• FuglyDuck@lemmy.world
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    7 months ago

    I remember my mom trying to make Hasslback potatoes.

    It turned out not well. (No cream, her knife skills are… well lets just say 1/2 was as thin as they got. oh. and did i mention no cream?)

    • amio@kbin.social
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      7 months ago

      Are you thinking about scalloped potatoes? Hasselbäck with cream is news to me.

    • Krudler@lemmy.worldOP
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      7 months ago

      I would never make this again.

      I mean, I could tell based on my understanding of physics and cooking that it was not going to turn out as one would hope.

      But I plowed through and made it anyways. In the end, every single concern I had about this preparation rang true.

      I knew going in that it couldn’t possibly cook consistently because the bottom would be a solid mass and the top would be split apart with varying gaps.

      I knew that convection would not carry the moisture away from the bottom of the fins but it would desiccate the tops properly. I felt that the tops 1/3 would have crispy delicious skins but the base would have tough leather. I was right.

      I knew that applying an oil to the top was a delicate game because it would just saturate if it penetrated to the lower part.

      I feel like this is a misbegotten recipe. A big series of fanciful ideas that are visually impressive but do not deliver in the taste department. Seems like it’s from a time before cooking science was well understood.

      • Vacationlandgirl@lemmy.world
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        7 months ago

        Sometimes I think the highest regarded dishes are about the way they look rather than the process, execution, or the taste. The more I learn to cook, the more I appreciate the nuance of each step!

        • Krudler@lemmy.worldOP
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          7 months ago

          Physics prevents this from being cooked anything other than inconsistently.

          As the fins rise and spread out, the amount of moisture that can dissipate can be plotted on a curve with the bottom of the potato always representing the least amount of moisture dissipation, and the outer part at the top always having the most.

          And it gets more complicated because as the potato curves on each axis it becomes thinner on the edges so there’s a gradient in moisture dissipation there too.

          In a practical sense this means that every X, Y, Z point on this potato is cooked different. Some points will be perfect but by definition it means other points will not and cannot be perfect. And other points must be awful.

          There is a fundamental flaw in this design, which changing the temperature or cooking duration cannot solve.

    • FuglyDuck@lemmy.world
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      7 months ago

      Mandolin and a skewer to keep them togehther-ish in the oven.

      it’s how I keep onion rings together while grilling them. (actually, i use poultry dressing scewers for that. they’re the perfect size. Tab them through the layers, then slice between them. Marinade in salt, vinegar and olive oil. Grill on high till… uh… grilled.)

    • Krudler@lemmy.worldOP
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      7 months ago

      It was tasty, I just thought it did not produce sufficient flavor for what I expected with all that extra surface area.

      I feel like simply parboiling quartered potatoes and roasting them with beef fat is a little bit better “return on investment”.

      I enjoyed making it. I love trying different things even if they aren’t what I hope.

      • ijon_the_human@lemmy.world
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        7 months ago

        What type of potato did you use? I find the startchier varieties work best. When oiled meticulously they get crispy everywhere.

        Mind you, I find them a hassle too.

      • evranch@lemmy.ca
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        7 months ago

        I tried this too and was similarly unimpressed! Good, but not amazing.

        IMO the best flavour to work ratio for potatoes is to cube them and toss them into an Actifry with either beef fat or coconut oil and salt. Get a ton of crispy surface with about 5 minutes of active work, including cleanup.

        Mashed is also super easy despite the above comment and is probably my go-to way to eat potatoes. Cube, pressure cook 7 min, mash with milk and butter. And I grow a ton of potatoes so I eat them almost every day 😁

      • littleblue✨@lemmy.world
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        7 months ago

        Apples & oranges, to be fair. You can’t compare a cream process with a simple fat process, especially when the latter is a minimalist approach and the former is recognized almost solely by its presentation. All due respect, but the critique sounds more like a preference, underneath. I hope you try this recipe again and pull from the constructive advice elsewhere in this thread. Good luck! Have fun!

    • hydrospanner@lemmy.world
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      7 months ago

      How is doing…that…to a potato less work than cutting a few into large chunks, boiling in salt water, then mashing with some butter, milk, salt, pepper, garlic, and sour cream?

