Roasted Potatoes with Fresh Rosemary and Oregano!

This time it was Sarah's turn to pick the secret ingredient: Fresh Rosemary!

When I saw that, I had to chuckle to myself. Over the past year I've tried so hard to grow fresh rosemary in my garden and I just haven't had any luck. Fortunately, right down the road is Central Market where I can get fresh herbs at a reasonable price. :)

Central Market!

 For this particular challenge, I decided to make roasted new potatoes with rosemary and oregano. This is one of the first things I learned to make after Mike and I got married and moved in together and I finally had a "real" kitchen (read: the stove does not also serve as a work surface!) with "real" kitchen stuff (read: knives that actually cut the first time!). I also had a little herb garden going with basil, oregano and rosemary. As I mentioned, my rosemary bit it, but I was able to use my oregano this time!

Fresh Oregano from my garden!

This dish really isn't anything new and edgy, but there is a bit of a twist to how I bake them. It was actually my husband, Mike's, idea. He's in love with our pizza stone and one time when I was about to throw a batch of potatoes in the oven, Mike said "Put them on the pizza stone!!" I did and they came out great! 

Here's how you make 'em:

Ingredients:
~10-15 new (red) potatoes (the little guys)
~1 T of chopped fresh rosemary
~1 T of chopped fresh oregano
olive oil
salt & pepper to taste

Equipment:
large bowl
wooden spoon
pizza stone

1. Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees with pizza stone already in the oven so it is hot when potatoes are ready to go in.
2. Rinse potatoes well and cut each one into 8ths (in half 3 times!)
   
3. In a large bowl, mix the potatoes with just enough olive oil to thinly coat each piece
4. Mix in Rosemary, Oregano, Salt and Pepper
   
   Tip: It's better to do step 4 when you're ready to put the potatoes in the oven. Letting them sit with salt on them will extract the water and leave them in a puddle of potato juice. Ew.
5. Place the potatoes on the pizza stone in a single layer, ensuring that they will be heated evenly.
   
6. Bake for 45 minutes or until they reach desired brownness and crispiness. About halfway through, use tongs to "toss" the potatoes so they are cooked on all sides.

Voila!

 This time I served the potatoes with baked salmon and roasted broccoli! Perfect weeknight dinner because you can prep the potatoes and throw them in the oven and then get everything else together while they're baking! The oven did get a bit crowded there at the end though! :)