and add spices (piment d’Espelette, paprika, turmeric, cumin, curry ….) or herbs (herbes de Provences, fresh thyme) …). You can optionally replace butter by a drizzle of olive oil for a vegan version.
These potatoes are perfect to serve with fish or meat cooled on the plancha or barbecue, as for example one of your favorite recipe on this blog, marinated pork tenderloin grilled on the bbq. Tell me in comment what have served them with, I’d love to know.
Oven Baked Potatoes, French Style
Ingredients
- 12 medium-sized potatoes 2 per person
- butter
- salt
- pepper
Optional
- Espelette pepper or any spice of your choice
- herbes de provence
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 180 °C / 350°F.
- Rinse and cut the potatoes in half lengthwise, arrange them in the baking sheet face up.
- With a knife make strips halfway in the flesh of each half potato, without cutting the skin. See photos.
- Place a small knob of butter on top of each half potato.
- Season with salt and pepper, and the herbs or spices of your choice. Here, just butter and fleur de sel.
- Bake at 180 °C / 350°F for about 45 minutes, more or less depending on the size of your potatoes. Check the doneness with the tip of a knife.
