Less Is More: aka: Cheesy Potato Slices and 38 Clove Garlic Chicken

Have you ever heard the expression, “Less is More”? This post was originally supposed to entice all of you with a mouthwatering rendition of that famous vampire-repelling chicken dish called 40 Clove Garlic Chicken. But then I was hit with a B.S. situation. Now behave, everyone. I’m referring to “Bait and Switch” not the other thing. Besides, how often do you hear me swear? I mean come on. If I ever did let loose, you’d pull me aside all the while trying to suppress your guffaws, and tell me to give it up. Some people can swear with great gusto and some people just can’t. I’m firmly entrenched in the latter category. I’ve accepted it. Excuse me while I polish my halo. Ahem. Anyway ... back to the bait and switch.

Like I said, this was to be about the 40 clove recipe. I’ve seen a handful of these recipes recently as well as a video about preparing it, and wanted to give it a go myself. Actually, I, uh, only had 38 cloves to which my husband asked with raised eyebrows if, you know, the missing two were really going to make a difference. Answer: No. No WAY. Not in this lifetime. In fact, next time, I think I’m going to make this with significantly fewer cloves. The garlic that I have is rather pungent, and despite the caramelization and simmering, the little beasties still came on super strong. And I like garlic. Love it, in fact. So even though the garlic perfumed my kitchen in the most tantalizing way while it was simmering on the stove top, this was just too much of a good thing. Perhaps if I had a mild garlic I’d consider using more, but for moi, 10 or 15 will suffice next time just fine. Plus, um, my frugal side won’t allow me to use that much of any ingredient let alone my precious garlic at one time again. For me, in this instance, less is definitely more.

So here’s the bait and switch part ... the big hit of the meal was the potatoes.It’s a less is more type of dish, and was completely, hungrily, masterfully devoured. It totally usurped the chix. The picky eaters club members ravenously chowed down, as did hubbyman. These quickly thrown together little earth tubers completely overshadowed the chicken. Don’t get me wrong, the chicken was very good, and I’ll make it again, but the potatoes were SPECTACULAR! Even better, they are economical and quick to make with regular pantry ingredients. Let’s make some potatoes.

Here’s what you’ll need:

Regular russet potatoes, sliced very thin, peel left on. (I used one per person.)
Seasoned Salt (I used Lawrey’s)
About 2 cups of cheese (Shred it yourself please! You'll make me so oh so happy if you do! I used cheddar and a wee bit of mont. jack.)
A tablespoon of canola or olive oil
1 tablespoon melted butter

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. In a large Ziploc bag, add the oil of your choice and melted butter. Add the thinly sliced potatoes, and smoosh them around to get coated by the oil/butter mixture. I find this to be more effective than drizzling. Any excess oil and liquid from the potatoes remains in the bag and not on the baking sheet.Get a large baking sheet and spread the potatoes out in as thin and even layer as you can. The potatoes will, of course, be stacked on top of each other depending upon how many you use. If you prepare more than 5 potatoes, use two baking sheets. Now generously sprinkle the potatoes with seasoned salt. Place in the oven and bake for 30 minutes or until crispy looking.See how these are crispy looking. Crispy on the outside, yummiliously creamy on the thin inside. Turn off the oven.Sprinkle the cheese evenly over the potatoes, and keep in the oven until melted ... about 2 minutes. DONE.Hello you lovely tubers. Like I said, my kids couldn’t eat these fast enough. They had very generous servings and asked for seconds. Then they were devastated when after requesting thirds were told there was no more. I did, of course, suggest that if they were still hungry, they could choke down the teeny, tiny speck of spinach I put on their plate. That silenced the raving beasts. They did eat the chicken, but weren't crazy about it. Hubbyman liked it, though. Of course, he was wrestling the stray potato bits away from the children. I just ate with a smile on my face. It’s that halo thing again.Here’s a photo of the chicken to show how wonderful it really was. Poor thing getting totally wall-flowered by the potatoes. I used Ina Garten’s recipe as my foundation, only modifying it slightly to make it gluten free. I’ve got to say that I really don’t miss using flour to thicken sauces at all anymore. If you haven’t tried corn starch, please consider it. It makes such a satiny sauce without any heaviness to it.Just look at it here. Doesn’t the sauce look dreamy? Let me know if you want the gluten free recipe, and I’ll gladly send it to you.

Oh, and like most things here at It’s all gouda, this entire meal was gluten free, all the way baby!