I have always had a preference toward savory foods and the potato has long been one of my favorites.  It’s starchy, filling and can be prepared so many different ways. To me, potatoes are the ultimate comfort food.

My grandmother made the most delicious creamed potatoes – the kind that are melt- in- your- mouth good with butter, heavy cream and salt.  Simple and incredibly sinful.  I am going to put it out there and say that her potatoes were almost as good as the one’s Robuchon is so famous for – the ones where you keep licking, hoping your empty spoon is just a mirage and that there is actually another bite waiting to be savored.

Since I love potatoes so much, I decided to do a little research and I discovered there are around five-thousand potato varieties world-wide and that global potato consumption is around seventy-three pounds per person on an annual basis. Potatoes are inexpensive and easy to grow, but do not have a very long shelf life, staying fresh around two weeks maximum. My personal favorite potatoe variety is the new potato, which has less starch content than baking potatoes and a distinct taste.

I love to roast potatoes and I recently decided to play around with roasting them in citrus and smoked paprika.  The tartness of the lemon and the smokiness of the paprika balance each other perfectly and a touch of crème fraîche adds a cool, creamy finish to this easy potato recipe.

Of course, I made mine into miniatures, placing three potatoes in miniature 1.5″ x 2″ porcelain cubes.  Serve them with miniature forks at your next party for little bite of comfort with a kick.

Roasted Lemon & Smoked Paprika Potatoes with Crème Fraîche

Serves 8

3lbs. small red and small yukon gold potatoes

1/2 cup olive oil

1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika

crème fraîche

freshly ground pepper

Pre-heat oven 400F.

Place potatoes in pot and cover with cold, salted water.  Boil on high-heat for 5 minutes or until soft.

Remove potatoes from heat and cut in half.  Toss with lemon juice, olive oil, paprika, salt and pepper.

Spread evenly on foiled baking sheet and roast, uncovered for approximately 30 minutes or until just browned.  The potatoes will be crispy on the outside and soft on the inside.

Garnish with crème fraîche and an extra sprinkling of smoked paprika.

This entry was posted on Monday, June 28th, 2010 at 3:44 pm and is filed under Recipes, Savories. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.