Grilled Three-Cheese Potatoes

Memorial Day. The fifth one since Clay enlisted. The second one where "veteran" means my son. But this Memorial Day is different from last year's: this year Clay is here, at the table, eating pulled pork, alive and recovering and making jokes about my slaw being "over-vinegared" which is a criticism I reject but appreciate because criticism means engagement and engagement means he's here, present, tasting, caring enough to have an opinion. An opinion about slaw is a sign of life.

We didn't go to the cemetery this year. The pandemic keeps the crowds away but I also didn't want to go because Memorial Day is for the dead and my son is alive and I want to celebrate the alive, not the dead. Torres and Brennan — the two soldiers killed in the IED — are dead. Their families are at their graves today. Their mothers are standing at headstones and leaving flowers and doing the thing I was terrified I'd have to do. I'm not doing that thing. I'm eating pulled pork with my son and the gratitude is so large it has its own gravity.

Travis and Jolene came over. Socially distanced, masks off outdoors, the awkward pandemic etiquette of family gatherings where love and virus compete for space. Travis ate pork. Jolene brought potato salad (Connie's recipe — Jolene is learning Connie's recipes now, which is the ultimate sign of Hensley integration). Clay and Travis threw a football in the yard — the first time Clay has touched a football since high school — and for ten minutes they were brothers in a backyard and nothing else. Not a veteran and a landscaper. Not a man with PTSD and a man with a binder-wielding wife. Just brothers. In a yard. With a ball. The ball arced through the air and the sun was warm and the pork was good and ten minutes of normal is a fortune when normal has been in short supply.

Jolene brought the potato salad that day — Connie’s recipe, the one she’s been learning, the one that means she’s fully one of us now — and it disappeared before the pork did, which tells you everything about how hungry we all were for something that felt like a normal cookout. These Grilled Three-Cheese Potatoes have become my contribution to that same table: foil-packet easy, smoky from the grill, finished with three kinds of melted cheese and the kind of simplicity that lets you stay in the yard with your people instead of disappearing into a kitchen. When the afternoon is that good, you don’t want to miss a minute of it.

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 30 min | Total Time: 45 min | Servings: 6

Ingredients

2 lbs Yukon Gold potatoes, thinly sliced (about 1/4-inch thick)
1 medium yellow onion, thinly sliced
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1/2 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons fresh chives, chopped, for garnish
Sour cream, for serving (optional)

Instructions

Preheat the grill. Heat an outdoor grill to medium-high heat (about 400°F). Cut two large sheets of heavy-duty aluminum foil, each about 18 inches long. Layer them together for a double-thick packet that won’t tear over the heat.
Season the potatoes. In a large bowl, toss the sliced potatoes and onion with the garlic, smoked paprika, onion powder, salt, and pepper until evenly coated.
Build the packet. Spread the seasoned potato mixture in the center of the foil. Scatter the butter pieces evenly over the top. Bring the long sides of the foil up and fold together in a tight double fold, then fold in the ends to seal the packet completely, leaving a little air space inside for steam.
Grill the packet. Place the foil packet on the grill grates over direct heat. Cook for 20 minutes, then carefully flip the packet using tongs and grill for another 8 to 10 minutes, until the potatoes are fork-tender.
Add the cheese. Carefully open the top of the packet (watch for escaping steam). Scatter the cheddar, Monterey Jack, and Parmesan evenly over the potatoes. Re-close the packet loosely and return to the grill for 3 to 5 minutes, until the cheese is fully melted and beginning to bubble.
Finish and serve. Open the packet fully, garnish with fresh chives, and serve directly from the foil. Offer sour cream on the side if desired.

Nutrition (per serving)

Grilled Three-Cheese Potatoes — The Side Dish That Belongs at Every Backyard That Still Has Its People In It