An Inspired Cook

Several weeks ago a new Greek restaurant opened up near us. We don’t have a lot of Greek choices in our area on the west side. So, one day Kat came up for a sisters day and we had lunch at “The Great Greek”. We shared a Souvlaki Plate with lemon potatoes as our side. The entree was delicious but we kept going back to the lemon potatoes. They were thick cut sliced potatoes with grilled lemons and had a crisp texture. I was curious how to make them at home and found that traditional lemon potatoes are roasted in a seasoned lemon broth, sometimes 45 – 90 minutes or longer depending on the recipe. That wasn’t going to work for me, especially in the summer, it’s just too hot to turn on the oven. I decided to go a different route and made them on my Blackstone griddle. I marinated the potatoes in a lemon broth for several hours. They needed to be partially cooked so that they would crisp quickly on the hot griddle without burning. My solution was to microwave them in the broth which took about 12 minutes. I microwaved them in 3 minutes intervals stirring them after each interval. When they were fork tender, I strained the broth and placed the potatoes and lemon slices on the oiled hot griddle. I turned them often and in 20 – 25 minutes they were crisp and ready to serve. I had no idea if these would taste anything like the restaurant but they turned out fantastic. They were perfectly seasoned and drenched in roasted lemons; the texture was crisp on the outside while tender inside. Greek lemon potatoes are now possible in the summer without ever turning on the oven.