Our Own Julie/Julia Project - Redefined

She Said:

Well, we worked on our own Julie/Julia Project for several months and what we discovered is that all of the food started tasting the same, as will sometimes happen even when you eat at the same restaurant repeatedly for a long time. We're not ones to continue something just for the sake of continuing it. If it's not working, we move on. And that's what we're doing now.

We completed 41 recipes (including the one below) from Serving Up the Harvest by Andrea Chesman and we will still cook from that book but not exclusively. And we will count the other things we make as part of our Julie/Julia Project and just see how many new recipes we can do in this year.

This recipe we made as accompaniment to a grilling dinner. We had some great grilled salmon and these potatoes, which were fabulous!

Spicy Skillet Potatoes

1½ pounds potatoes, cut into bite-sized pieces (we used Yukon gold)
3 tablespoons canola oil
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon sweet paprika
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 onion, diced (from our garden)
1 red or green bell pepper, diced (from our garden)
1 jalapeño or other chile, seeded and diced

1. Put the potatoes in a saucepan and cover with salted water. Bring to a boil over high heat. As soon as the water begins to boil, drain the potatoes.

2. Preheat the oven to 300℉.

3. Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add half the potatoes to fit in a single layer in the skillet. Season with ½ teaspoon of the cumin, ½ teaspoon of the paprika, a generous pinch or two of salt, and several grinds of pepper. Cook until the bottom sides of the potatoes are brown, 3 to 5 minutes, the turn the potatoes and brown on another side, without stirring, 3 to 5 minutes. Repeat until all sides are browned. New potatoes will brown more quickly than mature potatoes. Remove the potatoes from the skillet with a slotted spoon and spread out in a single layer on a large baking sheet. Keep warm in the oven.

4. Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon oil in the skillet and cook the second half of the potatoes as you did the first half. Remove from the skillet and add to the potatoes in the oven.

5. Add the onion, bell pepper, and jalapeño to the skillet and sauté until softened, 4 to 5 minutes. Add the potatoes and mix gently. Season with more salt and pepper, if desired, and serve immediately.

The jalapeño really added a kick to this dish but it was so tasty! And I even overcooked both the potatoes and the onion/pepper mixture! This is a good side dish to have in your back pocket for those times when you are tired of mashed potatoes or rice.

Day 115/365:Recipe 41/175