Cable tie Hasselback potatoes
A cable tie or zip tie can be used as a simple gauge to cut Hasselback potatoes.
The discovery of the cable tie Hasselback cutting
I was assigned the mundane task of preparing the Hasselback roasted potatoes for Christmas lunch while others created more complex fare. My usual cutting gauge of a pair of thin chopsticks was nowhere to be found in the cutlery and miscellaneous kitchenware drawers. Metal skewers were an alternative, but l could not bear to cut against metal with the carefully sharpened kitchen knives.
In desperation, I found a zip cable tie while rummaging through the kitchen drawers. It became a simple secure and adjustable cutting gauge that could wrap around any potatoes of any size.
Lucky that I am a bit slow and Just before I rushed to make a permanent loop of the tie, I thought that………. a smart idea would be to close the loop the ‘wrong way’ so that the ratchet tooth would not engage with the notches. With this arrangement, a stable loop could be formed around the potatoes. It was easy to adjust it to any potato’s size if the tie was long enough. Tucking the tapered zip tie tail back into the ratchet hole improved the friction grip to stabilize the loop size while leaving it easy to adjust.
The 5mm wide zip cable tie suited my style of cutting. However, they come in a range of widths, so that a range of cutting gauge depths would be possible to suit your preferred cutting style.
The zip cable tie made the cutting very simple and quick, even when consuming Christmas punch. It was so easy, or perhaps the punch had affected my brain, that I disregarded the axiom ‘don’t experiment with Christmas cooking‘. “After all, everyone agreeing doesn’t make them right.
Consequently, I tried criss-cross Hasselback cutting (diamond and square cut) and also used a teaspoon of sodium bicarbonate in the water when parboiling the cut potatoes. The mild alkalinity helps to quickly degrade the surface of the potatoes so that they become soft and crunchy when baked.
The whole process resulted in my best-ever hassle-free Hasselbacks. It will become my standard method for the future while I observe the axiom ‘don’t experiment with Christmas cooking’…….. that is…. until I am in a desperate situation or have an urge to innovate. If this idea excites you might be interested in my cheap kitchen trick posts.
Tim
