We've got heavy hearts tonight at a travel plaza in Gallup, NM. Our heavy hearts, though, are about 1,300 miles East along I-40 with our friends and neighbors in East Nashville, who have spent the day cleaning up after a deadly tornado that ripped through our old stomping grounds late at night. We are heartbroken for our neighbors who have lost so much and so proud of our friends who have opened up their homes and showers to their neighbors. Nashville is still a small town when the going gets tough and we're with you, too.
When in Nashville we often park on our friends, Bryan and Aaron's street, which was one block away from some of the worst damage. They've got a cute house in town with an old red door leading from the sidewalk into their yard and Bryan always has some sort of fragrant herb growing just over the wall. Rosemary does particularly well for Bryan and on numerous occasions we've found a small ziplock bag of fresh rosemary tucked into our hands before we leave or with the mail he's forwarded to us. It's always a small bag and a reasonable amount of rosemary. And we're always grateful. Rosemary is one of the scents that means so much to us, because it is a memory enhancer, and can take you back to better times and lovely places.
And that's what it's doing for us tonight.
But what do you do when your friend Brandon practically chops down what we can only assume was an entire yard of rosemary and gives it to you in a giant tote bag before you leave Amarillo?! Well, you dry it of course and make some Roasted Rosemary Potatoes and spend the night remembering how much love you have for your friends.
For this month's Rumbly Tummy, we are making comfort food-- in full awareness of those who are unsure of where their food is coming from next. Our producer and friend, Dave Coleman, posted these helpful links after a day of putting his hands in the rubble-- just in case you want to pitch in and help in some way:
Donate time to Hands On Nashville as an individual, family or employee group. You can volunteer here - https://www.hon.org/opportunity/a0C1H00001asG2t.
Donate money to Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee – https://www.cfmt.org/…/middle-tennessee-emergency-response…/.
Donate items to the Community Resource Center – http://www.crcnashville.org/
Become a American Red Cross Tennessee Region volunteer or give blood: https://www.redcross.org/local/tennessee.html
Roasted Rosemary Potatoes
Ingredients:
3 cups potatoes, cubed into 1 inch bites. Use anything but Russetts, which are too starchy.
1/2 cup red onion, chopped into 1 inch chunks.
2-6 cloves garlic, minced roughly
2 TBSP dried rosemary or 1 TBSP fresh, chopped.
3 TBSP olive oil
4 TBSP butter or coconut oil split in half (we used Miyoko's butter substitute.)
Generous splash white wine/Vermouth
Salt and pepper to taste.
Instructions:
1. Boil potatoes for about 5 minutes until just softened. Drain, set aside.
2. In a cast iron or heavy skillet, heat on high, add olive oil and half the butter. Let butter melt, add onion and saute until just softened. Add garlic and stir until fragrant, about 10 seconds. Add most of the rosemary, reserving a few small sprigs for garnish. Stir until fragrant.
3. Add potatoes, stir to coat. Add salt, pepper, stir to coat.
4. Let potatoes fry until slightly charred. Stir/flip, cover pan and allow to steam and cook while slightly charring 2nd side. Roughly 3-5 minutes per side.
5. Uncover, add a generous splash of vermouth or white wine. Cover quickly and allow to steam until soft. Continue to cook until crispy on outside, moist and tender on inside.
6. Top with remaining butter, serve alongside your favorite green, tofu dish and memory of a person you love.