Who says that tailgating food can’t look cool too? If you’re looking for a great side dish to go with chicken, pork or beef then this is the recipe for you. One of the reasons that I really like this recipe is simply because it is best made in cast iron. If you heat a cast iron pan slowly for about an hour on low before you start to cook it will reward you with some wonderfully crisp potatoes. That’s the cool thing about cast iron: if you treat it well, it will treat you well. Makes for a good relationship.
These potatoes are tall on flavor and short on work if you have the right tools. As already discussed, a seasoned cast iron skillet is the pan of choice for this recipe. If you have a mandolin, the potatoes will be short work as well. A box grater works fantastic for the cheese and a good old chef’s knife will do a ton of damage on the onion. If you don’t have a mandolin that okay, you’ll get a lot of practice slicing potatoes. The glass is always half full in the kitchen, right? Right.
Let’s talk about seasoning on this dish, so we’ll start by talking about the cheese. Strange place to start, but for this recipe the preferred cheese is Queso Fresco. This cheese doesn’t melt a lot, so it is perfect to leave in the skillet for a long time without burning. The only drawback to Queso Fresco is the high salt content. You have to be careful not to over salt this dish. When you open the Queso Fresco, slice off a little chunk and taste it so you can gauge how much seasoning you should use. I went pretty heavy on the pepper, garlic powder and fresh thyme. My concern with using fresh garlic is that it would have burned in the pan and caused the dish to turn bitter. Garlic powder did the trick.
These potatoes are guaranteed to go great with the Baby Back Ribs, BBQ Pulled Pork, Grilled Pork Loin, Grilled Italian Strip Steak, and one of my favorite recipes The Casual Steakhouse Sandwich with Brie which I am going to make again soon simply to do the dish justice with a great picture. That Steakhouse Sandwich is a real winner- give it a shot sometime. Or, simply grill or roast off some chicken. These potatoes are done in about a half hour and are really tasty.
Makes one 10″ skilled of deliciously cheesy potatoes
Ingredients:
1 large onion, peeled, cut in half through the root and sliced in thin half moons
Canola oil
8 medium potatoes, washed and sliced 1/8 inch thick
1 block (4in X 4in) Queso Fresco, shredded
1 tablespoon fresh thyme
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
Salt & Fresh Cracked Pepper
Let’s start to get the onion cooking. In a regular skillet or in cast iron, bring the oil up to a hot temperature. Toss in the onions and a pinch of salt. Let the onions cook about seven minutes, stirring every now and again to prevent burning and promote even browning. When cooked, remove to a plate and set aside.
Okay, let’s talk about the fats we are going to use in this dish. I used just under two tablespoons of duck fat to cook the recipe, but have used butter mixed with Canola oil or just straight Canola oil when I have made other pan fried potatoes in the past. You could cook off some bacon- probably four or five strips and use the rendered fat from that as well. That would taste really good, particularly if the bacon was crumbled on top after the taters were taken out of the skillet. Yumm. However you choose to do it, just bring the heat up slowly in the cast iron.
So now we start to slice the potatoes. Be sure to slice them just before using, otherwise they will turn an ugly color. Before starting to slice, grab a large bowl to put the slices in. Once all the potatoes are sliced, pour about 3 tablespoons of oil on them in the bowl. Add the thyme, garlic powder, salt and pepper. You could also add a touch of nutmeg or maybe some ground cumin if you wanted. Mix well to coat the potatoes. Let’s turn the oven on to 425 degrees now to preheat.
Now the fun begins. Place a large potato slice in the center of the cast iron pan which has been heating over LOW heat for a while. Layer the potatoes in a circular pattern from there all the way to the edges. Repeat one more time to make two layers. Now layer the onions on top. Then spread about half of the shredded cheese all over the onions. Once again, layer the potatoes starting with one slice in the middle and circling toward the edge. Looks cool, right? Now cover the pan. If you don’t have a lid large enough, use aluminum foil. Be careful when putting on the foil as the pan will be hot. Cook for about 25 minutes, covered. Don’t open the cover.
Remove the foil from the potatoes. Touch the potato in the middle- it should break when you poke it. The potatoes are just about done. Sprinkle on the remaining cheese and put the potatoes in the oven for about ten minutes. Remove from the oven and set on the stove.
Now the interesting part happens. You need to get a plate large enough to cover the cast iron pan. Cover the pan with the plate and CAREFULLY flip the plate and cast iron pan over to release the potatoes. This is not an easy step and should be done with caution as the pan is seriously hot. When you flip the pan over, the potatoes will release from the bottom and you will have a really cool looking dish.
We cut the potatoes like a pizza and served them with BBQ chicken and some steamed broccoli. Tell you what, they were delicious. The crunch of the potato with the onion and salty cheese makes for a delicious tasting bite. Hopefully you’ll bring these with you next time you’re headed out to a game- make two batches because they will disappear faster than a sunny day in Cleveland. Enjoy.
These pan friend cheesy potatoes will be the best side at any tailgating party. Photo by Scott Groth