Simple Spuds

It was cool enough today to use the oven at noon, so I finally got around
to trying a recipe I had been eyeing in one of my Marabout cookbooks.
My husband and kids are potato people, and I have made an effort this year to include more spuds, or patates, in our menus.

The dish I tried today was called, rather lengthily, "Quartiers de pommes de terre rôtis aux épices," but the title says what it means. It is not a typically French recipe in that the skins are left on the potatoes.
Traditionally the French didn't eat potato skins as they considered them
dirty, but that may be changing with American influence on French
cooking.

The process is extremely simple: you wash the potatoes, cut them in quarters, and toss them in a mixture of olive oil and just about whatever else you want to add. The recipe called for two tablespoons of oil for a kilo (a little over two pounds) but I doubled that because the first half of the potatoes pretty much used up the oil.

Be warned, this is not a marinade; the potatoes just take a quick trip in the oil mixture. The book gives several variations, but I created my own: olive oil, shallots, parsley and a bit of fennel flavored salt.

Spread the potatoes out on two no-stick baking dishes:

Bake at 350°F (180°C) for around 45 minutes to an hour, depending on the size of the potatoes, turning them a few times. They weren't especially oily -- and hey, olive oil is good for you! -- but I did soak up a bit of olive oil with a paper towel at the end.

And for once my version looked almost as good as the photos in the cookbook!