mustard and miscellany

Another side dish using mustard today! This one brought to you by Epicurious and it’s a good one: Mustard-Roasted Potatoes. Just as the recipe said, these came out creamy in the center while nice and crunchy-roasted on the outside. The mustard taste was definitely there but not in any way overpowering. I and my dining partners thought these were really delicious. I don’t think I’d serve them with an entree using mustard, or even something with a rich sauce – the flavor of the potatoes is so nice that they stand alone with a simple meal. We had them with grilled ribeyes and steamed broccoli.

The recipe called for whole-grain mustard and while you could use a creamy mustard and still achieve a nice flavor, I think the whole grain adds a nice texture to the potatoes that is really worth it. We used a Temeraire Dijon, not the smoother Temeraire Dijon that I used with the Pork Chops in Mustard Cream Sauce (and if you haven’t tried those, go do so now…I’m drooling just remembering how good that was) but a grainy version.

Strangely, I can’t find it online anywhere so maybe it has been discontinued or something? Regardless, it was great but I imagine any nice grainy mustard would do quite well. EDIT: The oh-so-helpful-and-awesome Nichole from Eating in Madison A to Z let me know that Temeraire is now Musette mustard! I still can’t find the grainy one online and even the creamy Dijon appears to be out-of-stock many places, but at least now we all know what we’re looking for. Thanks so much, Nichole!

This recipe calls for 3 lbs. of potatoes so it makes a decent amount of food. The leftovers are good heated up on their own, but I ended up turning them into a definitely low-brow but absolutely delicious dish a few days later…you’ll just have to stay tuned for that. I used a mix of small yellow and red thin-skinned potatoes for this. Definitely use thin-skinned potatoes, this wouldn’t have nearly the same results with a baking potato like Russets. I also omitted the lemon zest simply because I didn’t have a lemon and don’t care much for lemon in savory dishes. Otherwise, I pretty much followed the recipe – mine had to bake a bit longer because the oven was having some issues, but just stick a knife in them from time to time and you’ll be able to gauge when the centers are nice and soft.

Printable recipe

Mustard-Roasted Potatoes (Feeds 6-8)

Ingredients:

• Nonstick vegetable oil spray
• .5 cup whole grain Dijon mustard
• 2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
• 2 Tbsp. (.25 stick) butter, melted
• 2 Tbsp. lemon juice
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 Tbsp. dried oregano
• 1 tsp, sea salt
• Fresh ground pepper
• 3 pounds 1- to 1 1/2-inch-diameter mixed unpeeled red-skinned and white-skinned potatoes, diced

Directions:

• Position 1 rack in top third of oven and 1 rack in bottom third of oven and preheat to 425°F. Spray 2 large rimmed baking sheets with nonstick spray.
• Whisk mustard, olive oil, butter, lemon juice, garlic, oregano, and salt in large bowl to blend. Add potatoes; sprinkle generously with freshly ground black pepper and toss to coat.
• Divide potatoes between prepared baking sheets, leaving any excess mustard mixture behind in bowl. Spread potatoes in single layer.
• Roast potatoes 20 minutes. Reverse baking sheets and roast until potatoes are crusty outside and tender inside, turning occasionally, about 25 minutes longer.

I think these are good enough to be served to company, but also simple enough that whole-grain-mustard-loving-children would gobble them up. Great recipe, please do try it and let me know what you think. And check back to see how I bastardize the leftovers into a recipe that will appall food snobs everywhere!

Cheers,

Stephanie