When raindrops require moving your outdoor-cooked get-together into the dry, warm comfort of the great indoors, a toaster oven or two, in addition to your full-size oven or two, can be your best friend. When this scenario played out for me this weekend, in a properly-timed manner, I simply put four ribeye steaks under the broiler in one of my two ovens, put my marinated chicken quarters in the other one to roast, and, transitioned my baked potatoes into something fanciful: French-onion toaster-oven-roasted gold potato nuggets (affectionately named such by my kids back in the 80's). Rain or shine, Winter or Summer -- I make these often (sometimes I cut them into French fries instead of bite-sized nuggets), and, experience has taught two things: I can never make enough, and, no one cares that an envelope of store-bought onion soup mix is used.
Gold potatoes + onion soup mix + olive oil = gold nuggets:
1 1/4-1 1/2 pounds peeled and 3/4" bite-size diced gold potatoes
3 ounces yellow or sweet onion, very-thinly-sliced into half-moon shapes (about 3/4 cup)
1 1-ounce envelope from 1, 2-ounce box dry onion soup mix
2 tablespoons olive oil
freshly-ground sea salt and peppercorn blend
~Step 1. Peel the potatoes, slice each into 4 wedges and cut the wedges into 3-5 bite-sized pieces, placing them in a 1-gallon food storage bag as you work. Slice the onions as directed and place them in the bag with the potatoes along with the contents from the envelope of onion soup mix. Seal bag and toss to thoroughly incorporate the dry mix with the vegetables. Open the bag, add the olive oil, seal the bag and toss again, until everything is lightly-coated in olive oil.
~Step 2. Line a toaster-oven-sized baking pan with aluminum foil and place a piece of parchment paper atop the foil. Empty the potato-onion mixture onto the prepared pan and spread it out in an even layer. Lightly-season the top of potatoes with freshly-ground sea salt and peppercorn blend. Bake, without tossing or stirring, on rack of preheated 425° toaster oven for 30 minutes, or until a nice golden brown. Remove from oven, transfer to individual plates or a bowl and serve ASAP.
As easy as 1-2-3 basic ingredients & 30-minutes:
Oven-Roasted French-Onion Gold Potatoes Nuggets: Recipe yields 2 large or 4 smaller side-servings.
Special Equipment List: cutting board; chef's knife; 1-gallon food-storage bag; toaster-oven-size baking pan; aluminum foil; parchment paper
Cook's Note: ~ Would You Like Onion-Laced Steak Fries with That? ~. Of course you would, and these couldn't be easier. All you need is two pounds of your favorite gold, red or Russet potatoes, some olive oil and one packet of the onion soup mix you forgot you had in your pantry. It's a souper seasoning for oven-roasted steak fries, and, after five minutes of prep time, they'll need 1 hour, 15 minutes to roast in a 350° oven, which frees of your hands for other tasks. Because steak fries are best served hot out of the oven, plan for them to be the last item to go on the table.
"We are all in this food world together." ~ Melanie Preschutti
(Recipe, Commentary and Photos courtesy of Melanie's Kitchen/Copyright 2021)
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