      I feel like in terms of strict effort, doing the slicing on one potato, not even counting the cooking, is more of a bother than the entire process of making a big batch of mashed potatoes.

      • pyrflie@lemm.ee
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        7 months ago

        Because you are already doing half the work to make them as a part of cooking the meat in either of those scenarios. You may not even need to dirty another pan if you are using cast iron.

  • RadicalCandour@startrek.website
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    7 months ago

    This is quite literally the same thing I made for dinner tonight as well. I’m sorry you struggled with the potatoes. Even with chopsticks it can be a little challenging. A very sharp knife makes all the difference.

    • Krudler@lemmy.worldOP
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      7 months ago

      There was no struggling, and they turned out perfect, they just were not worth the effort invested for the flavor return.

        • hydrospanner@lemmy.world
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          7 months ago

          Maybe not the absolutely most, but in strict terms of “tastiness divided by work”, I have made crock pot pork chops that have got to be in the top 5% for that ratio.

          Basically get small boneless pork chops when they’re on sale, and put however many you want (I usually do 4-6) in the crock pot with two cans of Cream of Chicken soup and a packet of dry ranch seasoning.

          Stir that shit all together and turn it on low, then go to work.

          When you get home enjoy your delicious, savory, juicy pork chops.

          Really the only way you can get lower effort than that is something that’s pre-made (like a boxed oven meal or something that is microwaved) or something that requires no prep at all, like just eating an apple or something.

        • Krudler@lemmy.worldOP
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          7 months ago

          I think in a general sense most dishes are worth the effort!

          When I use that expression here, I mean that I feel that I can develop substantially better flavor using much simpler methods that take less time, less cleanup, less cooking, more agreeable/consistent texture, and so forth.

          I was a little bit dubious of the hype I read surrounding this particular preparation, and I feel that in the end that skepticism was justified.

    • Krudler@lemmy.worldOP
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      7 months ago

      Been a home cook for a long time and I make everything from scratch so thank you very much for that :)

      I think it’s just doing it a million preps, my tools are el cheapo $5 German steel knives and I use a metal wheel quick sharpener and a pro hone. I’m a bit of a sinner lol

      I don’t have time to fuss, and I’ll just throw out my knife and get a new one every 3 years

    • thefartographer@lemm.ee
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      7 months ago

      Not op, but they definitely used laser eyebeams. You can tell from the precision and crispy edges that they shot laser beams from their eyeballs. Final answer, Regis.

  • GodlessCommie@lemmy.world
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    7 months ago

    They look so sad and not nearly enough cream. I usually slice all my potatoes, toss them in the cream mixture, then stack them in the dish Hasselback style and they always come out perfect, Crispy on top, creamy and moist in the middle and bottom

    • JoBo@feddit.uk
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      7 months ago

      Where are you getting cream from? There’s no cream in Hasselback potatoes?

        • Krudler@lemmy.worldOP
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          7 months ago

          I’m sorry but there is nothing hasselback-style about scalloped potatoes.

          You are making scalloped potatoes.

          This would be like saying that you make your pizza spaghetti-style but then you just make pizza.

            • nymwit@lemm.ee
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              7 months ago

              no, no, I’m certain I’ve seen this dish before. That’s ratatouille!

              seriously, though. That looks good.

            • Krudler@lemmy.worldOP
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              7 months ago

              You’re making scalloped potatoes.

              Can you not see the irrationality in trying to connect your preparation to this preparation?

              It’s just as irrational to say that I made scalloped-potatoes style and ended up with this hassle back. I mean, come on.

              • GodlessCommie@lemmy.world
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                7 months ago

                No need to try and be rude, there are literally hundreds of recipes called hassleback au gratin, hassleback scalloped, or variations of that. Like I said, hassleback also refers to the presentation, not just the specific recipe.

  • WoolyNelson@lemmy.world
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    7 months ago

    I made a ton of them while learning knife skills. They are way too much work versus tastier options, but they look pretty.

  • robocall@lemmy.world
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    7 months ago

    It’s not that difficult to do, just requires some knife skills and not rushing. But I never liked the finished results. It’s crispy on the outside and mushy on the inside.