Winter recipes: Waldy Malouf's crispy potato wedges with mustard (Beacon)

Mustard-crusted roasted potato wedges are typical of Beacon's "uncomplicated" and "big-flavored" cuisine.

The Beacon

My first encounter with the culinary artistry of Waldy Malouf was at the Hudson River Club, where the cuisine was about as far as you could get from "uncomplicated" and "big-flavored." Those are the adjectives  former Times critic William Grimes used to characterize the food at Beacon, the venue where Waldy has been cooking for the last decade.

The recipe that follows is intended as an accompaniment to sirloin with blood and butter gravy, which will be receiving star billing at Beacon's annual "beefsteak" dinner in February (more on which to come in a later column). The recipe for the steak component of this steak and potatoes combo can be found here.

• 4 large Idaho potatoes
• 1/2 cup Dijon mustard
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme, or 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon coarse sea salt or kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400ºF.
2. Pierce the potatoes with a fork and bake them until almost cooked, about 30 to 40 minutes. (Alternatively, microwave them on high for 6 minutes, turning them halfway through).
3. In a large bowl, stir together the mustard, olive oil, thyme, salt and pepper.
4. When cool enough to handle, cut the partially cooked potatoes lengthwise into 4 wedges each. Toss the wedges in the mustard mixture until thoroughly coated.
5. Increase the oven temperature to 500 degrees. Lay the potato wedges with one of their cut sides down on a rimmed baking sheet. Roast for 20 minutes, turning onto the second cut side after 10 minutes. Transfer to a warmed platter, and serve.
    

Preparation time: 1 hour if baked before roasting, or 30 minutes if microwaved before roasting.

Yield: 8 servings