The old dog learns MORE new tricks: cinnamon roasted potatoes

You know, there are times when you think you know EVERYTHING, or at least enough so that you can say "that's it! I can stop here." The matter in question can be big, or small. In the case of roasting potatoes, I guess it's small , in terms of something like, oh, world politics, but when you step back from that kind of myopic view, it's a little bigger.

Roasted potatoes. Now, who doesn't love them? If you're eating carbs, you love them, admit it. And I HAD been looking for the ideal recipe for them, for years. See, with only two of us around, frying potatoes does not really come across as a viable practice, especially since we're both watching our weight (having said that, Annalena fesses up to having bought herself a frying machine on sale), french fries are "off the menu," at least at home. Instead, we have "oven fries." They're good. I slice up the potatoes sort of in the form of thick cut fries, parboil 'em, drain em, salt and oil them, and bake them at a very high temperature. They come out sort of like fries, and truth to be told, I actually like the taste better.

They do have their problems. Sometimes, they don't cook all the way through. They stick to the baking sheet at times. And if you put too many of them on the baking sheet, you wind up with steamed potatoes rather than "fried" potatoes. So, when the redoubtable Melissa Clark posted a recipe for roasted potatoes, it caught my eye.

Ms. Clark writes for the Times. Unlike Mr. Bittman, about whom I have written before, I LOVE Ms. Clark's style, and her recipes. Even if the item in question is not one of my favorite things (like salmon...), I find the recipes clear, simple, and designed to deliver FLAVOR. She also writes a description of how she got to the recipe, and I always find that entertaining.

The recipe she posted called for roasting the potatoes with cinnamon. Now THAT interested me even more, because one of Annalena's goals for 2011 is to actually USE more of her extensive spice collection, and to use the spices in more interesting ways. Potatoes with cinnamon: it sounds a little Indian, but not really. Hmmmm.

Let me tell you write up front: I think the cinnamon did not work. I asked the Guy man if he could taste the cinnamon, and he couldn't, and neither could I. I'm going to try the recipe with sweet potatoes, and let's see if there's a difference. In the interim, perhaps your palette is more developed than mine, and you'll taste it. Maybe more cinnamon is necessary. But putting all of that aside, the potatoes were wonderful.

You need some time to do these, but you need very little effort. Give them a try. I'm including the cinnamon in the recipe, but I don't think you need it.

One other thing. This recipe, as written, says that it serves four.

RIGHT. The two of us put all of these potatoes away, and I could have eaten the whole pan of them myself. 1.5 pounds of potatoes for four people. Maybe if you're feeding Hobbits.

Ok, let's forget about the hobbits and cook. You start with a pound and a half of potatoes. Something all purpose and good, like a Yukon gold, or carolas, or something like that. Use any baking or roasting potato, but don't use a boiler (ASK). You don't have to peel them, but wash them (bet you didn't know that potato skins have just about the highest concentration of natural toxins than anything else. At least get that off of them). Cut the taters into nice, big chunks. You will also need six cloves of garlic, but don't peel them. Also, 3 tablespoons of olive oil, a stick of cinnamon that you break into pieces, a teaspoon of salt, and a bit of pepper.

Preheat your oven to 325. Put everything into a pan that holds it in essentially one layer. (Ms. Clark calls for cast iron. I don't have cast iron, and we were fine). 325 is a VERY low temperature, and you will never brown the potatoes at that temperature. Rather, you'll cook them for about 75 minutes, stirring every 25 minutes or so. You will be softening them beautifully. At the end of that time "kick it up a notch" and roast the potatoes at 450 for about 15 minutes. Check them after ten minutes and if they're not brown enough for you, just keep on cooking, stirring them every now and then.

Protect your hand and take the pan out of the oven. Let them cool for a few minutes and then dish them onto.... TWO plates. Or just one. (Can you imagine how good these would be with some cheese sauce poured over them?).

I tried this recipe with white sweet potatoes. The inherent "spiciness" we taste in sweet potatoes worked well. Your humble correspondent could not taste the cinnamon; however, the Guy Man said that the dish would be very different without it. Fair enough. Go forth. Make it. The sweet potatoes were FAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABULOUS with pork tenderloin