Husband and I spent several hours yesterday starting to move all the stuff that has been stored in our upstairs bedrooms for the past year, into our new garage. Hallelujah! As we were working, the Fed-Ex man came by and delivered my new cookbook! Double Hallelujah! It took about 3 minutes of flipping through the pages for me to decide on an accompaniment to our BBQ steak dinner… salt-crusted potatoes with a green, garlicky dip???… yes please!
The recipe as printed is actually a finger-food starter, but I used it as a side to our main and instead of dipping each individual potato as we ate, we scooped the delicious mojo over the potatoes at the beginning. I did not make any changes to the ingredients except using kosher salt instead of flaked sea salt and using a bit less oil, but I simplified the process immensely by whizzing the mojo ingredients in a food processor for about a minute rather than pounding everything with a mortar and pestle… easy peasy.
I made the recipe with 1 pound of potatoes for Husband and I, but left all the other ingredient measurements exactly the same including the salt, because the salt is salting the water, not the potatoes. Whatever salt doesn’t dry on the potatoes will just stay in the pan, it won’t make your potatoes more salty if you have fewer potatoes. However if you use a finer salt, you should use less.
My new cookbook is called Genius Recipes by Food 52, and if last night’s potatoes are any indication, I will be cooking a lot from this book. Take a look here https://food52.com/shop/products/1817-genius-recipes-signed-copy.
Salt-Crusted Potatoes
2 1/4 pounds evenly sized waxy new potatoes, such as fingerling, scrubbed but unpeeled
Sea salt flakes or kosher salt
Cilantro Mojo
3 large garlic cloves, roughly chopped
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped
Leaves from a bunch of fresh cilantro, roughly chopped
1 teaspoon freshly ground cumin seeds
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons white wine vinegar
Put the potatoes into a wide, shallow pan in which they fit in a single layer. Add 2 tablespoons salt and approximately 4 cups cold water (just enough to cover), bring to a boil, and leave to boil rapidly until the water has evaporated. Turn the heat to low and continue to cook for a few minutes, gently turning the potatoes over occasionally, until they are dry and the skins are wrinkled and covered in a thin crust of salt.
While the potatoes are cooking, make the cilantro mojo. Put all the mojo ingredients into a food processor and whiz for about 30 seconds (stopping to scrape down the inside of the bowl, if necessary). Taste and add salt if necessary (but don’t over-salt as the potatoes will already have a salty crust). Continue to process for another 20-30 seconds or until you have the consistency you want. Spoon into small bowl.
Pile the hot potatoes onto a plate and serve with the mojo. If you find the potatoes too salty, it is easy to rub off some of the salt before serving.