potatoes for elvira

hi love, 

these potatoes are for you. I can’t make them for you in person, so this is the next best thing. You do need a day's notice to make these. It's also not hard work, but this is a recipe that moves somewhat slowly. I like to make it while calling friends like you.

Ingredients:

1. 1 Trader Joe's bag of gold potatoes. Alternatively, get like 7-8 big gold potatoes. 
2. Pinch of baking soda
3. Diamond crystal kosher salt
4. A few glugs of olive oil
5. 2 cloves of garlic
6. 1 lemon, preferably unwaxed 
7. 3 tbsp butter
8. Dried oregano
9. Black pepper grinder

Supplies:

1. Pot 
2. Sheet pan 
3. Thin metal spatula 

Instructions:

1. The day before you make the potatoes:
1. Get a half pot of water boiling with a palmful of salt and a tablespoon of baking soda. 
2. Peel and cut the potatoes into 1.5-2 inch chunks. I took this picture to give you a sense of how big I cut them: 
   
   
   
3. Boil them uncovered for 12-15 minutes. A lot of recipes call for these to be parboiled, but I actually just cook them all the way. This is a recipe that benefits from negligence. 
4. When they're soft when stabbed with a fork, fish them out into a bowl, toss in like 3 tbsp olive oil, then shake the bowl until all the potatoes look fuzzy and there's mashed potato forming on the sides of the bowl. 
5. Lay them out on the baking sheet to dry. Once they've stopped steaming, set them in the fridge uncovered overnight. 
2. The next day:
1. Set a rack in the middle of your oven and preheat it to 450º. When the oven is ready, get the potatoes straight in from the fridge. Set a timer for 45 minutes.
2. Grate two garlic cloves and a whole lemon into a bowl using a microplane, then add few tsp of oregano and a few cracks of black pepper. 
3. Melt 3 tbsp butter on low in a small saucepan over the stove, and dump the garlic and lemon and spices in. After 1-2 minutes, when it smells loud, take it off and put it in the bottom of a bowl big enough for the potatoes. (It’s important that you actually cook the lemon zest in the butter; if you don’t, it will turn the butter bitter.) 
4. Like 45-55 minutes later, when the potatoes are deeply browned at the edges and on the sides but the bottoms aren't literally black, take the pan out of the oven and let it rest for 5 minutes. (The potatoes will be easier to scrape off if you wait a second.)
5. Scrape the potatoes off and put them in the bowl. 
6. If you're ready to serve them, toss them with the lemon butter and eat them all immediately. If you need time before serving and they get cold, throw them back in at 425º for 7-8 minutes and then toss them with the butter.

Enjoy your chicken, send me pictures. Love you <3