"Crazy Good!!!"

Hasselback Potatoes. I HIGHLY suggest you try these! I have a favorite blog called (For The Love Of Cooking) http://fortheloveofcooking-recipes.blogspot.com/ Pam is the author and chef extraordinaire of this blog. She has fresh ideas every single day. I have made MANY of her featured things, and have not yet been disappointed. But last night I made not one but two of her recipes. The apple maple brined pork tenderloins, and hasselback potatoes. OMG!!! Not only were they fast, and easy peasy to prepare, but they were LOADED with flavor, and we all felt that they were absolutely excellent!!!! My husband's words were, "this is crazy good!"
Then my son and his girlfriend came over as they often do after church on Wednesday nights to see if there might be anything interesting left over for dinner, and they too were full of compliments for this dish. Next time, I will make more! Try this, you will love it, I am sure. And be sure to go see Pam over at For The Love Of Cooking. Tell her Kris sent you. She is sure to revive your dinner doldrums!!!
First pic...a garlic press-slicer from Sur la Table. Not your ordinary garlic press, I kid you not. If you don't have one.........GET ONE!! My Mommy ( also an avid cook) got me this one and true to her word....it is by far and away better than my old one, which was fine until I tried this! So if you know a cook, put one in his/her stocking. From now until Christmas, I will feature one of my favorite cooking gadgets a week.
To make these potatoes, take a nicely shaped and fairly large russet potato, and after scrubbing, place it on a large serving spoon. Slice it through at about 1/4 inch intervals all the way across, taking care not to cut through to the bottom. The spoon helps prevent this from happening. I probably used a different process on mine than Pam, but I will tell you what I did. I poured some olive oil into a small dish, and using a brush, I lightly brushed the oil in between each slice. Then take several cloves of fresh garlic, and using the above gadget, slice the cloves thinly. Then place a sliver of garlic in between each slice. I wasn't too particular here, and just sort of stuck some here and there, not necessarily in every slice. And Pam's recipe called for dry basil, but I grow basil, so I used fresh. I took several washed leaves, and chopped them up, placing plenty of basil in between the slices as well. Then I brushed the whole potato with olive oil, and then gave them a generous bit of cracked black pepper, and smoked sea salt. (any cracked salt would be fine, or regular salt if you don't have the sea salt.) Bake in a preheated 425 degree oven on a cookie sheet or in a baking dish, for 1 hour. They will fan out and become crisp at the edges. And they were divine!!!!
Garlic press below can be found at Sur la Table or Williams Sonoma.
The pork tenderloin recipe is on Pam's blog, a few posts back. Do try it. It sits in an apple maple brine for at least 8 hours before cooking. SO flavorful and delicious. It is a perfect Fall dinner!
PS I also made her Chicken and Roasted Garlic Lasagna this week. OH MY....need I say more?