Butter Baked Hasselback Potatoes
These adorable fingerlings potatoes are stuffed with cheese and basted with a fresh thyme and honey infused butter.
At some point in my life, the potato became the enemy. It probably started with my multiple no carb/low carb phases of dieting. I was somehow convinced it was the potatoes and their carby friends that were keeping the extra 10/20/30+ pounds on my body and not simply the lopsided equation I was running of calories in and calories out. With age and wisdom, has come my ability to appreciate food for its taste, nourishment and sharing. It has taken nearly twenty years - and I still struggle with moderation in moderation - but I no longer get too crazy over not eating this or that and take pleasure in enjoying mother natures finest at its simplest. And thus, the potato.
EarthFresh - a Canadian company with a rich history of farming in Ontario - provided me with some farm fresh, fingerlings potatoes and asked me to create a recipe showcasing these adorable nuggets. On this blog, I have waffled potatoes, sliced potatoes, scooped potatoes and even mashed them and tucked them into glorious balls of dough. However these fingerlings potatoes were just too cute to mutilate.
Hasselback is a Swedish style of baked potato where you slice down but not all the way through the potato. The potato kind of fans out during the cooking process making for a crisp exterior and a soft, creamy inside. They can make an ordinary baked potato special, and provide little sections to stuff glorious things like cheese or bacon into.
The biggest secret to easy hasselback potatoes is putting a chopstick on either side of the potato when you slice it so the knife hits the chopstick before going through the potato. I also find if you hold your knife at a slight downward angle to the potato (the tip of knife is lower than the handle) his also ensures you don't go too deep.
For these fingerlings from EarthFresh, I stuffed the sections with a sharp old white cheddar and basted with a melted honey butter combination. The combinations are endless though - cheese, bacon, onion, fresh herbs. It's my opinion that potatoes need a good dose of salt so when you are putting your combination together think - sweet, salt, rich and crispy.
If you are interested in learning more about EarthFresh and their produce, you can visit their website here. Let me know how you make out with hasselbacking (I'm making that a word) your root veggies, I'd love to hear your combinations!
Enjoy!
Disclosure: I am compensated in kind & financially for recipe creation, photography and written content. As always, and as owner of this site, opinions expressed here are my own.
Butter Baked Hasselback Potatoes
Author: Food Well Said
Prep time: 15 mins
Cook time: 45 mins
Total time: 1 hour
Ingredients
- 3 lbs of fresh, fingerlings potatoes
- 1 tablespoon Olive oil
- 2 oz sharp white cheddar cheese
- 1/4 cup butter
- 2 tablespoons Honey
- 1 bunch of fresh Thyme
- Salt & Pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- Wash and gently scrub the potatoes, leaving the skin on. Fill a large metal bowl with ice water. Line a chopstick on either side of the potato and with the tip of the knife slightly lower than the handle, cut through until your knife hits the chopstick. Do this along the length of the potato until you have a 'fan' of slices. Put the potato in the ice water to keep it from oxidizing.
- Place the olive oil in a cast iron pan and swirl around. Place each potato in the pan and roll them a little in the oil.
- Cut thin slices of cheese and place in every other section of each potato.
- Over medium heat in a small sauce pan combine and butter, honey and a few sprigs of fresh thyme. Swirl around until melted and then generously baste the potatoes. Place them in the oven for about 45 minutes. Every 20 minutes, baste the potatoes with melted honey butter. Turn the oven to broil for the final five minutes.
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