Broth-Braised Potatoes - French Fridays with Dorie

A recipe like this is why many people think that French cuisine is the greatest ever. Potatoes - the simplest, most earthy vegetable - cooked simply with a few basic flavor enhancers thrown in (literally) turn into a glorious dish that you can't stop thinking about. Why do we make boiled potatoes when, with just a little more effort, you can end up with something like this?

You're always likely to have a few cloves of garlic on hand. Mine weren't even in pristine shape, but they were good enough to flavor the broth.

And I had a lemon that was buried in the fruit drawer. A little sad-looking, but perfectly fine for giving up a wide swath of peel.

I happened to have both fresh thyme and fresh rosemary in my crisper. I bought them both for recipes I made weeks ago. Again, they were both somewhat tired-looking, but not too tired to be tossed in simmering water.

Those few simple things were enough to turn boiled potatoes into something good enough to be the star of the show.

When the potatoes were fork-tender, I took the lid off, turned up the heat, and let most of the liquid boil away. They turned into what looked like a real braise: lighly coated in olive oil, with the potatoes on the bottom of the pan picking up a little crust, and with just a tiny bit of liquid for flavor. I'm glad I have enough left to use Dorie's suggestion of turning leftovers into hash browns. That'll come up later in the week, or maybe for Sunday breakfast. I really want to eat them again.