So Hasselback Potatoes…. I think that most of you know the story (and the reoccurring results) of my Hasselback Potato Skillet Bake winning the Idaho Potato Recipe of the year about a million years ago (back in 2015). The recipe resurrects itself every now and again and I make it for myself sort of often. Many of you also know that I spend a lot of time randomly pondering “How can I make this recipe better?” for lots of my recipes. Well, I got to thinking about that this afternoon, after finding some perfectly sized russet potatoes (on the small side): How do I make Hasselback potatoes even better? They are already sort of like a baked/jacket potatao meets potato chips/crisps, so why not not go all in: bacon (and the bacon fat)…. cheddar … scallions. Yup, these Bacon + Cheddar Hasselback Potatoes are sort of a love child between baked potatoes, potato skins and chips. Serve with sour cream. Add on some pickled jalapenos and serve with guacamole. Simply to die for.
Ingredients
4 small long russet potatoes (recipe can easily be 2x or 3x, depending on number of people and pan size)
6-8 lardons thick-cut bacon (multiply accordingly if you are making for a crowd), cut to 1-inch pieces
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
salt and pepper to taste
3 tablespoons finely minced herbs (I used parsley and thyme, but whatever you like)
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
4 scallions, 1/4-inch slices, white and light green parts
Ideally, you will use a cast iron pan, but at minimum, you will need an oven-safe pan. This is very important. You will also need 2 chopsticks or pencils/pens of the same thickness.
Directions
Preheat oven to 425F.
Wash / Scrub the potatoes thoroughly. The skins will be left on, so be sure that they are clean and all the hard bits from the skin are off. In a small mixing bowl, combine the melted butter, salt and pepper and minced herbs. Set aside.
In the pan that you will be making the potatoes in, sauté the bacon until the fat is mostly rendered and the bacon is semi crispy, but not too crispy (it will be added in again later so you don’t want charred bits). remove the bacon bits to one pan and add the rendered bacon fat to the melted butter and herb mixture. Wipe out your pan, but no need to wash it as you will be using it again.
Slice a thin layer off the bottom of each potato. This will serve to give them a solid base to rest on while they get sliced. On either side of the potato on the cutting board, lay a chop stick length-wise, parallel to the potato. This will ensure that you don’t cut all the way through the potato. Using a sharp knife, make thin slices across the potato, about 1/8 of an inch apart, slicing into them, but not completely through them. The slices should stay connected at the bottom. Repeat with each potato. Stretch them a bit to fan them out but be very careful not to break them apart!
Reserve 1/3 of the bacon-herb butter. Using a pastry brush, brush the bottom and sides of your cast iron skillet and each potato with the bacon-herb butter mixture, being generous and making sure to get in between each slice. Nestle the potatoes into the skillet. Generously sprinkle potatoes with salt and pepper.
Bake for 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes or until tender on the inside and crisp on the outside., removing the skillet from the oven about every 15 minutes to baste potatoes with the remaining garlic-herb butter. With 10 minutes to go, sprinkle over the cheddar cheese (get some in the slices if you can) and return to the oven to melt. Remove, let cool for 8-10 minutes, sprinkle with the bacon bits and scallions and serve immediately (careful, still hot!)
