I’m in the land of no WiFi (East Cork). So this week’s post shall be without photos. I made hasselback potatoes. They are mildly fiddly to prepare but look like you made a substanital effort and are delicious to boot.

As for Cork. I like it. I like it very much. It’s wonderfully calm where we are. My gold star husband brought my boys and I to ballymaloe house for lunch. 

Everything was just perfect. The ladies in the cafe were so kind and didn’t sigh at the sight of my boys. That’s always a good start. I ordered the spinach and bacon quiche because I’m a grown up and that’s what grown ups do. Mostly what grown ups who realise they eat an astonishingly unhealthy diet do. In any case it was gorgeous. You scarcely tasted the spinach. I had a brownie and cappuccino to ensure my body didn’t go into shock and both were also great. 

Afterwards we went for a drive along the coast to Ballycotton. Not only does it have a deadly name but it has a beautiful island metres from the mainland with a picture perfect lighthouse on top. 

Lovely day all around. 

Back to the potatoes. As with last week this is a non exact recipe. 

I made 20 new potatoes and used 100g of butter, 3 garlic cloves and salt and pepper. 

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius. 

Melt the butter in a little saucepan and crush in the garlic. 

Use a sharp knife to cut 3/4 of the way down each potato along their long axis. There should be about 10 incisions per potato with gaps of only 2 or 3mm between the cuts. I will endeavour to put photos up one I get back. 

Place all of your little beasties in an ovenproof dish and brush their tops generously with the garlic butter. 

Liberally season with salt and pepper then put the dish in the oven. 

Every twenty minutes remove the dish and brush or spoon more butter over the potatoes. 

My potatoes took about an hour because they were only small. But bigger ones could take up to an hour and a half. 

They’re done when a sharp knife easily pierces them all the way to the bottom and the tops have gone crispy.

Serve them with a smug smile and a lie of how complex they are to prepare.