Pommes de terre aux olives

I'm guessing that means something like "Seasoned Potatoes with Olives" cause that is what this dish is or perhaps it translates to "An excuse to use lots of fresh herbs from my garden." Because that is also what this dish is all about. Whatever. It is delicious. This is my modified version of a recipe from a friend's website who says she got it from The Frenchwoman's Kitchen

Pommes de terre aux olives

2 lbs new potatoes
2 tablespoons olive oil
8 large garlic cloves, whole
4 shallots, sliced into rings
3-4 oz of pitted black olives
2 tablespoon chopped tarragon, fresh
2 tablespoons chopped parsley, fresh
2 tablespoons chopped thyme, fresh
8 - 10 medium sized basil leaves, chopped
salt and pepper to taste

Peel about half the potatoes. Cube all the potatoes. (Next time I'll cube the potatoes into smaller pieces, this time I just cut them into quarters.) Heat the olive oil in a large heavy-based saute pan and saute the potatoes until they begin to turn a bit brown. Add in shallots and whole garlic cloves and continue to saute until golden. Add olives and season with salt and pepper. (Careful, the olives will be salty). Add about 1/4 cup of water, cover and cook on low heat for 10 minutes. Uncover the pan and add herbs, stirring to mix well. Add a bit more water if needed and simmer until potatoes are soft and almost fall to pieces. Water should be cooked away at this point.

NOTES: If you are going to use dried herbs for this recipe instead of fresh, use less. I'd say about 1 teaspoon of each. The original recipe called for 7 ounces of olives. Instead of the canned pitted black olives I usually have on hand, I used unpitted greek black olives and pitted them before adding them to the pan. These have (to me) a much stronger flavor and so I used much less. So consider the type and taste of the olives you use and adjust accordingly.

-Karen