Roasted Potatoes with a Twist

Remember the Chimichurri Style Sauce I used on the Red Snapper the other day?

We were invited to a Bar- B- Que last night and I wanted to take along a side dish.  I had a lot of red potatoes on hand.  I love the way they taste roasted, but I wanted something with a little more oompf.  I remembered the left over sauce and thought "hmm".  In the past I have used a recipe that calls for tossing the cooked potatoes in olive oil,  garlic, kosher salt  and chopped mint.  I was sure the Chimichurri style sauce would work just as well.  I turned out to be a fantastic combination. So much so, that by the time I went to make a plate for dinner, the potatoes were already gone!

This is a great tasty recipe for the summer.  No worries about spoiled mayonnaise on a hot summer day.  And the potatoes can also be roasted on the grill so you don't have to turn your oven on.

Roasted Potatoes with a Twist

Cut 2 pound of unpeeled red potatoes into 1" pieces.

place on a baking sheet lined with Release foil.

Coat Potatoes with olive oil

Sprinkle with salt and pepper

Roast in a high heat oven- 500 degrees for about 20 minutes, turning occasionally.

Potatoes should be golden brown and fork tender.

Remove from oven.  While still very hot toss with herb and garlic mixture.  Season with more salt and pepper if necessary.

Serve warm or at room temperature.

Chimichurri Sauce

9 cloves garlic minced

1 small onion minced

1 tablespoon each:

minced -parsley, oregano, thyme, chive

(feel free to add what other herbs you wish)

1/2 cup olive oil

1/4 t sea salt

Place garlic, onion, and herbs in a small heat proof bowl. Set aside.

Heat the olive oil in a frying pan until shimmering. 

Pour the hot oil over the herb mixture and stir. Add salt. 

Garlic and Mint Sauce

About 9 gloves garlic chopped 

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/2 cup  mint leaves, julianned

Kosher salt  and fresh ground Pepper

Toss all of the ingredients with the hot roasted potatoes.  Adjust the salt and pepper to taste.

Pan Fried Sanpper with a "Chimichurri" style garlic sauce

Before I even go one step further. I have to apologize for the quality of my photos.  My regular camera is broken and I have been using my Iphone.  It is making me crazy. I had a decent point and shoot, but the "auto zoom" on them seems to fail after a few years.  I am thinking SLR. I really need to decide soon. Any suggestions?

In an effort to present something new and exciting to the dinner table last night, I combined a few ideas from past recipes and previous dining experiences.

  

My son loves the whole fried red snapper served at El Barco in Chicago, (http://www.elbarcorestaurant.com). So I went to the fish market and picked up some small red snappers.

Chimichurri Sauce

9 cloves garlic minced

1 small onion minced

1 tablespoon each:

minced -parsley, oregano, thyme, chive

(feel free to add what other herbs you wish)

1/2 cup olive oil

1/4 t sea salt

Place garlic, onion, and herbs in a small heat proof bowl. Set aside.

Heat the olive oil in a frying pan until shimmering. (The same one you will use for the fish- less cleanup!)

Pour the hot oil over the herb mixture and stir. Add salt. Stir and hold for fish.

Pan Fried Snapper

2 red snappers about 1 pound each

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup rice flour

seasonings of your choice

salt and pepper to taste

peanut oil

Mix the two flours together in a shallow bowl. season as desired.

Rinse, dry  and season the whole fish.

Dredge in in flour mixture.

In the mean time heat enough peanut oil in the pan to cover the fish about half way.

When oil is about 375  place fish in the pan and fry until golden. About 4 minutes on each side depending on the size of your fish.  You can see when the fish is beginning to pull away from the bone.

Drain on paper.

Serve with the herb sauce poured over it.

I fried mine in a wok, because I did not have enough peanut oil on hand for a large frying pan.  It is not ideal, but it is workable if you are careful to move the fish around so it cooks completely.