Easy Gut-Healthy Melting Potatoes Recipe

If you happen to ask Yumna Jawad, the creator behind Feel Good Foodie, melting potatoes (a popularized-by-Pinterest recipe method for what skilled cooks confer with as fondant potatoes) must be on the prime of your Potato Recipe To-Do Record. Melting potatoes is a time period that refers to potatoes that get pan-fried after which braised in scrumptious broth and aromatics. Translation: Browned and buttery spuds that crunch while you chunk in, however then soften blissfully in your mouth. Melting potatoes are “the type of dish that turns an odd weeknight dinner into one thing particular,” says Jawad. “They’ve received this superb texture—assume crisp on the skin and tender on the within.”

Forward, uncover the magic of melting potatoes, together with how one can make melting potatoes at house with nothing various pantry staples (assume: russet potatoes, olive oil, veggie broth, and garlic).

Why you need to be making melting potatoes

Certainly, many potato recipes contain nothing greater than a spud and some easy pantry staple components. (And this one isn’t any totally different.) What units melting potatoes aside from different scrumptious spud-based dishes is the cooking technique applied. On this case, we’re specializing in making what’s recognized in culinary faculty as fondant potatoes, a easy preparation the place same-sized, cylindrically-cut potatoes are slowly braised, partially submerged in liquid infused with aromatics (like inventory, butter, garlic, and rosemary). The result’s a gentle and chewy potato with a crispy, golden prime, and a fork-tender, creamy backside.

Identical-sized, cylindrically-cut potatoes are slowly braised, partially submerged in liquid infused with aromatics (like inventory, butter, garlic, and rosemary). The result’s a gentle and chewy potato with a crispy, golden prime, and a fork-tender, creamy backside.

After all, we will’t go with out delving into the nutritional value of potatoes. For starters, one large raw russet potato incorporates almost 5 grams of fiber, 1,540 milligrams of potassium (greater than three times as much as what you’d get from a banana!), and 21 milligrams of vitamin C. And though gut-healthy butter might sound like an oxymoron, gastroenterologists say that butyrate, a short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) present in meals like, ahem, butter (!), can really assist help your microbiome.

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Lastly, though your good ol’ white, russet, and yellow potatoes varieties comprise a substantial quantity of advantages, if you happen to’re seeking to up the ante by way of dietary worth, you may at all times swap the russets on this recipe for much more nourishing spuds, like longevity-boosting Japanese sweet potato, antioxidant-rich purple candy potato, or ube, purple yams. (Remember that cooking instances and consistency will differ relying on which possibility you selected.)

5 suggestions for making one of the best melting potatoes 

To grasp this fondant aka melting potato recipe, Jawad says it boils right down to (pun meant) these 5 easy suggestions:

1. Use high-quality components

As is the case with most straightforward and minimal-ingredient recipes, you’ll wish to concentrate on utilizing high-quality components that’ll assist guarantee your closing recipe is as nutritious and scrumptious as potential. For this recipe, Jawad says you’ll wish to go for Danish Creamery’s European-Style Sea Salted Butter. “I do know the flavour I’m going to get is constant and wealthy, with out overpowering the dish. The butter performs an enormous position in attaining that excellent steadiness between crisp and tender, all whereas bringing a richness that ties the entire dish collectively.” (Nice, twist my arm.)

2. Try to discover similar-sized potatoes

When making fondant potatoes, remember to reduce potatoes into same-sized cylindrical shapes with a view to guarantee even and constant cooking instances. So as to take action, Jawad says it’s finest to begin off with russet potatoes which can be a minimum of two inches vast in diameter, which can make reducing the spuds into the identical measurement simpler. “This lets you peel them and use a cookie cutter to chop them into fairly spherical shapes,” she says.

3. Use a cookie cutter to form the potatoes

As Jawad beforehand talked about, a cookie cutter is not going to solely make your life simpler (we’re speaking simply 10 minutes of prep work), it’ll make the ultimate dish even prettier, too. “Use a cookie cutter. I noticed [recipe developer] Carolina Gelen’s video utilizing a cookie cutter to make even-shaped fondant potatoes, and I feel it makes them look additional particular and scrumptious,” she says. “My cookie cutter was about 1.75 inches which was the right measurement.” And, if you happen to use a cookie cutter, Jawad recommends saving the scraps for making hashbrowns or throwing them right into a Creamy Vegetable Soup. We love a zero-waste meals second.

Extra intelligent ways to use your leftover veggie scraps, based on Jawad: air fry or compost ‘em. “Combine potato peels with just a few tablespoons of oil and bake within the oven at 425ºF, and add salt and spices like smoked paprika or celery salt for a crispy deal with. You’ll be able to even strive them within the air fryer,” she says.

In the meantime, it’s also possible to go the composting route. Jawad recommends saving your veggie scraps (and eggshells!) and mixing them in a bin or pit outdoors with brown materials—outlined as yard scraps like dry leaves or brown paper—which decomposes and makes a nutritious unfold for crops in your yard.

“Combine potato peels with just a few tablespoons of oil and bake within the oven at 425ºF, and add salt and spices like smoked paprika or celery salt for a crispy deal with. You’ll be able to even strive them within the air fryer.”
—Yumna Jawad, creator, Really feel Good Foodie

4. Make sure you dry your potatoes completely first

Step primary is cleansing your spuds, which based on the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention (CDC) entails washing or scrubbing the veggie under running water (even if you happen to don’t plan on consuming the peel). After this significant step, you’ll wish to completely dry the potatoes, particularly as soon as they’re peeled and sliced. “Make sure that the potatoes are dry. After you peel and reduce the potatoes, pat them dry with a paper towel to take away any extra moisture. It will assist them sear higher on the skillet,” Jawad says.

5. Don’t overcrowd the pan

To realize that stunning golden crust, Jawad sears the potatoes on each side earlier than including the braising liquid. Nonetheless, with a view to get that chef-worthy crust and shade, the recipe developer says it’s crucial that you simply don’t overcrowd the pan, and somewhat work in small batches at a time. “To get an excellent sear on the potatoes and make it possible for they don’t steam within the oven, make certain to maintain area between the potatoes,” Jawad says.

Fondant melting potatoes recipe

Yields 4 servings

Elements
4 giant russet potatoes peeled and reduce into 1-inch thick rounds (about 2-inch vast)
2 Tbsp Danish Creamery European Style Sea Salted Butter
2 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 Tsp salt
1/2 Tsp black pepper
6 garlic cloves
2 sprigs recent rosemary
2 cups vegetable broth

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Reduce every potato widthwise into about 4-6 sections, every about 1-2 inches vast. Use a cookie cutter about 2-inches vast to chop every part right into a potato spherical. Save the sides for an additional use. Dry the potatoes very effectively utilizing a paper towel.

2. In an oven-safe skillet, warmth the butter and olive oil over medium-high warmth. Add the potato rounds and cook dinner them for about 5-7 minutes on either side, or till they’re properly browned and crispy.

3. Flip off the warmth. Season with salt and pepper, and add the garlic and recent rosemary. Fastidiously pour the vegetable broth into the skillet. Spoon among the broth over the potatoes.

4. Switch the skillet to the preheated oven and let the potatoes braise for about 20-25 minutes, or till they’re fork-tender and cooked by means of. The broth will cut back and create a thick sauce.

5. Spoon the sauce over the potatoes and serve instantly.

Uncover the advantages of potatoes, based on a registered dietitian: