Smashed Spuds

I love potatoes. I think they might be my most favorite food.

They are flexible and adaptable, which are great qualities in a vegetable (or in a spouse). They perfect so many recipes – from a sublime potato and leek soup to a fattening worth-every-calorie potato and kale gratin.

Plus, spuds are inexpensive, hardy and perfect for satisfying my steady stream of carb cravings.

Yup, I love potatoes.

The summer potato plants we planted in our front-yard garden should be ready any day now, but in the meantime, I am enjoying the delicious and delicate red-skinned potatoes from our organic CSA. {Hey, don’t forget – if you’re from Kansas City, there are shares available for the second session of my CSA, starting on Wednesday!}

While I have a number of tried and true potato recipes, I’d love to expand my repertoire, so I’m hoping we can get a nice little collection here of our favorite potato recipes. One of my all-time favorites, which I pulled out of the oven not 15 minutes ago, are Smashed Potatoes. I first read the recipe on food.com several years ago and have since played with all sorts of variations. None are complicated – and all are delicious. How’s that for a ringing endorsement?

Smashed Potatoes

• 3-4 small potatoes per person – or, you know, more
• 1 tablespoon olive oil, butter or margarine – or, you know, more. A lot more.
• 1-2 T fresh herb (or 1-2 t dried) of your choice – cumin, garlic powder, thyme, rosemary, fennel, etc. (more is also okay in this instance as well)
• Coarse salt & fresh ground pepper – to taste

1. Preheat oven to 425°.

2. Wash, but don’t peel the potatoes. Put them in a pot of salted water and bring to a boil. Boil under tender.

3. Drain immediately and lay the potatoes out on a baking sheet.

4. Use the back of a fork, a potato masher, or the bottom of a glass to smash the potatoes. You just want to lightly break them up, exposing the fleshy inside. You don’t want to mash them. It’s a fine line – but I’m sure you’ll figure it out!

5. Brush the tops of the potatoes with oil, margarine or butter. Sprinkle with coarse salt, freshly ground pepper and the herbs of your choice. If you are having these with a dairy meal, let me recommend using butter, fresh chopped rosemary and a sprinkle of parmesan cheese. DELICIOUS! For the potatoes I just made, I used butter, salt and a smidge of pepper, since that’s how my boys like it best.

6. Bake the potatoes for 20-30 minutes until crisp and golden. I like to cook them until the thinnest bits are nice and crispy, as you can see in the pictures.

Note that if you are making these for Shabbat, you must NOT try serving them for lunch. The plata / blech will ruin them. RUIN.THEM. Make them as late in the day as possible on Friday and serve them for dinner. I usually put them back in the oven for 10 minutes right before candle lighting so they are still warm and crispy (the key, here, is crispy) when I want to serve them.

If you don’t keep Shabbat, or you’re eating these on a Wednesday, ignore the above. 😉

There you have it: One of the simplest and tastiest ways to enjoy a spud. Now let me have it. Tell me: What are your favorite potato recipes? Please share in the comments section.

Shabbat Shalom & Betayavon!