SPICY HASSELBACK POTATOES

Steps:

• The oven temperature will depend on what else you are cooking at the time (e. g. a roast).
• Anything between a moderate and high heat will be fine for these potatoes.
• Grease a baking tin or tray.
• Wash potatoes well but do not peel.
• Cut a thin slice from the base of each potato so that they will sit flat on a cutting board.
• Place a potato on the cutting board and lay a wooden spoon alongside the length of it.
• This stops you from cutting right through to the bottom of the potato.
• Now, using a sharp knife, held at right angles to the wooden spoon, thinly slice the potato but DO NOT CUT ALL THE WAY TO THE BOTTOM.
• (Think of the way garlic bread is sliced- that's the effect you're looking for.) Repeat until all potatoes are sliced in this way.
• Place potatoes into the baking tin.
• Now, using a pastry brush, brush butter or margarine over the top of each potato and use the brush (and your fingers) to carefully push some of the butter down between the slices.
• Reserve some butter or margarine to baste during cooking.
• Bake for around 45 minutes at 180°-220°C (350°- 425°F) before adding spice mixture.
• While the potatoes are cooking, combine the ingredients for the spice topping in a small bowl and mix well.
• After 45 minutes, brush the reserved melted butter or margarine over the potatoes then sprinkle the potatoes with the spice mixture.
• Return potatoes to the oven and bake for a further 15 minutes or until brown and crispy.
• (If the potatoes are not browning nicely after the first 45 minutes, simply increase the heat for the last 15- 20 minutes of cooking. If you are cooking a roast, you can time it so that you remove the meat to rest for 15-20 minutes before the potatoes are done).