The Startup Cook – Garlic Roasted Potatoes

The past month has been all about slow cook food.  There is something indescribably homely about roasted food. There is a harmonious sense of domesticity about an oven baked dinner or perhaps baking in general. Be it sweet or savoury, one cannot help but feel like a domestic goddess while engaging in it.

Nonetheless, this particular recipe is very simple and tasty, especially to those who have a weakness for all things potato. One must be warned that this is not for the famished, for the obvious reason being the cooking duration. But it is perfect for the hungry yet patient kind who enjoys an appetising slow cooked dish on a dismal Sunday evening.

Serve crispy garlic infused potatoes with any kind of meat you like or if it is something light you wish to snack on you can just devour this alone, it will still serve the same delicious purpose. Bon Appétit!

Ingredients

3 (large) potatoes
8 cloves of garlic
Oregano
Salt
Olive oil

Directions

Preheat oven to 200 Celsius. Prepare a baking dish and set aside.

Pound the garlic to a pulp and set it aside.

Wash, peel, and cut the potatoes in to sizeable cubes.

Place the cut potatoes in a bowl, add the garlic pulp to it and using your hands coat the cut potatoes in it.

Let the potatoes rest for about ten minutes.

Add two tablespoons of olive oil, a tablespoon of oregano, one & half teaspoons of salt to the garlic potatoes and stir to coat.

Place the potatoes in the prepared dish.

Bake for an hour and fifteen minutes.

Disasters, Warnings and Tips

If you like your potatoes extra crispy - bake for an extra ten minutes.

Do use extra virgin olive oil for this recipe.

Stuff these potatoes in a burger bun, add a slice of cheese and treat yourself to a veggie burger. YUM!

For a powerhouse garlic flavour toss an extra few garlic cloves to the baking dish.

In my absent-mindedness, instead of extra virgin olive oil I picked up a regular bottle of olive oil at the super market. Being absent minded is annoying and expensive.

The latest episode of Modern Family has Manny mentioning cinnamon from Sri Lanka. Yay! Go SL!

It’s a cardinal rule to serve this dish warm.

By Shazzana Hamid