Potato Wedges With Sweet Spicy Sauce

Memorial Day weekend. Last year I went to the block party for the first time since Marcus died. This year the block party is not happening—COVID has suspended the neighborhood gatherings the way it has suspended everything—and I sit in the house with Calvin and we observe the holiday in the old-fashioned way, the quiet way, by remembering. We have a great deal to remember this year. We have Marcus and we have Bernice and we have whatever 2020 is doing to the world outside our windows, which seems to be accelerating in directions that I am too old and too tired to track with the attention it deserves.

I made a Memorial Day dinner for just the two of us: the ribs Calvin smokes when the occasion calls for smoking ribs, the potato salad that is mine and will not be improved upon, the baked beans that go in the oven for two hours with molasses and bacon and brown sugar, the sweet tea. I set a place for Marcus and a place for Bernice—two white candles, two empty plates—and Calvin said grace and he named both of them and his voice held, this man's voice, this voice that has been holding through everything, the vessel still intact, the sermon still available when it is needed.

I wrote a blog post this week about grief and the kitchen, specifically about grief and the kitchen when you lose two people in two years—when the holes multiply, when the table has two empty places instead of one. I wrote it honestly, the way I write everything, the way Bernice cooked everything: with what is actually in the pot, not with what would look better from the outside. The response was overwhelming. I don't use that word lightly. I mean it. Overwhelming like a pot boiling over, like more than the vessel holds. People who have lost two people. People who have lost three. People who were feeding from this blog and needed it more than ever and I had been quiet for six weeks and now I was back. More salt. More love. The table is still here.

The potato salad I made that day is mine alone—it will not be written down, and it will not be improved upon, and that is final. But the requests came in after that post, the way everything came in: overwhelming, more than the vessel holds, and people needed something to hold onto in their own kitchens. So I’m offering the next best thing: potato wedges with a sweet and spicy sauce that brings that same combination of tender and sharp, soft and heat, that a good potato dish at a grief table should have. You can make this for two people and it will feel like enough. You can set a plate you don’t fill and it will still count.

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 40 min | Total Time: 55 min | Servings: 4

Ingredients

4 medium russet potatoes, scrubbed and cut into 8 wedges each
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
For the Sweet Spicy Sauce:
1/3 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon sriracha or hot sauce, adjusted to taste
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional, for more heat)
Pinch of salt

Instructions

Preheat and prep. Preheat your oven to 425°F. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper or foil and set aside.
Season the wedges. In a large bowl, toss the potato wedges with olive oil, garlic powder, smoked paprika, onion powder, salt, and black pepper until evenly coated.
Arrange and roast. Spread the wedges in a single layer on the prepared baking sheet, skin side down. Make sure they are not overlapping so they crisp rather than steam. Roast for 20 minutes, then flip and roast for another 18—20 minutes until golden brown and crispy at the edges.
Make the sauce. While the potatoes roast, whisk together the mayonnaise, honey, sriracha, apple cider vinegar, and cayenne (if using) in a small bowl. Taste and adjust—add more honey for sweetness, more sriracha for heat. Season with a pinch of salt.
Rest and serve. Remove the wedges from the oven and let them rest for 2—3 minutes before transferring to a serving platter. Serve warm alongside the sweet spicy sauce for dipping.

Nutrition (per serving)

Potato Wedges With Sweet Spicy Sauce — For the Table That Still Has to Be Set