For those of you who have been following my blog, you might have come to the conclusion that I love to cook in a skillet. This wasn’t always so! When john.e and I moved in together, he came with a few cast iron skillets, and I HATED them! They were heavy and seemed way too daunting in terms of maintenance and seasoning. And, I tend to cook everything on high heat, so I would burn just about everything I tried to cook. Since then, I’ve greatly changed my opinion on cast iron skillets. I’ve come to love cooking in them, and I’ve learned to keep the heat at a lower setting – something I should have been doing all along anyway!
Cast iron skillets offer a few benefits to the home cook. First of all, these skillets are great for those recipes where the food first needs to be seared and then placed in the oven. A cast iron skillet can easily transition from the stove top to the oven. These skillets are sturdy and long lasting. Unlike Teflon-coated pans, you cannot damage a cast iron skillet by using metal utensils, therefore, replacing a cast iron skillet becomes less likely.
My personal favourite benefit is that food cooks beautifully in a cast iron pan! Browning, caramelizing, sautéing, searing, etc., is all better in a cast iron pan.
That’s how these skillet roasted potatoes came to be.
I live in an apartment very close to the downtown core of Toronto. In the summer months, I still want to eat good food, but prefer not to heat up my oven. Roasting potatoes in the oven requires a high temperature of at least 400 degrees, and it will take at least 45 minutes. That’s a lot of heat for my apartment-sized kitchen in the middle of July and August! Roasting stove-top, however, eliminates the extra heat, and as an added bonus, makes for a better tasting vegetable!
The process could not be simpler!
Skillet Roasted Potatoes
Ingredients
- 3 pounds yellow-fleshed baby potatoes, washed and cut into quarters
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- green onions or parsley for garnish
Instructions
- On medium heat, melt the butter and a little olive oil in the skillet.
- Add the salt and pepper, and swirl the pan around to mix the salt and pepper into the melted butter.
- Carefully place the potatoes into the skillet and move them around, coating each piece in the butter.
- Allow the potatoes to sit for a while. Don't move them around the pan too much. Let the heat from the skillet brown the potatoes on each surface. Stir every 5 minutes or so.
- After the potatoes have all turned a deep golden colour, add the paprika, garlic powder, and onion powder. Toss to coat.
- Continue to brown the potatoes for a few minutes more before serving.
- And, that's it! Top with green onions or parsley and serve.
Notes
Nutrition
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