2005-11-02

Roasted potatoes with lemon

When I look over the web searches that bring people to this site, I find that the most frequent sources of visitors are searches for Edo Maajka and Lepa Brena, followed by searches for burek recipes. But lately there seem to have been several visitors looking for potatoes roasted with lemon. Since I seem to have got myself into an exchange with a distinguished blogger from the place where this recipe originates, I had better share it.

Roasted potatoes with lemon
*5 or 6 potatoes, I am especially fond of the kind that are sold here as "Yukon gold." Maybe potatoes from Nunavut would be even better.
*About half a stick of butter.
*About half as much olive oil as you put butter.
*Enough broth (mixed with water from a cube is fine, no need to go overboard) to just about cover the potatoes.
*Juice of one lemon.

Heat the oven to a moderate temperature (350 F or so is fine, but probably it will be whatever temperature you are roasting the meat at, since these potatoes go with meat). Cut the potatoes lengthwise into 5-6 pieces about the shape of the old Citroen "Ajkula." Put them in a roasting pan into which the oil has been poured, cut up the butter into bits, add the broth and lemon juice, and mix. Let it roast for at least an hour, stirring it maybe once or twice, if even that much.

These are good with just about any roasted meat or poultry, but if you happened to be making lamb, it would really be a shame not to make these as well.

Update: Hm, looks like I posted a recipe for this same thing once before, last December. But this one is a little different, which shows, doesn't it, that knowledge marches forward even as we become increasingly powerless and subject to it.

Update2: Be sure to cook everything you eat to an internal temperature consistent with health standards in your regulatory environment of residence. You wouldn't want to suffer the fate of the security police in Mar del Plata, felled by inexpertly prepared lasagna. Isn't that a place where people should be eating fish, anyhow?

6 comments:

talos said...

Butter? There are people who would consider this sacrilege!

A suggestion: I'd say that if you're cooking any sort of meat or chicken in the oven, it's a shame not to put the potatoes in the same roasting pan as the meat (thus no broth needed - just water). Plus, one lemon seems too little - I would use two, but obviously it depends on one's taste. Oh and pepper. Certainly some pepper.

Eric Gordy said...

Yeah, the first time I made these I got a recipe out of a cookbook and it called for a lot of butter. It was horrible, the potatoes tasted like soap! So I switched to all olive oil, now I'm mixing the two.

But pepper. Silly of me to forget.

Katja R. said...

My preference in this dish is for olive oil. I don't put meat in the same pan, unless I start the meat first because I like the potatoes not to become too soft, I like them to brown a little, so I either use a separate pan for the meat or fish or start the meat first. It's a very tasty and simple dish all on it's own too.xzemyktn is today's secret Klingon word of the day, and it means a metallic taste

Eric Gordy said...

People are making it everywhere! I'm doing up a batch too. With two lemons, as Talos suggests. Will report back on the result.

Anonymous said...

The potatoes were really good! I think that if it had had only one lemon, it wouldn't have tasted as good. This way it was much more tart and sour, not to menion interesting. I helped scrub the potatoes and make the broth, and I'm glad I did!

Katja R. said...

actually tonight I made pumpkin curry and am in the process of making a terrifying quantity of pumpkin halwa.
I should have just had someone make that pumpkin into a coach. supposedly it was a LITTLE pumpkin! HAH!

bonus Klingon word: skrakw a Klingon imitateing a crow