crisp potato cake with herbs.

this is a slightly altered recipe from Madhur Jaffrey's "world vegetarian"

Ingredients:
2 & 1/2 pounds baking potatoes
about 6 table spoons olive oil
salt
freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon dried thyme
2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary or 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
2 teaspoons fresh oregano or 1 teaspoon dried oregano



Instructions:
peel the potatoes and keep them in water.
preheat oven to 400F.
in a large oven proof pot or casserole dish pour 4 tablespoons of the oil and place on medium-low heat. at the same time pick up a potato dry it and then slice it in to 1/8-inch-thick slices. lay the slices in a slightly overlapping layer, starting at the outside working toward the center in a spiral. continue until you cover the bottom of the pot. lightly salt and pepper the potatoes. sprinkle some of the herbs and dribble some of the olive oil over the potatoes. continue making layers the same way until all the potatoes and seasonings are used up. sprinkling seasonings over each layer and dribbling olive oil over every other layer. press down on the top with a large spatula. if you fell tat the potatoes ave browned a bit at the bottom(the edges will show this), cover with a lid or tin foil and put the pot in the oven. bake for 35 to 40 minuets, or until the potatoes are tender. uncover and put the pan under the broiler briefly to brown on top.

loosen the sides and bottom gently with a spatula, thenslide the cake out on to a large round plate. cut into wedges and serve.