Plan ahead: Italian style fried potatoes with oregano

One of Annalena's pet peeves, is when people lament  "OH, I'd do it, but I JUST DON"T HAVE TIME."  Annalena has an answer.  Yes, you do.  You need to do a little bit of thinking, and you need to plan ahead.  But that really isn't a big deal.  And you'll be glad once you get into the habit of doing this.

The recipe for today explains how this works.  Annalena had already planned to roast a chicken for dinner for the Guyman and herself, but she was looking for something else.  Leafing through her new Sicilian cookbook, she saw a recipe that seemed to fit the bill:  the potatoes with oregano. As she read the description, she smiled:  the write talked about how she would make this  often when she had children, because she could cook the potatoes while she was doing something else, and then finish them off, essentially at her leisure.

You interested?  You should be.  In a way, this recipe is like an Italian version of home fries, and let's face it, ragazzi:  who does not like home fries?    Let Annalena take you through this.  It's very easy, and you need very few ingredients.

What you need are potatoes, olive oil, salt, and oregano.  If you have wild oregano, even better. And if you have both dried and fresh oregano, even betterer (as Annalena makes up a word).  We start with the potatoes.  Two pounds of them, please.  Try to get potatoes with, like Annalena, have thin skin.  Put them into a pot of water, add salt, and "cook them until they're done."

"Cook them until they're done. "  That's how Italians speak when they cook ragazzi. What is done?  Is it ten minutes?  Fifteen minutes?  Twenty minutes?  It's "done" when you feel like it's done.  For Annalena, that means  you can stick a knife into a potato and get some resistance, but not meet a brick wall.  Cooking potatoes which weigh about six ounces each, will take about 20 minutes to get there.  And you know what?  Not only CAN you do this when you're doing something else: you SHOULD do it when you're doing something else, because you need to let them dry.  Pull the potatoes from the water, and let them cool at room temperature.  And then, if you have the time, refrigerate them.  Annalena made her potatoes in the morning, while she was cooking oatmeal, reading the newspaper, and packing lunch.  You can do the same.  Then, she put them in a colander, and let them sit in a cold oven.

When you return to them, you need to get them into chunks.   Now, you can use a knife and do this, but as Bette Midler has said  'WHY BOTHER?"  You can break them up with your hands, and get some nice, uneven pieces.  Lack of uniformity is a GOOD thing in home cooking.  Do it.  Slice the potatoes in half, lengthwise, if you are insecure, and then break them into pieces.  See what Annalena did?

And you're ready to begin cooking.  Mix together a full tablespoon of dry oregano, and two teaspoons of salt.  You might want to use less salt, but don't cut back the oregano.  This is key to the dish.  And pour out 1/3 cup of olive oil.

Oh,  Annalena can see the eyes being raised now.  A THIRD OF A CUP????"   Know how much that is, ragazzi?  Less than 3 ounces.  And it's two pounds of potatoes.  Yes, every one of us COULD eat two pounds of potatoes, but we're not going to, right?

Ok, so now, get a large pan.  Annalena prefers a nonstick pan for stuff like this, but you can use a regular one, because you're going to put the oil into the pan ahead of time, and get it hot.  When it's hot (you'll know the smell), add the potatoes.  Add them GENTLY, because the oil may spatter.  And when the potatoes are in, sprinkle the salt and oregano, which you've mixed together before, over the potatoes.

Set a time for 20 minutes, and one for five minutes.  Or, just set one for five minutes.  Go do something else.  After five minutes, stir the spuds.  You'll have something like this:

   A little happening, huh?    Then do it again:

  and do it again.

 Finally, do it one last time, so that the potatoes cook for 20 minutes.    This is what you get

.  Looks good, doesn't it?    And if you happen to have some fresh oregano around, sprinkle a little of it on the potatoes.  Or, if as Annalena has done, you plan to serve this with roast chicken, use some of the herbs you've used with the chicken.

You might also add a little diced hot pepper if you like, or a squirt of lemon.  It's all good.  And you'll have leftovers for a quite amazing frittata.  Or even some kind of potato sandwich.  Not a bad idea.

Ragazzi, the  key to this is very simple:  cook the potatoes ahead of time, and you're set for the night.  Not hard,  but so good.   Go for it.  WHO does not like fried potatoes?