So I bought these organic purple fingerlings that have inexplicably not found their way into a meal at Magnolia Gardens in the past week. I walk past the red netting of the bag each morning and think, what can I make today with these gorgeous potatoes, and then I move on to something else. Though my love of potatoes is deep-rooted (get it? doy doy), I’m somewhat uninspired by my usual mash (even with cauliflower) ‘dice & bake’ or ‘bake whole’ or even ‘slice into discs and bake’ methodology.
So this morning, as I was left with nothing remaining in our produce basket, I was face-to-face with the potential tedium of doing a standard prep on these potatoes. Poor things. Then it hits me like a pan to the side of the head: fry those babies! So easy, so obvious, and so delicious. But I still think that is a rather simplistic choice – what could I do to liven it up a little bit? Cream is the obvious complement, as are chives – but what else, what else. . .
Once again, I pull out the Karen Page’s trusty Flavor Bible, flip eagerly to the potato section and comb the ingredients for the bolded terms. Suddenly, nutmeg jumps out at me. Nutmeg? Like the egg nog companion? I’ve used it before to add a complex & intriguing sweetness that isn’t cloying, and it seemed worthy of the risk here. And since I do look for any excuse to utilize my whole nutmeg seeds, this was as slam dunk. And after trying the dish, holy moly – I think I have a new breakfast go-to, and an entire new realm of potato flavors with which to play. Enjoy these luscious things while you can – they’re not going to last long on the breakfast (or dinner!) table.
Ingredients
- fingerling potatoes, sliced into discs
- salt
- pepper
- cayenne
- EVOO
- parmesan cheese
- chives, minced
- whole nutmeg
Directions
- heat large flat-bottomed pan on medium-high heat, but more ‘high’ than medium
- add generous amount of EVOO
- once oil is shimmering, add potatoes in singular, concentric layer on pan bottom
- add salt
- add more salt. seriously – these are potatoes, folks
- add pepper and cayenne
- fry for four-five minutes on first side
- flip potatoes carefully, identifying hot spots in pan and rotating so potatoes do not burn, and fry second side for three-four minutes
- remove potatoes, transferring to paper towel to absorb oil
- shave nutmeg onto potatoes
- shave parmesan onto potatoes
- top with cream and chives
- go nuts. absolutely freakin’ nuts.
Love & Magnolia Gardens 