I developed these to accompany other dishes. They are great at soaking up sauces. Unlike mashed potatoes, you don’t need to plan on an infinite amount to serve: you can calculate the number of potato wedges per guest and know how many potatoes since out of medium potatoes, you’ll get 6-8 wedges—about one serving.
You can dice the potatoes instead of cutting them into wedges. If you do this, you have to take a lot of extra care not to boil them too soft. I recommend Yukon Golds here for best results, but you can do this dish with any variety. Don’t use extra-virgin olive oil because it doesn’t hold up over the heat as well.
| — | Yukon Gold potatoes, cut into wedges and parboiled | |
| 2 tbsp | olive oil | |
| — | kosher salt | |
| — | fresh-ground pepper | |
| — | Italian herb mix (thyme, rosemary, etc. as sold in spice section) | |
| — | garlic, finely chopped or minced |
1. Wash and cut the potatoes in wedges removing unsightly bits as you go. Do not remove the skins. Place them in a well salted pot of boiling water and boil until the potato is this side of done. (If using Russets, stop way before that point.) Fish the potatoes out with a slotted spoon and place on a plate covered with a paper towel.
2. Heat a skillet very hot with oil until almost smoking (there is a shimmer on the surface of the oil that indicates it’s ready). Cover the bottom of the skillet (and not much more than that) with the wedges. Season with a little salt. Add pepper.
Tip: Don’t use a non-stick skillet for this or you’ll have a lot of trouble browning the wedges. A 12" skillet will do the wedges of about 6 potatoes (six servings). If you put too many wedges in the skillet, only those touching the pan will cook as intended and the rest will tend to steam and dry out.
3. After 3-4 minutes, add chunks of butter throughout the pan and sprinkle lightly with the Italian spice mix.
4. Lift the edge of one of the wedges. As soon as it’s beginning to get golden brown or brown, start tossing them to get them on the other side. Or, you can turn them with tongs. Repeat the seasoning and butter.
5. When done, add in the garlic to the pan and toss repeatedly to spread the garlic around. (This is where you use that “cooks’ shuffle” manœuvre you’ve seen.) Dump the pan out onto a plate covered with a paper towel and then serve.