Let’s get something straight: you are reading a blog by a girl who grew up in Kenosha, Wisconsin. While I moved to California many years ago, I consider my home state to have influenced me the most in terms of my comfort food. My mom cooked wonderful comfort meals like Meatloaf with Mashed Potatoes and Macaroni and Cheese Casserole. While she always made a great dinner, she always checked off three categories by serving a protein, a starch, and a vegetable.

My mother’s version of starch was usually some sort of potato. We had mashed, baked, or even little Tator Tots for dinner. Whether potatoes are fancied up like my gorgeous Potato Stacks or simply baked in the oven and loaded with toppings, potatoes are still one of my most favorite foods.

My Potato Stacks are my go-to side dish when I’m looking to jazz up potatoes. These simple little stacks elevate dinner and make the meal more special. These lovely little stacks are both elegant and delicious! The thinly sliced potatoes get golden brown and crispy on the top and perfectly tender on the inside. I like them simply seasoned with olive oil, butter, fresh thyme, salt and ground pepper. When they come out of the oven, I let them rest slightly and then finish them off with a light sprinkle of kosher salt (or sea salt) and freshly ground pepper.

Since we learned in culinary school that we eat with our eyes first, garnish is a nice way of communicating to your guest what they are eating. In the case of Potato Stacks, I clip a bit of thyme stem or just use the fresh thyme leaves to let everyone know what they are eating. Garnish conveys what is in the dish and also completes the presentation in a beautiful way.

Serve these gorgeous potatoes hot out of the oven along side dinners like Roast Chicken or Roast Beef. I also love to serve these simple but stunning potatoes for brunch with everything from Frittatas to Scrambled Eggs to simply Roasted Salmon.

Enjoy.

-xo