~Delicious Roasted Potatoes~

I could talk about potatoes for hours, there are countless stories I could tell you about these tasty vegetables, funny stories, delicious stories, they make smile and ultimately  they make me  realize we really eat a lot of potatoes!

You should see the looks I get explaining people we buy potatoes in a 50 pounds bag and it is only 2 of us eating them(I occasionally share a dish with neighbors). That's right 50 pounds for 2 people. It will last us probably 2  maybe 3 months. Summer is potato hot, we love to grill them. Needless to say we are big potato eaters.

I love them in any form possible : boiled, roasted, grilled, raw, sliced, grated, roasted in the skins without skins, potato sauerkraut kielbasa casserole,  boiled with skins and then peeled, sliced and  lightly salted, or with a cup of milk and loads of butter or with salted sour cream...

I like roasted potatoes but they take so long to make so I started to par-cook them before I roast them in the oven. They are so much better than fries, in my opinion.

Par-cooking really helps, it cuts on the roasting time so they are easy to prepare any time of the week.

You can par-cook potatoes either by boiling them in water for couple of minutes or by steaming, it is your choice.

I was feeling little hearty and made heart shaped roasted potatoes, by all means you don't have to do this,(it takes some time *) though  they are so cute, would be perfect for Valentine's Day Dinner. Normally I just cut potatoes into cubes to save time.
 * you can also make cubes ones and only few heart ones, one or 2 hearts will add a little flare to your dinner plate too, doesn't have to be the whole bunch of hearts, little heart goes a long way.

Roasted Potatoes

6 large potatoes(about 2 pounds for 4 servings), *you don't have to make heart cut outs, simply peel potatoes, cut them into small cubes.

1/4cup olive oil

1tbl kosher salt

freshly ground pepper

2tsp caraway seeds

1/2tsp paprika(optional)

Make Heart Cutouts

• Fill a pot with  about 1quart -2quart  of water  to boil, add about 1tbl salt

• In the meantime peel potatoes, slice them , using a small metal cookie cutter cut out as many hearts as you can. Reserve scraps in water, you can also par-cook scraps or make mashed potatoes
• Cook potatoes in boiling water for 3 minutes, drain potatoes and let cool slightly
• Combine all the ingredients for the marinade
• In a bowl combine par-cooked potatoes and marinade and let sit for 20-30 minutes
• Preheat oven to 400F
• Line baking sheet with aluminum foil, spray with non-stick spray
• Spread marinaded potatoes evenly onto the baking sheet
• Roast them for 20 minutes, using an off set silicone spatula carefully turn the potatoes as needed(don't forget to use oven mittens when handling hot baking sheet!)
• If your oven has a broiler, broil potatoes for additional 5 minutes or so until they are golden on the outside

Hearts, cubes or rounds these roasted potatoes are one of my favorites.

VARIATIONS

You can omit caraway seed and use rosemary, or other herbs you like.
You can also add Garlic, just make sure you add the garlic no more than 2-3 minutes before you plan to take the potatoes out of the oven, otherwise garlic can burn and it will become bitter.
I also like to roast potatoes with couple of bay leaves and peppercorn, adding garlic at the end. That is my dad's recipe.

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Made By Me