This week’s recipe is another I found on Facebook. The link took me to shareably.net/parmesan-potato-stacks-recipe.

The first thing that caught my attention was the photo then the fact it was a potato dish that wasn’t smothered in cheese.

I love baked potatoes and I thought this would be a good variation.

I did not have gold potatoes, and they are expensive, so I just used what I had on hand. I peeled three small potatoes and used my mandolin to slice them. It was early, so I put the potato slices in water with a lump of coal (it keeps the potatoes from turning brown) until I was ready to fix them.

When it was time to start getting supper ready, instead of melting the butter to use in the muffin tin, I just used the butter to grease each muffin tin cup. I greased four of the muffin cups since I wasn’t using that many potatoes.

I drained the water off the potatoes and patted them dry. I figured the melted butter and seasonings would stick to the potatoes better if I did that.

Then, I melted a tablespoon of butter (3 teaspoons equal 1 tablespoon) and mixed in the Parmesan cheese and seasoning.

I used dried thyme leaves instead of fresh (when using dried just use half the amount called for).

When I started stacking the potato slices in the muffin tin, I realized I had more potatoes than I expected. So I greased the other two cups in my muffin pan and filled those too. Now I had a total of six potato stacks. After sprinkling a little salt and pepper on top of each, I put them in my preheated oven and set the timer for 55 minutes.

When the timer sounded, the potatoes weren’t very brown so I let them go another 5 minutes. When the timer sounded again they were a little bit brown and I stuck a knife in one of the stacks and they seemed like they were done.

Everything else was finished, so Brad said a prayer and we were ready to eat.

When we removed the potato stacks from the muffin tin, the bottom potato stuck to the pan. They still looked pretty on the plate. When we cut into them, Brad and I could tell they really weren’t done in the middle, almost, just not quite. I knew with the first bite I wasn’t crazy about these potatoes and I’d rather just have a baked one.

There was too much thyme and not enough Parmesan cheese. The salt and pepper ratio was fine. I could taste the garlic powder, but it wasn’t overwhelming.

When I finished my stack, I cut into another just to see if maybe it got completely done. It didn’t. Instead of being wasteful and throwing away the rest of the potato stacks, I put them in the refrigerator thinking I could re-heat them another night to see if they are any better after they cook a little longer, but had my doubts.

Needless to say, I failed this one and the recipe is history.

I checked with our local Family and Consumer Sciences Agent Jennifer Howard to see if using gold potatoes would have made a difference.

She said for this recipe, using Idaho versus gold made no difference; they are both a firm potato and neither turn to mush when cooked.

Just so you’ll know, the potatoes that I re-heated did soften, but the flavors were still off and I have no regrets for tossing the recipe.

Parmesan Potato Stacks

— 3 teaspoons butter

— 2 teaspoons Parmesan cheese

— 1 teaspoon garlic powder

— 1 teaspoon thyme leaves

— Salt

— Freshly-ground black pepper

— 8 to 10 gold potatoes, cut into 1/16-inch slices

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Melt butter and use it to butter a muffin tin.

Next, cut gold potatoes into thin slices. When finished, place them in a large mixing bowl. Add melted butter, Parmesan cheese and spices. Toss the mixture so the potatoes are coated evenly.

Layer the potatoes into stacks and place them into each individual muffin cup in the muffin tin. Sprinkle salt and pepper on top.

Place the muffin tin in the oven and bake for 55-60 minutes, or until the edges are golden brown and the center is tender.

Once done, take them out of the oven and let them rest for about 5 minutes.

Garnish the finished potato stack with Parmesan cheese, thyme or rosemary and enjoy.