31. Golden Potato Wedges (p. 568)

Meat and potatoes. It's a classic combo for a reason. I usually order steak frites whenever I go to a French bistro, and that's what I had in mind when I was looking for a potato dish to go with my Steak au Poivre. These potato wedges seemed like just the thing.

Recipes don't get much easier than this. Just peel two pounds of potatoes and cut them into wedges. Toss them in a little olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast them for about 45 minutes turning once.

I followed The Book's suggestion to use Yukon Gold potatoes, but I didn't need much convincing since they're my potato of choice for most recipes. (Of course red and russet are better in some situations, but Yukon Gold are my favorite all-around potato.) The Book says to cut each potato into six wedges, but because my potatoes were on the large-ish side, and because it's not that easy to cut a cylindrical potato into six wedges, I cut them into eighths, with no ill effects.

The Book says that the large surface area of the wedges provides lots of crispiness surrounding a creamy tender center. That's exactly right. These potatoes were great. The outsides were crispy and well browned. The centers had the texture of creamy mashed potatoes. This recipe could easily become my go-to basic roasted potato recipe. I'll definitely make these again.

As I was writing this post, I thought of the one thing that would have made these potatoes perfect ... a dollop of sour cream!

Date Cooked: July 25, 2008
Degree of Difficulty: Easy
Rating: A-