So if any of you are fans of Modern Family, you probably know about Phil and Claire’s ongoing silent feud about the broken stair, right? And the fact that it never gets fixed? Well, the “broken stair” in my house is the hole in our deck that used to contain a dead tree until my husband cut the tree down, so it was a hole full of spiky dead tree branches. This afternoon, I went out on the deck with my brother-in-law and, after cautioning him about the hole, I walked backwards right into said hole. This resulted in a nice, tree branch-inflicting stab wound on my hamstring right as I was about to snap a picture of my ice cream that was set to go today. By the time it had been determined that I wouldn’t die from this painful and highly embarassing incident, my light was gone. This is a roundabout way of telling y’all that I’ll have to save my dad’s favorite Tutti Fruitti ice cream for another day. The upside is that I get to highlight an older recipe inspired by my dad. The other upside is that it took my husband about an hour after my spill into the depths of hell (okay, that might be a little dramatic) to fix the deck. A true miracle, right?
One day, I walked into Williams-Sonoma not knowing that my life would be changed forever. And no, I’m not overly dramatic. They gave me a sample of potatoes they’d been cooking and they tasted JUST like the Dutch oven potatoes I’d grown up eating. The secret? Smoked paprika .
.
Paprika itself is very mild; it’s basically dried, ground sweet red peppers. Well, with smoked paprika, the peppers are smoked on some kind of flavorful wood before they’re dried and ground, adding an incredible sweet, natural smokey flavor (not like that artificial-tasting hickory flavor powder stuff). However, at Williams-Sonoma, it was about $15 for a little can of the stuff, imported straight from Spain. Scratch that; I went to the grocery store and found some in the spice aisle. In fact, the bottle pictured is huge and it was about $3 at Sam’s club. Whatever you do, though, don’t leave it out; it adds awesome bacon-y flavor, sans the fat and the inherent ickiness of steamed bacon.
Anyway, give these a try at all of your summer barbecues! I honestly think if I had to pick a last meal, it would be straight from the grill; some of my happiest memories include grilled meat, potatoes and onions, corn on the cob, and lots of cold watermelon on warm summer nights.
Grilled Potatoes and Onions
1 potato per person (any kind of potatoes work; for the sake of sentimentality, I’m partial to Russetts, although red and Yukon Gold potatoes are so smooth and delicious)
1/2 small onion per person (the one pictured is a little large because I used some onions in the corn)
1 Tbsp. butter per person, cut into pieces
1/4 tsp. salt per person
Freshly-ground black pepper
Smoked paprika
Aluminum foil
Tear sheets (1 per person) of aluminum foil into about 16″ pieces. Fold each in half into a sqaure-ish and set aside.
Preheat grill. Slice potatoes into pieces about 1/8-1/4″ thick
. 
Slice onions about 1/8″ thick
. 
Place 1 potato in the middle of each foil square and dot with butter pieces
Sprinkle with salt and pepper and then sprinkle generously with smoked paprika. Remember, paprika is super mild, so it’s hard to add too much. Top each pile with onions.
Fold edges in and secure tightly. It’s important to get a good seal because the moisture will cook the potatoes and onions and you want all those yummy juices, so if it seems like there’s not quite enough foil, wrap packet in another layer.
Turn heat on grill to low. Place each packet on the grill. Close lid for 15 minutes. Turn and allow to cook for another 15 minutes. Remove from heat and carefully open each packet
(or, even better, let each person open their own packet–hey, less work for you, right??)
These can also be cooked in the oven at 400 for about 15-20 minutes (just check on them to see how they’re doing) or in a panini press for about the same amount of time.
Grilled Potatoes and Onions
Recipe by Our Best Bites
Ingredients:
1 potato per person (any kind of potatoes work; for the sake of sentimentality, I’m partial to Russetts, although red and Yukon Gold potatoes are so smooth and delicious)
1/2 small onion per person (the one pictured is a little large because I used some onions in the corn)
1 Tbsp. butter per person, cut into pieces
1/4 tsp. salt per person
Freshly-ground black pepper
Smoked paprika
Aluminum foil
Ingredients:
Tear sheets (1 per person) of aluminum foil into about 16″ pieces. Fold each in half into a sqaure-ish and set aside.
Preheat grill. Slice potatoes into pieces about 1/8-1/4″ thick. Slice onions about 1/8″ thick. Place 1 potato in the middle of each foil square and dot with butter pieces.
Sprinkle with salt and pepper and then sprinkle generously with smoked paprika. Remember, paprika is super mild, so it’s hard to add too much. Top each pile with onions.
Fold edges in and secure tightly. It’s important to get a good seal because the moisture will cook the potatoes and onions and you want all those yummy juices, so if it seems like there’s not quite enough foil, wrap packet in another layer.
Turn heat on grill to low. Place each packet on the grill. Close lid for 15 minutes. Turn and allow to cook for another 15 minutes. Remove from heat and carefully open each packet (or, even better, let each person open their own packet–hey, less work for you, right??)
These can also be cooked in the oven at 400 for about 15-20 minutes (just check on them to see how they’re doing) or in a panini press for about the same amount of time.
Questions & Reviews
I’ve made these twice now in the last few weeks and plan on making them again this weekend. Our guests loved them too. Thanks for the easy and awesome recipe!
I love your blog and cookbook but I’m feeling a little frustrated on this one. I tried the suggestion of making them in the oven but it has now been over half an hour at 400 and they still aren’t done! I haven’t tasted yet but I’m feeling a little frustrated and hoping they turn out okay. I wrapped the foil in tightly at the edges and tried to follow everything. I left the onions off because I wasn’t excited about them but I figured potatoes are potatoes. Any thoughts on why this isn’t going as I hoped?
That’s seriously so weird–I mean, a whole potato baked at 400 is done in less than an hour! Is there a possibility that your oven isn’t heating up properly? I don’t have any other ideas, I’m so sorry!
I’ve been making these on the grill for gosh over 30 years.Only I use dry onion soup as a flavor. But was looking to change them up so Smoked Paprika is on the grocery list Thank you. One thing I might suggest is to add a ice cube per packet
I bought a big bottle of Smoked Paprika after watching a show on Food Network and then seeing it at Costco – so I bought it. Well, I haven’t used it because it’s such a strong smokey flavor – so I stumbled across this and thought “I’ve got to try it.” So glad I did – both DH & I loved the taste that the smoked paprika gives to the onions and potatoes. This is a keeper “side dish”. And you’re right – it does remind me of dutch oven cooking.
I made these last night after stumbling onto this blog yesterday, but I couldn’t find the right spice at Roche Brothers…
I ended up buying ‘Hot Paprika’ which was from Puerto Rico and had more of a cayenne/chili flavor. Any ideas on where to find the correct spice in New England?
Thanks! and I look forward to continuing to read your blog : )
Hi, Emily! I’m so sorry I’m just getting back to you. You know, smoked paprika was kind of a rarity a few years ago, but I seem to find it everywhere these days. I know McCormick makes a good smoked paprika. You can also find it in kitchen shops (local shops or places like Williams-Sonoma). If all else fails, try an online retailer like http://www.penzeys.com.
Hope that helps!
I just harvested potatoes and onions from the garden… now I know what to do with all that bounty! Thanks!
These are really yummy! Made them last night for Father’s Day and they were a big hit.