The Perfect Storm: Spicy Rosemary BBQ Potatoes

This post comes from Matt, the Beer Baron, who is also a potato baron in his spare time. 

Just like pigs in The Simpsons, potatoes are the proverbial “magical animal” of the vegetable kingdom. From the ubiquitous French fry to the glorious pierogi, potatoes are definitely versatile and absolutely wonderful – so it came as no surprise to the Clockwatching Tart when I excitedly started thinking up recipe ideas for our little Something Blue potatoes from The Little Potato Company. 

Since I was starting with something I love so much, I decided to just roll with it and create a perfect storm of things I love: potatoes, extra virgin olive oil, fresh rosemary, hot pepper flakes, and cooking on my beloved Weber barbeque. 

To create my flavour-infused olive oil, I just took a shade over half a cup of extra virgin olive oil and got it up to a low simmer over medium heat on the stove top before adding six sprigs of fresh rosemary and two heaping teaspoons of hot pepper flakes. I let everything simmer for five minutes, then removed it from the heat and let it cool down before pouring the oil through the strainer to create a wonderfully fragrant, lightly spicy oil for the potatoes. 

After straining the rosemary and pepper flakes, I discovered something quite magical. Although I had only originally intended to create a flavour-infused oil, through the magic of science, the rosemary had become lightly fried and crisp and could be easily be removed from the stems. I simply rolled the leaves between my hands in a paper towel and out came a crumbly treat to add texture to my soon-to-be-cooked potatoes. 

Next, I fired up the barbeque on medium heat, which equates to a pretty steady 400 degrees Fahrenheit once it is heated up. I halved the adorably small blue potatoes and put them on handy-dandy metal skewers and put them on the grill. 

While the potatoes were grilling, I brushed them with the flavour-infused olive oil often and after 30 minutes, they were tender, slightly charred and ready to come in and be finished off with the rosemary crumble. Thanks to the magic of potatoes (and science) as well as some basic but much-loved ingredients and cooking techniques, it really was a perfect storm of deliciousness. 

Yum!