Thanksgiving: Part 2

Potatoes are delicious in any shape or form. I love mashed potatoes, especially on thanksgiving, but sometimes with all of the casseroles, everything tends to be the same texture…mushy. Not in a gross way! I love a sweet potato casserole and stuffing is devine but it’s nice to switch up the texture game! I like these roasted potatoes because they are colorful, crispy, herby, and crispy. Shoot, did I say crispy twice? Well, these potatoes are crispy!

The herbs are such a lovely combination and when eaten with those Languedoc wines…holy cow!

Herb Roasted New Potatoes

You’ll need:

2 pounds New potatoes, diced (get the colorful variety if you can find them!)

2 tbl olive oil

Salt and pepper

1/2 tsp ground sage

1/2 tsp dried lavender

1 tsp fresh thyme

1/2 tsp fresh rosemary, minced

1 clove garlic, minced

Toss the potatoes on a nonstick sheet pan with the oil, salt, pepper, herbs, and garlic. Spread them evenly and pop them in a 425 degree oven.

Roast for 25-35 minutes on one side, flip them over and roast for an additional 15-20 minutes or until they are cooked through and crispy!

*Can be cooked halfway the day before and finished cooking the day of!

Popovers. Let’s just take a minute to talk about these baked gems! If you’ve never had them, they are basically a roll. They puff up in the oven and get super crispy on the outside and hollow on the inside. The word “eggy doesn’t sound appealing but that’s the only way I can describe the inside texture. Typically these can be made in a muffin tin but for height I would recommend an actual popover pan. I have a little secret about this recipe…it’s the same recipe used at a famous restaurant that’s known for popovers.

Almost Famous Popovers (with lavender honey butter)

You’ll need:

3 eggs, room temperature

1 1/4 cups milk, room temperature

1 1/4 cups all purpose flour (whole wheat doesn’t turn out as light as crisp!)

Nonstick pan spray

1 stick salted butter, room temperature

1 1/2 tbl honey

1 tsp lavender

Flaked salt for garnish

Start by preheating your oven to 450 degrees and place your popover or muffin tin in the oven to preheat as well! Then, crack your eggs into a mixing bowl.

Whisk for about a minute and a half until the eggs are foamy. This takes a bit of energy but the calories you lose will totally make up for it in a bit!

Now, add in your milk and give it another whisk.

Dump in your flour, all at once.

Whisk gently just until the flour is well combined. Do not over mix this!!

Pull your pan out of the oven and carefully spray it with nonstick cooking spray. You could also brush melted butter into the wells…nothing wrong with that!

Fill each one about 3/4 way full.

Here’s the most important part-bake these at 450 degrees for 15 minutes and then lower the temperature to 350 and bake for another 30 minutes. Do not open the oven door, not even for a quick second during the baking process. There’s something magical that happens in the oven and if you open it, they deflate and look sad. Nobody likes a sad deflated popover! Take them out and let them cool for a couple minutes.

While those are baking, let’s make the butter. It’s important to have really soft room temperature butter. In a small bowl combine the butter, honey, and lavender. Stir to combine and transfer to a little serving bowl. You could also spread on a small baking sheet, let it harden, and cut festive shapes with a cookie cutter. Your call! I then finish the top of the butter with a little swirl of honey and a sprinkle of flaked salt…it adds a nice crunch!