Oven fried baby red potato オーブンフライドレッドポテト

This was a rare occasion for us to enjoy steaks. I got some that were labeled "tenderloin steak" from our regular grocery store. It had some marbling and could represent Chateaubriand (head of tenderloin) but certainly was not a regular filet mignon. It was not too expensive and (unexpectedly) excellent. When it comes to beef steak, my wife is strictly a  "meat-and-potato Gal". Since we had baby red potatoes*, she remembered often making crispy oven fried red potatoes in the past. I also  added sautéed green beans and red wine sauce.

*red potato: In the U.S. these red potatoes are called  Norland Red potato and are sold as "baby red potatoes". It has a dark red skin and white flesh. Flesh is not too starchy or waxy.

The cut surface of the potato became really crispy and inside was soft and creamy. My wife removed the skin before eating and I ate everything. (I thought the skin added to the flavor). (When cooked like this the skin comes off very easily.)

Although we have posted quite a few variations of oven fried potatoes, somehow this one escaped our attention. This is by far the easiest but the result is excellent.

Ingredients:
Baby red potatoes, cleaned and eyes removed if needed, cut in half
Kosher salt
Olive oil

Directions:
Preheat the oven at 375F.
Put olive oil in a small flat dish and dip the cut surface of the potato into the olive oil to coat.
Arrange the potatoes after dipping the cut surface in olive oil on a cookie sheet with the cut surface up (#1 picture below).
Season the cut surface with Kosher salt
and turn them over so the cut surface is on the pan(#2 and #3).
Bake it for 30 minutes (#4)

This potato was very satisfying. Nice crunchy exterior and soft creamy interior with a slightly sweet taste. As compared to other oven-fried potatoes, this is the simplest and very good. The steaks were cooked as usual; brought  to room temperature, seasoned with salt and pepper. Seared with melted butter 2-3 minutes on each side (for medium rare, I did not finish them in the oven this time).

For the red wine sauce, I simply blotted the excess oil from the pan the steak was cooked in. I poured in some red wine (I happened to have an open bottle of Tempranillo) and a small amount of balsamic vinegar. I mixed and removed the "fond" with a silicon spatula and reduced the wine mixture until it just coated the bottom of  the pan and finished it with pats of cold butter.

We decided to open a good wine for this occasion and had Caymus Special selection 2010. We bought this some years ago (it was much less expensive when we bought it than current market prices). We stored it for a number of years in our wine refrigerator. I decanted it carefully and served with the steak. The wine was excellent. There is no sign of excess oxidation. It still has lots of dark fruits, chocolate  and vanilla with silky tannin. Ultimate California cab!  So this was a quite a potato-and-meat feast with a good wine.