Garlic Parmesan Party Potatoes

I saw these potatoes somewhere (magazine? online? I've wracked my brain and cannot remember where!) and knew I had to someday try to make them. I think they were called "Hasselback Potatoes" though I don't know why and the only reason the name stuck with me was because it's so unusual. (hey, if anyone knows the origin of the name, I'd love to hear from you!)  They looked so fancy and fun, like something you'd serve at a party. I thought they would gussy up a simple roast or grilled chicken the way a row of ruffles elevates a simple black dress. Kind of like jazz hands for your plate, snazzy and unexpected, sure to "wow" your guests.
So then of course I got distracted with other things and forgot about them until I came upon a yellow sticky note under some stuff on my desk that simply read:

potatoes
peel
cut almost thru
drizzle w/oo & butter
salt & pepp
425, 40 min

Oh, yea...those potatoes I wanted to try! Just happened that I was grilling tri-tip steaks that night so I decided to give them a try. Now this is not so much a recipe as a technique. And I can tell you that the first batch gave me some trouble. Coating potatoes in butter then roasting at high heat fills the house with an unpleasant smoke from the burnt butter and makes a mess of the pan. Not a good idea. The next time I made them I used only olive oil (no butter!) and the results were much better. I decided to use Star Garlic Olive Oil and then amped up the garlic flavor by sliding slices of fresh garlic into the cuts in the potato. If you can find Star Garlic Olive Oil in your store, give it a try...it imparts a nutty, earthy garlic flavor to the potatoes and it's also great for roasting other root vegetables and also for dressing salads. These turned out to be not only delicious, but got lots of oohs and ahhs for their appearance. They take a little time, but are not hard to do, and would be great to roast in the oven alongside a nice cut of meat.

You will need:
Potatoes, one per person plus a couple extra. I used russet baking potatoes but just make sure they are not too big. Scrubbed and dried, but not peeled (even though the sticky note said peel, I didn't and I loved the way the skin got nice and crispy.)
Star Garlic Olive Oil
Sea salt and fresh ground pepper
One clove of garlic per potato, peeled and sliced thin
One tablespoon Parmesan per potato, finely grated



Preheat your oven to 425 degrees.
Using a sharp knife, make slices into the potato at 1/8" intervals, almost but not all the way through.
Place on baking sheet and drizzle generously with Star Garlic O.O. and season with salt and pepper.
Roast for about 30 minutes, remove baking sheet from oven and carefully slide garlic slices into cuts in potatoes and drizzle with more Star Garlic O.O.
Roast for about 15 minutes more until potatoes are tender.
Sprinkle each with 1 Tbls. Parmesan, return to oven for 5 minutes.

Put on your party dress and serve.