Source: Tasty/Spiced Nice https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdA1Sh4T1yk
Like many of us, I spent a lot of my time during the pandemic on the internet, and specifically Twitter. I follow a lot of food related accounts and being the sucker for visual stimuli that I am, a lot of the recipes I tried came from watching quick videos on Twitter and Tik Tok. Accordion potatoes was a bit of a craze for a little bit and you can see for yourself if you google it, there's a ton of recipes out there for it. The link I posted is just the first time I ever saw this recipe and decided to give it a shot.
Ease of Cooking
Tasty delivered once again by providing me with a relatively easy side dish to prepare. The instructions were not hard to follow at all but I will admit I have to deduct points for how hazardous and tedious the process can be. I stabbed myself multiple times with the wooden skewer and cutting the potato to create the accordion shape is very time consuming. Other than those 2 hiccups, the recipe is pretty simple and straightforward.
Ease of Cooking Ruling:
COOKING TIME
This is not a side dish I would recommend if you're on a time crunch. As I previously mentioned, cutting through the potato can be very time consuming, and baking potatoes isn't a quick process either. This side dish/appetizer should be reserved for special occasions or if you have a partner helping cook other dishes. However, after you get through the cutting and seasoning you can just throw it on the oven or the grill and focus on other dishes.
Cooking Time Ruling:
FLAVOR
So far I've been very critical of this recipe, but I will say it definitely surpassed my expectations when it comes to flavor. I decided to experiment with the recipe and cook it on a propane grill. The seasoning combo in the recipe worked spectacularly. These were some of the best potatoes I've ever tasted. Just the right combo of savory, salty, spicy, and smokey goodness. As you can see for yourself, it didn't come out as the prettiest recipe I've ever made (probably because I cooked it on a grill) but, I have no regrets about making them. Also, the potatoes had the perfect amount of crunch to them. One day I will make them again just to confirm whether they taste just as good in the oven, but these bad boys had high end restaurant quality flavor to them.
Flavor Ruling:
VALUE
When it comes to value it is really hard to beat this recipe. Any self respecting home cook should have most of these spices and seasonings just sitting at home already and then you most likely only need to pick up some large potatoes (Russet or Yukon preferably) and some parsley for garnish.
My Value Ruling:
OVERALL
This is not a recipe that I would deem a must try, but if you want to do something creative and fun for a dinner party or just to entertain your kids I would recommend giving this recipe a shot. It's not something you will likely be doing on a weekly basis because of the tedious nature and potential jabs from the skewer but I am most definitely a fan of the end result.
My Overall Ruling: 3.5 out of 5 Gavels
TIPS
1. My biggest gripe with this recipe was how easy it is to stab yourself with the skewer based on how the recipe is shown in the video but I learned that if you lay the potato down on the cutting board and just put pressure from the top as you're inserting the skewer instead of holding it in your hand like in the video its much safer. 2. Dont slice your potatoes too then or else it will come off the skewer very easily. 3. Make sure you also dump the wooden skewers in water prior to putting them in the heat or else they will start to burn. 4. If you want a more aesthetically please presentation stick to the original method because having to continuously flip them on the grill caused some of the potatoes to break off the skewer and lose their accordion shape, but if you care more about flavor def try this recipe on the grill for that added smokiness. 5. Try with a side of sour cream.