Hot Garlic Potatoes Recipe – Batata w Toum Recipe

If you’re looking for an easy to make appetizer and which would inspire your guests to hail your talent and praise the Lord, look no no further than “Hot Garlic Potatoes.”   This appetizer has simple ingredients, is filling, and its success correlates directly with how good you make the garlic sauce.

A successful garlic sauce should taste lemony and garlicky, yet the garlic shouldn’t be biting. You should be able to taste the salt in it, yet salt should not take over.  And even though it has olive oil, if blended and done well the olive oil flavor should be sensed in the background, yet it must be faint.

Summary: Hot garlic potatoes is an amazingly tasty Lebanese appetizer.

Hot Garlic Potatoes Ingredients (4 servings)

4 medium sized potatoes
1 garlic head (or 13-15 cloves)
1.5 lemons, freshly juiced
5 Table Spoons of olive oil
1/3 teaspoon of salt
2/3 teaspoon of cayenne pepper (or hot chilli pepper)
A pinch of dried mint power (Optional)

Preparation Method

1. Garlic Sauce: in a food processor, grind the peeled garlic, salt and the lemon juice at high speed for 2 minutes. Then add the olive oil, and let the processor go for another 3-5 minutes.  Alternatively, you could also use the Lebanese garlic dip instead if you have it premade and handy.
2. Boil the potatoes for about 15-20 minutes, preferably leaving the center a bit crunchy and not fully cooked.
3. As soon as the potatoes are done and while still hot, strain the water then cut the heads into disks of about 2/3 inch. You may need to wear gloves as the potatoes would be extremely hot.
4. Lay a layer of potatoes on your serving plate, cover it with the garlic sauce, then put another layer and cover it with the sauce. Let the heat from the potatoes cook the garlic sauce for 3-5 minutes.
5. Sprinkle the cayenne pepper on the potatoes and serve hot.

Preparation time: 5 minute(s)
Cooking time: 20 minute(s)
Diet type: Vegetarian
Diet tags: Reduced fat
Number of servings (yield): 4
Culinary tradition: Middle Eastern

Source: Mama’s Lebanese Kitchen.