A Heartbreak, and Hasselback Potatoes

For one shining moment, I thought - dream job, dream company, dream city. This was it. The proverbial turning point of my life, that one single moment when the stars aligned themsleves perfectly in my favour, and everything in the universe conspired to offer me my dream in a silver platter.

Turns out, it wasnt.

I don't know what's worse - The run-up to the big event, the anything-is-possible moment, when, even as the more sensible half your brain is telling you to hope for the best but expect the worst, the other half is racing forward, already foreseeing a future of glittering possibilites, of that coveted position in a prestigious organisation, of the perks, the money, the apartment, the vacations.... Or the moment immediately after, when your heart is sinking rapidly like a dead weight,  when you suddenly realise, this is not going to work out after all. Not this time, atleast. And that for all the time you spent expecting the worst, and preparing yourself for this moment, the disappointment is way too difficult to bear.

 It is times like these that you need some serious TLC.  Some tight hugging, some hand-holding and some good ol' comfort food. Some carb-ridden, crispy- creamy, garlicky goodness. Like some amazing Hasselback Potatoes right here.

They are Swedish, I'm told. And pretty darn good-looking, might I add. And super delicious too. Not to mention, absolutely easy and hassle-free to make. Just what you want at the end of long, hard day.

It  starts with our humble friend, the big fat gnarly potato getting a much-needed scrub up. Really, we are going to be keeping the skin in this recipe, so go ahead and scrub away until it looks bright and spanking new, like this!

And then, out comes the garlic. Two cloves, cleaned, peeled and sliced very very thin. As thin as you can manage without slicing your fingers away too.

Cut a thin slice off the base of the potato so that it  can rest securely without wobbling about. Slice across the potatoes without going completely through, until you have thin slices of potatoes all connected at the base. Shove garlic slices in between the potato slices.

Place the potato on a baking sheet, drizzle generously ( roughly a tablespoon each) with olive oil and butter, rain down some salt and pepper and thrust it into an oven preheated to 425 degrees F.

Bake for an hour (basting the potato with the oil-butter mixture in the sheet every twenty minutes or so) until the potato goes tender and the skin becomes super-crispy. I had it with homemade coriander-pistachio pesto. Now, how bad can that be?

Hasselback Potatoes
(Recipe adapted from Purple Foodie)


1 large potato
2 cloves of garlic
3/4 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
Salt and pepper to taste

Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees F

Scrub and clean potato thorughly

Thinly slice the two cloves of garlic

Slice off a small part of the potato's base so that it stands still without rolling about. Slice across the potato without going through completely so that you get close thin slices that are connected to the base.

Wedge the garlic slices in between the potato layers

Flavour with salt and pepper, and drizzle with olive oil and butter

Bake for one hour, or till the potato becomes tender and the skin gets crispy. Basting the potato with the melted olive oil butter mixture every twenty minutes or so would help in enhancing the buttery taste of the potato.

Coriander-Pistachio Pesto 

1 large bunch of coriander

3 cloves of garlic (I like mine very garlicky, you could do the same with two cloves!)

1/4 cup of pistachios

2 teaspoons lemon juice

1/4 cup parmesan cheese, grated

1/4 cup olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Blend all the ingredients except the oil in a food processor and once it is ground to a homogenous mixture drizzle the olive oil slowly into the jar with motor still running.  Take it out of the jar, taste and add more salt/pepper if needed.  

Enjoy!