Crispy Potato Stacks

For Christmas I received a copy of Jill Winger’s The Prairie Homestead Cookbook.  I have been following Jill since I began tinkering with sourdough, and let me tell you, this lady has it all together.  She and her husband moved to rural Wyoming and learned the ropes as they went along, raising animals, growing their own food, and figuring out how to break free of convention to create a simpler, more purposeful lifestyle.  She is awesome, and her website, theprairiehomestead.com, is full of down-to-earth, empowering information for anyone who wants to be a little or a lot more self-sufficient.

Her cookbook, (which I’ve already read from cover to cover) contains not only whole food recipes but also tutorials to build your scratch-cooking skills and venture into producing some of your own food.  Everything from making your own ricotta (which I’m definitely going to try) to rendering your own beef tallow (which I’m definitely not) is explained in simple, encouraging language.  I learned a lot about when to plant which seeds and which crops work well together.  Chickens and cattle are also covered, and even though we’re not performing in that arena, it has made me even more determined to seek out small, local farms for sources of eggs and meat.

Tonight I made my first recipe from this collection and it was a knockout.  Crispy potato stacks are simple and scrumptious.  I daresay they are better than potato chips and anyone who knows me knows how there’s not a chip I’d turn down.  They were the perfect accompaniment to the chicken and mushrooms I made for dinner, but I can easily see them as an appetizer or snack, a partner to breakfast eggs, lunch sandwiches, midnight munchies...ok, anytime. I seriously can’t wait to try more recipes from this book.

Give these a try if you’re looking to shake up your spud routine.  They won’t disappoint.  

Jill Winger's Crispy Potato Stacks

2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

⅔ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

2 tsp dried thyme

1 tsp fine sea salt

½ tsp garlic powder

¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper

5 medium red or Yukon Gold potatoes, sliced ⅛ inch thick (I used the mandolin side of my cheese grater)

¼ cup (½ stick) melted butter

Preheat the oven to 375º and brush the bottoms of the cups of a muffin tin with the oil.  

Combine half the cheese, the thyme, salt, garlic powder, and pepper in a small bowl.  Put the potatoes in a large bowl and add the cheese mixture along with the melted butter.  Toss to combine.  

Stack the potatoes in the cups of the muffin tin, trimming any slices that are too big to fit, and sprinkle the remaining cheese on top, dividing it evenly among the stacks.  Bake for 45 to 50 minutes, or until potatoes are tender.  Makes 12 stacks.

What I say is that, if a man really likes potatoes, he must be a pretty decent sort of fellow.

― A.A. Milne