A Classic Combination

I love a good scavenger hunt. Following a well-marked yet cryptic list to find hidden treasures around the neighborhood was my idea of a good time when I was young. It was almost too much for me to bear, the surprise that might be found, the race to find it in time, and the end result-- a birthday treat. (Because usually a scavenger hunt was coupled a birthday celebration.) Perhaps this is why I love salt cooked potatoes so much. Popping each potato out of its salty nest was a tiny party, like a scavenger hunt, digging among the white dunes to find a treasure. But this time the treasure wasn't jewels, or mounds of gold, it was a potato-- but a pretty darn good one at that.

Salt and potatoes but not salty potatoes. Baked but not oven-roasted. Toasty warm but not crisp skinned. Simple to make and impressive when brought out of the oven. Why hadn't I ever thought of this? Because now, it's the only way I want to eat new potatoes.

I got this idea from Sally Schneider, author of The Improvisational Cook (her cookbook is a a recent purchase, therefore an often used book in my collection), and I think this idea is genius. Now I am inspired, to set out cooking everything in salt: baby carrots, Japanese turnips, even green beans. Any un-cut vegetable will do. Simply coat the bottom of a baking dish with a thin layer of salt. Add the vegetables individually, leaving a bit of space between each veggie, and then cover with salt. Bake at 450 degrees for 40-50 minutes, and there you have it.

What a simple idea: a salt crust, just mounds of coarse Kosher salt, and rolly-polly, baby, new potatoes, baked together to make an even more classic combination revelatory. Sure I had eaten the standard-- whole fish, baked in a crust of Kosher salt, made into a paste by the addition of egg whites. This dish is great, accompnaied by the ooh's and aah's of your guests as you pull a baking dish of crackly, slightly browned, mountains of salt from the oven. And the fish is tender, steamed to perfection in its salty kiln. But preparing this dish takes some trust, knowing just when the fish is actually ready, and of course, it requires a ton of wasted salt.

But these potatoes almost seem frugal, calmly baking not in a paste but rather simply a mound of Kosher salt, which can be used over and over again to bake who knows what else. The potatoes are a combination of baking and steaming, with the forgiving texture of a steamed potato, but without the bland wetness of that process. And the salt is the workhorse of this dish, delicately flavoring, but not overwhelming. The salt infuses the potato with flavor, just make sure to brush off the excess before diving into this fabulous side dish.