Crispy Rosemary Infused Za'atar Potatoes with Herb Aioli
Okay, so my correlation between witches and potatoes, or more accurately my seasoning of choice for said potatoes, goes like this. I live in the witch capital of Canada so stores pertaining to white magic are more common here and mostly used by me to find crystals and candles to scatter around my apartment. My most recent discovery is that a lot of ingredients used in spells are common in the kitchen and these shops tend to have high-quality dried herbs for low prices. On my last trip, I picked up a large package of dried thyme and used it as the base for homemade Za’atar to season my crispy potatoes with. The shop in question being Spiral Scents, I highly recommend anyone in Victoria go check them out.
While the star of this dinner party was undoubtedly the steak these potatoes are what went the quickest. They are incredibly crispy on the outside, light and fluffy on the inside and packed with flavour throughout. To achieve the textural change in this dish you need to parboil before baking, taking it one step further by parboiling in seasoned water. When boiling a starchy vegetable, they will take on the flavour of your water so adding even a few sprigs of fresh herbs and a large pinch of salt is an easy way to add more depth of flavour. To achieve the perfectly crispy outside there are three key components: hot oil, rice flour, and multiple flat sides. This is going to give you a mouth-watering, easy, gluten-free side dish everyone will be asking you the recipe for.
This recipe serves 4-6 people as a side dish.
Crispy Rosemary Infused Za'atar Potatoes with Herb Aioli Ingredients
Crispy Potatoes
3 pounds yukon gold potatoes
2 stalks rosemary
Kosher salt
4 tbsp rice flour
2 tsp dried lime powder (dried lemon zest works as a good substitute)
2 tsp dried dill
High smoking point oil such as avocado oil
Za'atar
1 tbsp sumac
1 tbsp dried thyme
1 tbsp whole cumin seeds
1 tsp whole coriander seeds
1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
.5 tsp kosher salt
Za'atar is a nice staple to have in the pantry, these measurements make enough for the recipe plus a little extra but I highly recommend making a 4x or 5x batch to have on hand for future meals.
Herb Aioli
3 room temp farm fresh eggs
1 cup high-quality EVOO (I switch between Abandoned Grove and Domenica Fiore)
.5 cup flat-leaf parsley
.5 cup cilantro
1 jalapeño
3 cloves garlic
1 lemon
4 tbsp white wine vinegar (I used this one from Domenica Fiore)
2 tsp water
Salt
Prep
Potatoes
Peel all your potatoes and roughly chop into irregular, angular pieces roughly 2-inch pieces. The more sides per piece the crispier they will be.
Combine rice flour, dried lime powder and dill in a separate bowl and set aside.
Za'atar
Toast Sesame seeds until a light golden colour and set aside to cool. Toast cumin and coriander seeds together until fragrant and set aside to cool.
Using a mortar and pestle or spice grinder finely grind your sumac then add in cumin and coriander and coarsely grind. Due to how hard dried sumac is you want to make sure it's ground into a powder first to avoid any hard textures.
Combine all ingredients and set aside in an airtight container.
Herb Aioli
Finely chop your parsley and cilantro, zest your lemon and set aside
Finely chop your jalapeño and add kosher salt then using the flat side of your knife use a scraping motion over the mixture until you are left with a fine paste. Grate garlic cloves over a Microplane. Add each separately to their own pinch bowls.
Separate your eggs and transfer the yolks into a medium-sized mixing bowl, set the whites aside in an airtight container in your fridge. Whisk together yolks, garlic, and water. While whisking constantly add oil drop by drop at first then in an extremely slow stream until the mixture has emulsified and thickened. Mixing too quickly will lead to your aioli separating, if this happens grab a fresh bowl, separate one additional room temp egg yolk in then slowly add in your broken aioli until emulsified. Once all the oil has been added keep whisking and slowly add in your vinegar, when fully incorporated add in your chopped herbs, jalapeño, lemon zest and salt to taste. The aioli is done once it is able to hold a peak when lifted with your whisk.
I enjoy the meditative process of hand whisking but the same results can be achieved using a food processor. For this you will follow the same steps, the only difference will be your final product will be a more vibrant green colour due to the blades further chopping your herbs. This aioli will hold for a few days in the fridge so it's easy to prepare the day before your dinner.
Cook
Potatoes
Adjust your oven rack to the centre and preheat to 450°F/230°C (400°F/200°C if using convection). Fill a deep baking sheet, roasting pan or cast iron skillet (cast iron being my vessel of choice) with olive oil until a thin layer, approximately half a cm forms on the bottom.
Add potatoes, salt, baking soda, and rosemary to a large pot and fully submerge with cold water. Bring water to a boil then reduce heat to a simmer and let cook for approximately 15 minutes or until a knife pierces through with little resistance. Drain and remove the rosemary then transfer back to your pot to cool for approximately 15 minutes. 5 minutes into the potato mixture cooling place your baking sheet lined with olive oil into the hot oven.
Once cooled slightly add your rice flour mixture and roughly mix together with a slotted spoon or add a lid to your pot and give it a good shake until evenly coated and a mashed potato-like paste forms on all pieces. This added surface texture is going to help achieve the extra crispy coating.
Remove your now hot pan from the oven and add your coated potatoes, do this as slowly as possible to avoid any hot oil from splashing then transfer back into the oven. After 30 minutes remove from the oven and using a thin metal or high heat safe spatula flip your potatoes making sure they are all unstuck. Continue roasting for another 25-30 minutes or until a golden brown all over, shaking or turning as needed.
Remove from oven and toss with Za'atar
To save on dishes I like to serve them in the Staub cast iron I cook mine in. Because cast iron holds heat for long periods of time, while still looking nice enough to not ruin your dinner party decor, this is going to allow the potatoes at the bottom of the skillet to continue crisping. Similar to how bibimbap is served in hot dolsots to crisp the bottom layers of rice.
This side was most recently the hit of a dinner I hosted for two close girlfriends and their mums on international woman’s day. The highlights of my night were watching my friends scrape every last morsel of aioli out of the bowl and hearing my friend's mum ask what recipe I used for the potatoes so she could make them at home. These two items paired are a super easy, budget-friendly, and impressive side that are sure to impress whoever you chose to share it with.
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