Salt-Crusted Baby Potatoes

Ingredients

A few handfuls of thin-skinned new potatoes (mix up colors/types for variety)

3 cups of Kosher salt

6 whole plump cloves of garlic (peeled)

3 organic egg whites

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400.

Prep your potatoes. Scrub them well and carve or pick out any eyes or blemishes. You want to pat them completely dry with a clean towel or your potatoes with steam and not bake up properly. Cut a few of them in half (if you like) and place cut side down in an oven-proof baking dish or casserole. Where the potatoes kiss the dish they will get nice and brown and crusty. Nestle the garlic cloves throughout.

Get your salt mixture ready by mixing the egg whites with the three cups of salt (read the intro note if you are using a larger dish -it will help you scale). The salt mixture should be nice and moist. Now pour the salt right over the potatoes and pack it in a bit, and smooth over the top. The potatoes should be just covered.

Place the potatoes in the hot oven and come back in an hour. They are really hot straight out of the oven so let them rest there for a few minutes or until you are ready to serve. Break through and crack open the crust at the table with a stiff metal spatula and let people serve themselves. Dust off the potatoes, open them up with a squeeze, and smear with a bit of the garlic. Enjoy by popping them into your mouth one at a time.

Notes

These are the quantities I used with my 1-quart Le Creuset au gratin dish. If you are using a larger casserole or baking dish just increase the amount of salt and add another egg white or two. Use roughly one egg white per cup of salt needed to cover the potatoes.