When my husband suggested we have steak for Sunday night dinner I started thinking about possible side dishes? I knew that I wanted to make a potato based dish...but, the question was, what potato side dish? 
I've been wanting to try making hasselback potatoes for a while now. Have you made hasselback potatoes before? They look beautiful...as beautiful as a baked potato can look. Like a fanned out deck of cards...but, it's potatoes. Hasselback potatoes are a Swedish style baked potato, that is thinly sliced, creating little hiding spots for buttery goodness. This style of baked potatoes can be topped in the same way that traditional baked potatoes are topped. Think sour cream, chives, cheese and bacon. We chose to top off our hasselbacks with a simple mix of sour cream, butter and chives. I was surprised at just how easy the potatoes were to make...they take some time...but easy to make.
Simple Hasselback Potatoes
6 yukon gold potatoes
2 tablespoon melted butter
2 tablespoon unsalted room temperature butter
1 whole clove of garlic
salt and pepper
½ cup sour cream
1 tablespoon chopped chives
Wash and slice potatoes. Slicing the potatoes may seem difficult, but it isn't. The goal is to slice potatoes, about ⅛ inch apart and only go ¾ of the way through the potato...leaving the potato joined on the bottom of the potato. The secret is to cradle the potato in the concave surface of a wooden spoon. Slice the potato down to the wooden spoon. The spoon will keep your knife from slicing all the way through. Genius!
Rub potatoes with melted butter, salt and pepper. Slice the garlic thinly and tuck slivers of garlic and slices of butter into the slits in the potatoes.
Place potatoes on a foil lined baking sheet. Bake in 375°F oven for 1 hour to 1 ½ hour...depending on the size of your potatoes. A knife inserted in the potato should slide in easily when they are done.
Remove from oven and serve with sour cream, topped with chopped chives.
We served our hasselback potatoes as a side dish for a simple steak and salad dinner. It is too cold out right now to be using our outdoor barbecue, but I'm certain that these potatoes would bake up nicely on the grill. To barbecue, oil and butter the potatoes and wrap individually in foil. I would still baste them after 30 minutes on the grill. My daughters liked this style of potato. Next time, we are going to try baking out sweet potatoes in this same style. It may or may not work...I'll let you know how it goes.
