Grilled Accordion Potatoes

I freaking LOVE grilling season. I've touted my top three reasons for grilling so many times already, but for those of you who don't read every single one of my posts, I will reiterate. For one, it makes food taste amazing. Secondly, the cleanup is a breeze and there are no pots and pans to clean. And best of all, cooking outdoors keeps the air conditioned house nice and cool.

Today I'm sharing a grilled accordion potato recipe. I shared accordion potatoes a while back, and I still love those, but that recipe is more conducive to indoor cooking. But today's version is perfect for a backyard barbecue and can easily be doubled or tripled, as necessary to feed a crowd.

Ingredients [yields 4 to 6 servings, approximately 2 potatoes per person]:
potatoes
2 lbs. yukon gold potatoes
½ onion, roughly chopped
4 cloves garlic, smashed
2 slices bacon, chopped
2 tablespoons butter, cubed

basting butter
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons bacon fat (or just use all butter)
2 cloves garlic, smashed
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper

So, to make these, you really only need potatoes, some basting liquid (butter or bacon fat), and salt and pepper. But, I can't just do the plain jane deal, so I added a lot more stuff.

The first step is to process the potatoes. I love the baby yukon gold potatoes because the skin is super tender and easy to eat, they're small so they cook up quickly, and they're gorgeous. I think baby red potatoes would also be great here. Just go with a tender potato that isn't too mealy and is suited for baking.

Start by trimming a piece off to give the potato a flat side, that way it doesn't roll around. Then, place the potato between two wooden spoons and then start slicing. The wooden spoons will prevent you from slicing straight through the potato, which is handy.

Pile the potatoes into a pan and clear a space in the center. Toss in the onions, trimmed potato pieces (waste not, want not), and garlic cloves. Place a little pat of butter on top of each potato and a few in the middle and then drape on some pieces of bacon.

Pop the pan onto a hot grill with the lid closed for about 10 minutes. If you wanted, you could also make these indoors in a super hot oven (500F).

Whilst the potatoes are cooking, get the basting liquid ready. Grab some butter, bacon fat, garlic, and salt and pepper and toss into a pan and cook just until sizzling.

After 10 minutes of cooking, the potato slices will have started to separate, which means it's prime time for basting because the butter and bacon fat will drip right in between. So, drip a good amount of butter onto each potato (be generous) and then leave alone to cook for another 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Meanwhile, one cannot live on accordion potatoes alone, so whip up a few other dishes. I seared this giant 2" thick ribeye on the grill next to the potatoes.

I also whipped up a super simple caprese salad.

And I made some sauteed brussels sprouts leaves (with a few kale leaves) from our garden.

By the time you're done making all of that other stuff, the star of the meal should be done. You know they're ready when they're golden brown and tender.

Plate up the potatoes and then baste them one last time with the leftover fat in the pan.

The potatoes are tender with a crispy skin, incredibly flavorful (thank you, bacon, for making everything awesome), and honestly, just a really pretty looking side dish.

Here's the recipe page: