When we hear talking about Italian cuisine, potatoes are not mentioned very often. Yet, they have their own place in many traditional regional dishes, either as main course, like gnocchi or like in the form of a mashed potato recipe you probably found in other cuisines, or as side dishes, like potato salad or this classic potato recipe for rosemary potatoes (patate al rosmarino).

This is a classic recipe for the Sunday roast. Ingredients are for four people:

• 750 g / 1 lb 10 oz potatoes
• 3 garlic cloves
• 3 sprigs rosemary
• 75 ml / 2½ fl oz olive oil, plus extra for greasing
• Salt and freshly ground pepper

Wash and peel the potatoes and cut them into small cubes. Peel and roughly chop the garlic. Pluck the leaves from the rosemary and roughly chop them as well. Preheat the oven at 200°C / 390°F / gar mask 6. Grease a flat baking dish with olive oil.

Place a layer of potatoes on the base of the baking dish. Season with some of the garlic and rosemary, salt and pepper. Repeat this procedure until all the ingredients have been used. Drizzle the olive oil over the top and bake for about 45 minutes, tossing the potatoes several times. Serve in the baking dish while hot.

In a slightly different version of this recipe, after you have diced the potatoes, bring a pan of salted water to the boil, add the potatoes, count fifteen minutes from when water resumes boiling, then drain the potatoes in a colander and lay them on a cloth until they have cooled down completely. At this stage bake them following the recipe. Baking time will be five or ten minutes shorter.

IHoP has been on the market for 52 years and it allowed them to open more than 1400 restaurants country wide. There are a few spin offs in Canada and Mexico, but in spite of the name containing International they are very much a traditional American chain.

The name derives from the great variety of international style pancakes and desserts amongst the menu items. For those who prefer the crepe style flat and thin rolled pancake this place is a must to visit, but American style waffles and thick pancakes with fruit syrups are available as well.

However the chain started out as a breakfast joint, they are putting much effort into shifting more towards a general selection of meals. There are efforts on the part of the company behind advertisement and promotion to put the slogan, “Just for the fun of it”, in context with lunch and dinner.

If you are on the go a lot or simply don’t like fumbling around in the kitchen right after waking up, probably a filling meal in one of these restaurants is a good idea.

Even more so if you happen to have a coupon that can be redeemed in your local IHoP. Due to the very nature of franchise business model, individual restaurant owners may decide if they accept coupons for a particular promotion or not, but you can always inquire and the ones found in the local paper are in a good shape for being valid.

The best way of coming across printable coupons is taking a look online to see if there are any new specials you can have for a lower price or a menu that can be had with an extra ice cream. Websites like this collect as many IHoP vouchers as they can and usually provide a way for the users to either flag, rate up or down in order to keep the selection clean from fake, bogus or expired ones.

Should you prefer a traditional American breakfast, before heading to have a meal in town, spend a few minutes looking at your favorite coupon sites.