Hot Potato

I made something the other night that turned out so well, that eight-year-old Sam, my blueberry muffin skeptic and later convert, asked me for the recipe. Do you get asked often for recipes by an 8-year-old? Neither do I, so it immediately put this recipe high on my favorites list.

They are called Crash Hot Potatoes and they looked so good from the photos that I couldn't wait to try them. When I made them the other night for the eight-and-under crowd I got a thumbs up all around.

I've got Ree at Pioneer Woman to thank for this recipe. Ree has an excellent website that centers on her life as a rancher's wife in the Midwest. She plays constantly to the fish-out-of-water aspect of this life as she was city-born and -bred and never expected to live on a ranch in the middle of nowhere. She's got some great recipes, four kids that she homeschools, excellent photography skills, and a rather hysterical love story called Black Heels to Tractor Wheels. She has a no-holds-barred style of writing and the stories to back it up, so peruse her site and enjoy. 

I boiled enough potatoes to make two large pans of this recipe because I wanted to try my own variation on it. I've had one particular hankering for the last, oh, six months. This hankering seems to come upon me late at night when nothing else will satisfy me. It is the one thing I seem to want ate least once a week and some weeks once a day: oven fries.

On the second batch of potatoes, instead of mashing them with a potato masher, I cut the potatoes in slices, like french fries. Then I brushed them with olive oil and sprinkled them with sea salt and freshly-ground pepper just as the recipe states. And I baked them at 450 degrees for 20-25 minutes. They turned out just as I imagined: hot, crispy and satisfying. And way better than these oven fries that got me started on this hankering several months ago. 

Now, if you really, really want to make this variation of oven fries low-calorie and low-fat, you can make a little homemade fry sauce to dip them in. The cast of characters includes ketchup, mayonnaise, and a little mustard. You mix a 2Tbsps. of the ketchup and 2Tbsps. of mayonnaise together with 1 tsp. of the mustard and you will get this magical mixture that goes perfectly with oven fries. And if you are really gutsy, make the fry sauce with the exact brand of ingredients that I listed for the best results. 

If you aren't up to my variation of the recipe though, I can guarantee you that Ree's recipe is perfection in and of itself without my additions. It has been rather hot here lately so I haven't been in the mood for potatoes for several weeks, but the night I made this recipe the temperature outside did not affect my enjoyment of these delicious little creations.  You might just find that to be the case at your own house.

RECIPE: Crash Hot Potatoes
from The Pioneer Woman

12 whole new potatoes (or other small, round potatoes)
3 tablespoons olive oil
kosher salt to taste
black pepper to taste
rosemary (or other herbs of choice) to taste

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Add in as many potatoes as you wish to make and cook them until they are fork-tender.

On a sheet pan, generously drizzle olive oil. Place tender potatoes on the cookie sheet leaving plenty of room between each potato.

With potato masher, gently press down each potato until it slightly mashes, rotate the potato masher 90 degrees and mash again. Brush the tops of each crushed potato generously with more olive oil.

Sprinkle potatoes with kosher salt, fresh ground black pepper and fresh chopped rosemary (or chives or thyme or whatever herb you have available).

Bake in a 450 degree oven for 20-25 minutes until golden brown.