Garlicky, Rosemary & Balsamic Baked Fondant Potatoes

Feeds 3-4

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Rosemary; the name of my grandmother, the aroma of a crispy roast chicken, Mia Farrow, and a fragrant herb.

When you open a list of carefully curated cocktails at that new Greek Maori fusion place in Ponsonby*, your eye scans the meaningless list of ingredients: aquafaba foam, chocolate beetroot, partially digested four leaf clover. You safely land on a gin & tonic donning fresh mint and rosemary sprigs. Your waiter arrives with your drinks, some suspenders, and a man-bun in tow. That vibrant, florid, aromatic stalk is swimming in your relatively shallow glass. It's proud to be there in numbers; Rosemary get's to take the gang along with her wherever she goes. This, dear reader, is because Rosemary is a weed. But don't you just f***ing love it? She grows like a wildfire, easily stretches up towards your clothes line, and grows out of her jeans faster than an expecting mother-to-be. She confidently takes up space, all whilst giving generously. She is a proud weed, with something beautiful and worthy to offer.

I for one wish you to be like Rosemary. Grow like a weed, grow into people's gardens. Have them contemplate cutting you for less than a fraction of a second before they realise how valuable and awesome you are. Take up space, smell good all the time, and be a perfect addition to so many things. Just don't lie on a bed of silky, buttery fondant potatoes, because that, reader, is meant only for Rosemary, and maybe Thyme - but she's a whole other story.

*Don't ask what restaurant this is. To my knowledge, it does not exist.

PRO TIPS

• Keep an eye on your potatoes and the temperature - different ovens can be very temperamental with these guys. I had my oven on 200 for a bit and it wasn't crisping them up properly so I needed to keep adjusting to keep them at the right roasting level.

• I haven't tried it but I'm sure, if you aren't using honey you could substitute for brown sugar.

• If you want to go veggie on this dish, you could use veggie stock instead of chicken stock. However, chicken stock is next-level delicious with fondant potatoes so if you don't have to use veggie stock, then please use chicken!

Recipe

Ingredients

• 10 large white potatoes, peeled

• 2 large shallots peeled and halved

• 6 large cloves of garlic, minced

• 110 grams of unsalted butter, melted

• 1 tablespoon of olive oil

• 1 tablespoon of paprika

• 1/4 teaspoon of ground black pepper

• 1 teaspoon of salt

• 1 teaspoon of oregano

• 1 tablespoon of fresh rosemary, finely chopped

• 1 teaspoon of fresh thyme

• 1 cup of chicken stock

• 1 tablespoon of honey

• 1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar

Method

1. Preheat your oven to 215℃ (fan bake).

2. Cut your potatoes in half. Then remove the rounded ends so that you can create a flat surface on both sides (just a small amount, about 1-2cm thick).

3. Mix together your melted butter, olive oil, paprika, pepper, salt, oregano, rosemary, and thyme.

4. Pour the butter mixture over your potatoes and shallots until fully covered and coated.

5. Place the potatoes on to a deep pan with the larger side down. Put the potatoes in the oven for 15 minutes. Turn the potatoes around and place them back in the oven for another 15 minutes.

6. Mix together your stock, honey, and balsamic vinegar. Pour this mixture into the tray and bake the potatoes for 15 more minutes (45 minutes total baking time).

7. Remove the potatoes from the oven, spoon the leftover liquid in the pan over the potatoes and garnish with fresh rosemary sprigs.

8. Eat and enjoy!!

Stay Salty,

Romy xx