Salt-baked potato

What you see here is a russet potato on a bed of coarse salt with a shredded bay leaf and a shallot. This is yet another thing I got out of a magazine. The idea is that the salt is supposed to help cook the potato evenly and keep it from drying out.


What goes with a baked potato? Steak! Here's a flat iron (AKA clod or top blade) steak. It's a shoulder (chuck) cut, and has been kind of neglected until recently - so it's usually fairly inexpensive, even though it's quite tender and has a lot of flavor.


And what goes with steak? Mushrooms! Oyster mushrooms, in this case.


Mushrooms sautéing:


... a little darker:


... deglazed with a bit of brandy:


Finished mushrooms:


Potato's done:


Here's the cooked shallot, peeled:


... and some fresh thyme:


Use both to make a nice compound butter:


Slice the steak and top it with the mushrooms; split the potato and top it with the compound butter:


Verdict: not too bad, although I didn't really notice any significant difference in the potato between this method and simply baking it with olive oil and salt. Next time I'll probably throw a shallot in the oven for more compound butter, though.