By The ISFA work continues — another kitchen table this week, another young family with numbers that might work. I sat across from a couple in Madison County and laid out the grants and watched their faces change from fear to possibility, and the change is the thing I live for now.
Thursday was tater tot hotdish, because Thursday is always tater tot hotdish and the schedule doesn't change for anything — not pandemics, not loss, not the passage of years. The tater tots go in at 375 and come out golden and the family eats them and the eating is the Thursday and the Thursday is the structure and the structure holds. But I also made shepherd pie earlier this week, because the kitchen doesn't only look backward. The kitchen grows.
Seed starting continues at the Holloway household — the windowsill green, the grow lights purple, the soil mix precise. The annual miracle of February and March: things grow even when everything says they shouldn't. The growing is the argument against everything.
Making shepherd pie earlier in the week reminded me that the kitchen doesn’t have to be only about ritual — it can also be about reaching a little further. These Shake Then Bake Potato Wedges landed right in that in-between space: they carry the golden, crispy comfort of a Thursday tater tot hotdish, but they’re something slightly new, slightly grown. After a week of watching fear turn to possibility across a kitchen table in Madison County, it felt right to bring a little of that same energy home and shake something up.
Shake Then Bake Potato Wedges
Prep Time: 10 min | Cook Time: 35 min | Total Time: 45 min | Servings: 4
Ingredients
- 4 medium russet potatoes, scrubbed and cut into wedges (8 wedges per potato)
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/2 cup seasoned breadcrumbs
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat. Heat your oven to 400°F. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- Mix the coating. In a large zip-top bag or a bowl with a lid, combine the breadcrumbs, Parmesan, garlic powder, smoked paprika, onion powder, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper. Shake or stir to combine evenly.
- Coat the potatoes. Toss the potato wedges in the olive oil until fully coated. Working in batches, add the oiled wedges to the bag or bowl with the breadcrumb mixture and shake well until each wedge is thoroughly coated.
- Arrange and bake. Lay the coated wedges in a single layer on the prepared baking sheet, skin-side down where possible. Do not crowd them — give each wedge room so it crisps rather than steams.
- Bake. Roast for 30–35 minutes, flipping once halfway through, until the wedges are deep golden and crispy on the outside and tender all the way through when pierced with a fork.
- Serve. Let rest for 2–3 minutes on the pan, then transfer to a serving platter. Serve hot with sour cream, ranch, or your preferred dipping sauce.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 290 | Protein: 7g | Fat: 11g | Carbs: 42g | Fiber: 4g | Sodium: 420mg