Dijon Garlic Roasted Potatoes

A celebration is in store today. My new camera arrived. Two weeks ago, I dropped it and, for me that’s like losing oxygen. The last two weeks I’ve been using my husband’s SLR camera and well, he tried to be nice about it, but he also “hovered” over me while shooting. I totally understand that. I’m known to take food out into the rain to get a shot I want.

So tonight, it’s fillet mignon accompanied by these delicious roasted potatoes made with dijon mustard, thyme, garlic, olive oil and panko breadcrumbs. I took my inspiration from a recipe used to make these lollypop lamb chops. And, I was so anxious to use the camera, preparation needed to be fast and easy.

Ingredients for Dijon Garlic Roasted Potatoes

• 1 pound red potatoes, scrubbed, halved or quartered into even sized pieces
• 1 pint of bella mushrooms, dry-scrubbed, stems cut (optional)
• 2 cloves garlic, smashed, chopped
• 2 tablespoons dijon mustard
• 2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves, or 1 teaspoons dried thyme
• 1/4 cup olive oil (use more if needed)
• 1/4 cup panko bread crumbs
• 1/4 cup oil cured olives
• squeeze of lemon
• sea salt, freshly ground pepper

I didn’t really measure anything and I want to encourage you to make meals like this, where you just pull out the ingredients and put it together without over thinking or striving for perfection. Just taste along the way and add more of this or that as you decide. This is that kind of recipe. This is the way I cook most of my meals. If you can trust yourself to trust yourself, you can eat delicious every night.

That led to using mustard, garlic and thyme and then the panko breadcrumbs. The breadcrumbs will not stick all over and you don’t want them to. Just a little here and there gives a surprisingly nice crunch. I saved time making enough marinade for both the potatoes and filets and I saved time throwing the mushrooms in the oven with the potatoes. A green salad with a vinaigrette dressing with lemon was perfect and brought it all together.

To add to my nice day, my mom surprised me with a beautiful white soup terrine (thrift store find for my blog) and baked us a cherry pie. I felt so good, I wanted to say, “life is just a bowl of cherries.”