This is a different take on several recipes. Once you make it you’ll see it resembles a recipe called Pommes Anna. Or, a recipe called Campfire Potatoes.

I made this for a couple of friends one time and they loved it. At the time I wanted to do something other than baked potatoes and came up with this. The time it takes in the oven is less than baked and the time it takes to make it is far less than Pommes Anna.

This recipe will feed 4-5 people.

Three pounds russet potatoes

Non-stick spray

One stick of butter

Garlic powder

Onion powder

Seasoned Salt

Rosemary (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Scrub three pounds of russet potatoes. Pat dry.

Slice potato into medium-thin slices. Not potato chip thin! Just good slices.

Use a 10 X 13 baking casserole. Spray sides and bottom with non-stick spray. Make one layer of potatoes, overlapping each potato as you go. You should have three rows.

Once you have your first layer, generously, dot each row with butter. Don’t be stingy with the butter. Then one at a time, sprinkle garlic powder, onion powder and seasoned salt.

Continue making layers until you have used all potatoes. You may have as many as four layers of potatoes. If potatoes reach the very top of the casserole don’t worry. Once you have completed layering, lightly sprinkle rosemary on top layer. Not a lot of rosemary, about half a tablespoon.

Cover entire dish with aluminum foil. Tightly. If you are concerned about spillage (which shouldn’t happen) put dish on cookie sheet then into the oven. Bake for 40 minutes.

When time is up remove from oven and carefully pull foil off. The top of the potatoes should look lightly brown. You will notice all butter is now at the bottom of the pan. Leave it there when you serve. The potatoes have been blanketed nicely with plenty of butter.

With all the butter going on in this recipe, it certainly does resemble Pommes Anna, but this recipe cuts out a lot of work.

I have diligently looked for a recipe called Campfire Potatoes with no luck. I’m not a camper but one summer I tried this recipe a different way. I set up one grill with plenty of hot coals.

Using the recipe above, I used a cast iron Dutch oven. I made the recipe like I usually did minus the rosemary. With the lid on, I sat the entire kettle into the coals. I left it sit there for about thirty minutes then I checked it.

The potatoes were tender but instead of the top browning, the bottom browned, almost too much.

As I said, I’m not a camper so I doubt I’ll ever do this again, however, with a little patience, two weeks later, I made this dish over the coals again. This time I kept them stirred. They came out perfect in the same amount of time.

I do still wonder what campfire potatoes are though.