Salt Baked New Potatoes With Pink Peppercorn Butter Recipes

SALT-BAKED NEW POTATOES WITH PINK-PEPPERCORN BUTTER

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Wash the potatoes.
• In a large bowl, mix the salt, rosemary needles, peppercorns and 1 cup water together with your hands, crushing the peppercorns a little between your fingers and bruising the rosemary needles to release their sticky oil, making a moist, fragrant and pink-and-green speckled sand. (You might have to add a few splashes of water if the mixture needs more moisture to feel like wet sand.)
• Transfer a little less than half this salt mixture into the bottom of a wide, shallow, heavy ovenproof skillet or casserole to make a salt bed about 1/2-inch thick.
• Nestle the potatoes into the sand, close to one another but not quite touching, if possible.
• Pack the rest of the salt mixture over the nestled potatoes, and rub and brush and smooth it with your hands until you have tightly encased the potatoes in a little salt sarcophagus. The rounded tops of the potatoes will just show as bumps under the salt cast.
• Bake the potatoes for 30 to 40 minutes, until a cake tester easily pierces the potatoes and tests warm on your chin or the back of your hand. The salt casing will dry and harden like clay - and smell delicious while baking.
• While the potatoes roast, prepare the compound butter: Grind the peppercorns in a mortar and pestle with the whole branches of rosemary to create an oily, coarse powder. Remove the bruised rosemary sprigs, shaking off any clinging pink peppercorns, and discard. (You just want to extract the oily flavor from the rosemary, not the needles themselves.) In a small bowl, mash the oily peppercorn powder with the salted butter using a fork until well blended.
• To serve, rap the salt-packed potatoes forcefully on a sturdy surface that can handle it, to crack the salt crust from the force. A few solid raps will loosen the potatoes inside. If the cast needs a little more help, use a regular dinner knife like a spade to just pop open the salt crust along its fault lines. The potatoes are easily plucked from the dry salt. Set out with the compound butter in a small bowl on the side.

HOW TO MAKE SALTY, CRISPY SKINNED OVEN BAKED POTATOES

Steps:

• Preheat your oven to 400 °F.
• Pierce each potato 3-4 times with the tines of a fork.
• Coat each one well in canola oil, then sprinkle heavily with flaked sea salt all over. You need to get a good crust of salt. Place on a wire baking rack in the middle of a baking tray and place the potatoes on top.
• Bake in the oven for 60-75 minutes or until they are fork tender. Remove and cool slightly on the baking sheet.
• To serve, once they are warm cut a slit lengthwise down the top of the potato, not cutting to the very end however. Take your fingers and place on either side of the potato and push the ends in towards each other to "pop" the center open ( it will look like a restaurant potato now!)
• Serve with butter and pepper, or any and all toppings!

SYRACUSE SALT POTATOES

Steps:

• Wash the potatoes and set aside. Fill a large pot with water; stir in salt until it no longer dissolves and settles on the bottom. Place potatoes in the pot and bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer until potatoes are tender but firm, about 15 minutes. Drain; cover to keep hot.
• While the potatoes are cooking, melt the butter in a small pan over medium high heat, or in microwave. Serve immediately poured over potatoes.