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Dad's Campfire Potatoes
by Nora Sherman
In Kitchen Playdates (Chronicle, 2007), which includes this recipe, Lauren Bank Deen remembers the inspiration for these barbecue-ready potatoes: “After a long day of fishing on our boat, my dad and I used to cook these foil-wrapped potato bundles long and slow, tucked into the fire alongside whatever my brothers and I caught, or, let’s be honest, bought on the way back from the marina.” Given the limitations of her urban home, Deen takes a new approach to the nostalgic recipe. “Nowadays I start the potatoes in the microwave,” she writes, “and let them cool a bit before the kids stuff them with bay leaves, thinly sliced onions and slivers of butter. I then finish them on the grill.”
Li'l line cooks can scrub, stuff, and wrap the cooled potatoes. Sous-chefs-in-training can slice the potatoes under supervision. You can also assemble the potato bundles a few hours before grilling.
Ingredients:
4 large russet potatoes, washed
1 tablespoon salt
1/2 tablespoon freshly ground pepper
1 large sweet onion, halved and cut into thin half-moons
16 to 20 bay leaves (if the bay leaves are very large, break them in half)
1/2 cup (1 stick butter), halved lengthwise and cut crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick pieces
Sour cream or crème fraîche for serving
Equipment:
Fork
Measuring cups and spoons
Aluminum foil
Grill
1. Poke the potatoes with a fork, about 4 pokes per potato. Place in the microwave and cook on high for about 7 to 10 minutes, until almost cooked through (test with the point of a knife.) Allow the potatoes to cool slightly. (This can be done a few hours ahead.)
2. Meanwhile, prepare a hot grill. Cut 4 large pieces of foil to wrap the potatoes. Place a potato on each square, and cut the potatoes crosswise, three-quarters of the way through, in 1/2-inch intervals, about 5 cuts. Sprinkle each cavity with salt and pepper.
3. Into each incision, insert the onion slices (about one half moon in each), and next to the every other onion, insert the bay leaves, about 4 bay leaves per potato. Place a piece of butter next to each onion, sprinkle with a pinch of salt and another grind of pepper, and quickly seal the potato with the foil, as the butter may begin to melt if the potatoes are not very cool.
4. Cook the potatoes for about 20 minutes, until the onions are soft and golden brown. Or preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. and bake for about 25 minutes. Serve with sour cream or crème fraîche.
Serves 4.
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