Don't these look, um, interesting? (What the heck are they, anyhow?) They're little fingerling potatoes ("Russian banana" variety) cooked in salty water until they form a crust on the outside. I got the recipe from Mr. Food Science himself, Alton Brown. He suggests serving them with pepper and/or butter and/or chopped chives; I'm not a huge fan of pepper, so I tried the butter and chives. It was good, but these little babies really don't need anything on them. Here's what you do: Put 1.25 pounds (yes, that's right!) of kosher salt, 2 quarts of water, and 2 pounds of little fingerling potatoes (scrubbed) in a big pot.* Bring to a boil, turn the heat down a tad, and then cook for 25–30 minutes, or until fork-tender. Now here comes the important part: Use a slotted spoon to transfer the potatoes to a wire rack and let them cool for 5–7 minutes to let the salty crust form. Then pop them in your mouth so happily that you briefly forget you have a grilled rib-eye waiting for you, too. Yum, yum.
*My potatoes came in a 1.5 pound bag, so I used 1 pound of kosher salt and 1.5 quarts of water. I don't think the exact proportions are too important here.
1.25 pounds of salt??? I'm sure they WERE delicious. Seems like just taking a swig from the salt shaker would be healthier, though. ;)
Posted by: Mir | October 09, 2005 at 01:34 PM
They don't look appetizing, but your description of them is.
Posted by: Margaret | October 09, 2005 at 02:34 PM
I should have mentioned that A LOT of the salt remains in the water after you're done cooking the taters.
Posted by: Karen | October 09, 2005 at 04:57 PM
I guess the photo is pretty unappealing, now that I look at it the next day! But they do look pretty in real life -- kind of sparkly and crusty.
Posted by: Karen | October 09, 2005 at 04:58 PM
These ARE yummy.
I took a pic of mine here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/drmomentum/9742254/
But I didn't get to use the fingerlings -- just small white taters. I have to get my hands on some of those.
Posted by: James | October 09, 2005 at 09:43 PM
Alton Brown is such a neat guy - I worked with his wife before he went to cooking school - he actually worked in TV production then decided he wanted a career change and went to cooking school in Vermont. I think I might have to try those potatoes, they sound YUMMY!
Posted by: Kathy | October 10, 2005 at 12:28 PM
He has certainly found his niche, hasn't he? I love his obvious passion for figuring out the hows and whys of food.
Posted by: Karen | October 10, 2005 at 03:27 PM