Easy Gut-Healthy Melting Potatoes Recipe

Should you ask Yumna Jawad, the creator behind Feel Good Foodie, melting potatoes (a popularized-by-Pinterest recipe approach for what skilled cooks consult with as fondant potatoes) must be on the high of your Potato Recipe To-Do Checklist. 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 once you chunk in, however then soften blissfully in your mouth. Melting potatoes are “the sort of dish that turns an extraordinary weeknight dinner into one thing particular,” says Jawad. “They’ve acquired this superb texture—suppose crisp on the surface and tender on the within.”

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

Why try to be making melting potatoes

Certainly, many potato recipes contain nothing greater than a spud and some easy pantry staple elements. (And this one is not any totally different.) What units melting potatoes other than 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 tender and chewy potato with a crispy, golden high, 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 tender and chewy potato with a crispy, golden high, and a fork-tender, creamy backside.

After all, we are able to’t go with out delving into the nutritional value of potatoes. For starters, one large raw russet potato comprises practically 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 truly assist assist your microbiome.

Lastly, though your good ol’ white, russet, and yellow potatoes varieties include a substantial quantity of advantages, should you’re trying to up the ante when it comes to dietary worth, you possibly can all the time 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 the fact that cooking occasions and consistency will fluctuate relying on which choice you selected.)

5 ideas for making one of the best melting potatoes 

To grasp this fondant aka melting potato recipe, Jawad says it boils all the way down to (pun supposed) these 5 easy ideas:

1. Use high-quality elements

As is the case with most straightforward and minimal-ingredient recipes, you’ll wish to concentrate on utilizing high-quality elements that’ll assist guarantee your remaining recipe is as nutritious and scrumptious as doable. 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 function in reaching that good stability between crisp and tender, all whereas bringing a richness that ties the entire dish collectively.” (Positive, twist my arm.)

2. Attempt to discover similar-sized potatoes

When making fondant potatoes, you should definitely minimize potatoes into same-sized cylindrical shapes with the intention to guarantee even and constant cooking occasions. So as to take action, Jawad says it’s greatest to begin off with russet potatoes which are at the least 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 proper measurement.” And, should you 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.

Further intelligent ways to use your leftover veggie scraps, in keeping with Jawad: air fry or compost ‘em. “Combine potato peels with a number of 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 possibly can even attempt them within the air fryer,” she says.

In the meantime, you may as well 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 a number of 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 possibly can even attempt them within the air fryer.”
—Yumna Jawad, creator, Really feel Good Foodie

4. You should definitely dry your potatoes totally first

Step primary is cleansing your spuds, which in keeping with the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention (CDC) entails washing or scrubbing the veggie under running water (even should you don’t plan on consuming the peel). After this significant step, you’ll wish to totally dry the potatoes, particularly as soon as they’re peeled and sliced. “Ensure the potatoes are dry. After you peel and minimize the potatoes, pat them dry with a paper towel to take away any extra moisture. This may 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 the intention to get that chef-worthy crust and coloration, the recipe developer says it’s crucial that you simply don’t overcrowd the pan, and moderately work in small batches at a time. “To get a great sear on the potatoes and ensure that they don’t steam within the oven, make certain to maintain area between the potatoes,” Jawad says.

Fondant melting potatoes recipe

Yields 4 servings

Components
4 massive russet potatoes peeled and minimize 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. Minimize 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 perimeters 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 both sides, 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 a few of 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. 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, in keeping with a registered dietitian: