Hasselback Potatoes

Graduate school is a lot of work, but I've had the best time of my life since arriving at Stanford last September. I am still cooking tons, but there's been less time to post the recipes. Here's a short one on Hasselback Potatoes. They're basically potato chips glued at the base. It's not hard at all, and it's a crowd pleaser. I recommend using a smaller potato variant other than regular Russet potatoes for two reasons: since there are no garnishes, the potato's intrinsic taste & texture is going to feature prominently. Check out this cool site for potato varietal infographic. Second, other varietals tend to be smaller and hence cook more quickly.

Hasselback Potatoes

Ingredients

+ Potatoes (I used Yukon Gold potatoes, but red potatoes work well too)
+ Salt & Pepper
+ Olive Oil

Preparation

Preheat oven to 400F. Tape a chopstick or thin wooden spoon to a cutting board, as in the photo above. Start slicing the potato in thinly using long knife strokes (slice - don't chop). The chopstick will prevent you from chopping all the way through. 

Place potatoes directly on the baking sheet and add a drop of olive oil on top of each potato, along with a healthy amount of salt and pepper. At this point, its normal for the peels to stick together. As it cooks, the peels will separate as in the photos below. Cook them until they start to brown, about one hour (start checking at 45 minutes). 

I did about four small potatoes per person, and served it with a salad. It was plenty of food.