*This post is brought to you by the Idaho Potato Commission.
Did you know that it’s Potato Lover’s Month? (It’s also Great American Pie Month. I’m not sure how February could get any better. But I digress.) Last month I was approached by the Idaho Potato Commission about participating in a potato challenge to help celebrate Potato Lover’s Month. I was challenged, along with 5 other bloggers, to a create a tantalizing side dish recipe featuring Idaho® potatoes. The day I received the email I had the Coconut song in my head by Harry Nilsson. You know the one, don’t you? “She put de lime in de coconut, she drank ’em bot up, She put de lime in de coconut…”
Anyways, I took it as a sign, especially considering how much I love coconut and lime, and even more when they are together. I decided to make a twist on a classic French dish, Pommes Anna, a potato cake made of thinly sliced potatoes brushed with lots of butter. I stuck with the butter, but added some unsweetened coconut and lime zest in between the layered potatoes as well. I used Idaho® Yukon gold potatoes because they are nice moist potatoes with great buttery texture and flavor.
When the potatoes came out of the oven, and were still very hot, I drizzled the top of the potato cake with some fresh squeezed lime juice and then finished it off with some toasted coconut. The finished dish is creamy and buttery. The coconut adds a subtle nuttiness to the potatoes and the lime zest and juice make everything pop. Cut into wedges, these potatoes are divine served with just about everything from fish, to steak, or chicken. The secret to this dish is making sure your cast iron skillet is well seasoned, otherwise the bottom layer (which becomes the top layer when you flip the potato cake out after cooking) will stick to the pan!
The thing I love most about this challenge is that the Idaho Potato Commission will donate $5,000 to the Meals on Wheels program in the winning blogger’s hometown, with the donation made in the blogger’s name! Now that you’ve seen my dish, head on over to the Idaho Potato page to vote for my recipe! You can vote once a day all month long! Happy Potato Lover’s Month!
*Disclosure: The Idaho Potato Commission provided me with potatoes to use in developing this recipe, as well as compensating me for my time in recipe development and writing this post. All opinions and experiences are my own.
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
I would have never thought of this combination, but it sounds absolutely wonderful. What a unique idea! I can’t wait to try it!
voted for you Rachael – think you nailed the spirit of the challenge – coming up with a completely new variation on a potato favorite. Good luck winning!!
Weird combination on potatoes, but sounds really good!
Congratulations on winning! This dish sounds fantastic to me!
Hi there I am so thrilled I found your weblog, I really found you by accident, while
I was searching on Aol for something else, Nonetheless I am here now and would just like to say kudos for a marvelous post and a all
round interesting blog (I also love the theme/design), I don’t have
time to look over it all at the minute but I have bookmarked it and
also added in your RSS feeds, so when I have time I will be back to read a great deal more, Please do keep up the great work.
{ 1 trackback }