Crispy Lemon-Saffron Potatoes With Black Peppercorns

Contrary to another review, I found these could use more lemon and less saffron. Also, I think the process is backwards. I might try again, but I would braise first, then crisp them. I had some left over and sautéed them in a Non stick pan, much better.

Made these last night. Agree with comment below once crisped then simmered they weren’t crispy and needed to cook them a bit longer than 20 min simmering. Felt something was missing , maybe a bit of crushed garlic but they were still tasted and nice to have an alternative .

Well, anything for science; I decided to give this a shot in an open cast iron skillet. After browning for 10min+- at which point they should have been fairly well along the way to fried- I set them asimmer. After a bit more than 40 minutes, they were still distinctly al dente, but edible and dinner was getting cold. The texture was ok if you like al dente potatoes- I prefer a bit softer, and after being essentially boiled for 40 minutes they certainly couldn't be described as crisp. The flavor was fine- I used Meyer lemon juice, but I don't think I'd have found regular lemon juice excessive (I'm from lemon territory, we generally like a lot of lemon)- of course, if you like the cooking method you could flavor them pretty much any way you like. Even with a pretty conservative take on what constitutes a tsp. of saffron threads, this is an expensive plate of potatoes.
I really can't see any upside to cooking in an open pan; a covered pan will cook them much faster (about 20 min.) and more evenly. If you do it with just oil or butter and salt they will steam in their own moisture and no browning step will be needed; you can add flavored liquid and cook it down quickly after they're done. If you use liquid (it only takes a Tb. or two) they will come out softer; you'll need to brown them first; any excess liquid can be quickly cooked off at the end

For those wondering in prior comments if the overall method works (uncovered cooking with the specified amount of liquid per the instructions in the recipe): potatoes were perfectly cooked following the instructions in the recipe. I will be using this method for potatoes in the future. However, the lemon flavor was absolutely overwhelming. They were borderline inedible. I would dramatically reduce the amount of acid next time. I would also suggest adding a tablespoon of butter to the liquid to add some balance and smoothness.

I made these as instructed. The potatoes cooked nicely. There was not too much liquid. It was almost all gone when the potatoes were done. My husband liked it better than I did. Either I don't like saffron that much or 1 t. was too much. I won't be making this again.

I may try this, though it would come out a bit pricey; the world could use a reasonable way to measure things like saffron and parsley, although the quantities are scarcely critical. More critical is whether the pan is to be covered; that's an awful lot of liquid ( in a pan with a good cover the potatoes will cook just fine with no added liquid)- it looks like it could come out pretty soupy; that could easily be dealt with, but how much liquid is intended to remain?