Recipe

Bake Potatoes

1. Preheat oven to 425°F. Rinse and scrub potatoes. Place on rimmed baking sheet and bake until tender when pierced with toothpick, about 90 minutes. Let sit until cool enough to handle. Keep oven on.

Make Aioli

1. Finely chop cornichons and leaves from parsley. Grate garlic clove and add all to small bowl.
2. Stir in mayonnaise, drained capers and big splash of cornichon brine. Season with salt and pepper, and set aside.

Roast Skins

1. Cut baked potatoes in half lengthwise. Scoop flesh into large bowl, leaving a 1/4″-thick layer attached to skin. Reserve scooped potato flesh for another use. Rip potato skins into ragged 2″ to 3″ pieces. Season with salt and pepper.
2. In 12″ cast-iron skillet, heat olive oil and neutral oil over medium-high heat. Add one piece of potato skin to skillet. When it begins to sizzle vigorously, add remaining pieces, turning to coat, and position them flesh-side down. Remove from heat.
3. Transfer skillet to oven and roast potato skins until deeply golden on undersides, 8 to 10 minutes. Flip and roast until nearly golden all over, about 10 minutes longer.
4. Using tongs or slotted fish spatula, remove potato skins from skillet, leaving oil behind, and place on rimmed baking sheet. Reduce oven temperature to 300°F and transfer skins to oven to keep warm.

Fry Herbs and Serve

1. Line plate with paper towels. Transfer skillet with oil back to stovetop and place over medium-high heat.
2. Working in batches to avoid crowding skillet, add sprigs of mixed hardy herbs (keep them on stems) and fry until very lightly golden in spots, about 30 seconds. Transfer herbs to paper towel–lined plate and season with salt.
3. Strip fried herb leaves off any stalks that are thick or tough and discard stalks. Finely chop two-thirds of herbs and add to mayonnaise mixture.
4. Remove potato skins from oven, plate with aioli and garnish with remaining fried herbs and flaky sea salt. Serve hotttt.