Fried Potatoes Sicilian Style

I cut this recipe out of the Cleveland Plain Dealer, apparently in 2002, as they took it from what they call "a good new book" by Clarissa Hyman called "Cucina Siciliana," which means "Sicilian Cuisine," and it was published by Interlink, 2002. The dish is called "Sauteed Rosemary Potatoes With Cherry Tomatoes and Black Olives," and if you want the recipe, that WAS the recipe! Just joking. I love fried potatoes and when I tried this, I was just completely sold. I fix it fairly often. I rarely follow recipes to the letter, and I don't completely follow this one either, as I slice the potatoes, like home fries, rather than use "chunks," which is what the recipe calls for, and I add some fresh hot peppers, like serranos, as well as the black pepper. You certainly could use some hot pepper flakes as a substitute, although fresh hot peppers are now commonly sold in most supermarkets. 

8 medium red-skinned potatoes (you can use other potatoes)
2-3 tablespoons olive oil (I use extra virgin olive oil)
2-3 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
4 large cloves of garlic, peeled
pinch of salt
freshly ground black pepper or peperoncino (or any hot chili pepper, to taste, chopped)
12 cherry or grape tomatoes (see text below)
12 black olives, quartered (Kalamata olives are good for this, or Niçoise olives, halved or whole)
fresh parsley

While the author says to peel the potatoes, I don't, I leave the skins on. Cook the potatoes in water for about 12 minutes and drain them well. Slice the potatoes, or cut them into "chunks," as in the actual recipe. Add the olive oil to a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the potatoes, rosemary, garlic, salt, and the hot peppers + black pepper. (While the recipe doesn't say, I chop the garlic.) Stir the potatoes to make sure the other ingredients coat the potatoes. Cook for 10-15 minutes (I lean more to 13-15 minutes), stirring occasionally to keep the potatoes from sticking (I usually add a little more olive oil, too). Add the tomatoes and olives at about the 7-8 minute mark. Again, while the recipe doesn't call for this, after the tomatoes heat up, I usually take a large spoon and mash them down so the liquid mixes in, although sometimes they begin to split open on their own. When finished, the potatoes should be nice and browned and somewhat crisp. Add the parsley just before removing the potatoes from the heat.

Just a GREAT dish, with the browned potatoes, the hint of garlic and rosemary, a little heat, the brininess of the olives and the little tomatoes.

 

 

 

 

 

WORD HISTORY:  

Potato-First, potatoes, like true sweet potatoes (not yams, which came to the New World from Africa) and tomatoes, are from the New World and their popularity as a great source of food only spread to the rest of the world gradually, often by way of Spanish and Portuguese traders. Potatoes became one of the main sources of food in many countries, and in Ireland, the little nation was so dependent on potatoes, a blight on the potato crop in the mid 1800s cost the lives of hundreds of thousands from starvation. Between deaths and emigration (often to the United States), it is estimated that Ireland's population decreased by as much as one quarter during that era. To put that into perspective, imagine a decrease in the current U.S. population by about 80 million. Spanish got the word "patata" from "batata" from one of the Taino dialects of the Caribbean islands. Taino is now largely extinct, as other languages, primarily Spanish, replaced it on the various islands. Originally the word meant "sweet potato," but later the similarly looking (on the outside) white potato had the same word applied to it. English got the word from Spanish in the mid 1500s.