Ridiculously Crispy Smashed Potatoes

If you’ve followed this blog for any length of time, you’ll have noticed certain buzzwords like “simple,” “make-ahead,” “easy cleanup,” and perhaps most importantly, “Brunch.”  Welcome to the culmination of all of those principles.  It was inspired by a side dish listed simply as “Crispy Potatoes” on the brunch menu at a.kitchen, a Rittenhouse-area eatery in Philadelphia.   This unassuming moniker inadequately prepares you for the brûléed discs of tuber heaven that await you.  Imagine whole small potatoes, parboiled, coated in fat, heavily and gloriously seasoned, then fried to a heretofore inconceivable level of crispiness.  Take that in for a moment.  It was another one of those dining experiences wherein every other item that came to the table was upstaged and outstripped by a humble and unforgettable side dish.

After returning home, a frenzied Google search yielded an article from Serious Eats exploring a technique for “Ultra-Crispy Roast Potatoes” that was perfectly approachable for the home cook and the game, as they say, was afoot.  They added white vinegar at the boiling stage to help prevent overcooking and to preserve the starches, which will gelatinize and facilitate that wonderful crispiness in the finished product.  We’ve made them a few times now, and in our drooling rush to get them in the oven, we’ve forgotten the vinegar.  It hasn’t resulted in a noticeable deficit in texture, so that step wasn’t included in this recipe, but if you’re curious—and not prone to impatience-induced forgetfulness—feel free to add a tablespoon to the pot.  After that, they’re tossed in fat, generously seasoned, smashed and then roasted at a high temperature. Rather than dirty up a mixing bowl, the potatoes were oiled and seasoned on a rimmed baking sheet.  (We seriously need to come up with a “less clean up” dance, btw.)

Another timesaving hack for smashing them all to a uniform thickness in one fell swoop is to place another baking sheet on top of the whole shebang and give it a nice, firm press.  If you don’t have a second baking sheet, you could oil the bottom of a coffee mug and do them individually, or even smash them in a few batches under a heavy frying pan, but we’re more of a “one and done” crew here—unless, of course, cocktails are involved, but you already knew that.  Serious Eats outlined the results you can expect from a few different kinds of potatoes, but we used our favorite Yukon Golds. Their thin skins and buttery interiors yield crispy potatoes that are essentially the bastard love litter of fried potato skins and creamy mashed potatoes.  Did we mention that these are heaven?

This recipe is not only gluten free, it’s vegan, as well.  Canola oil was used as the fat because of its high smoke point.  Since the smoke alarm hasn’t ever contributed noticeably to an improved taste or texture, we left out that step too.  If veganism isn’t your thing, Serious Eats suggests using either duck, chicken, or bacon fat for added flavor.  At Thanksgiving, you could even repurpose some turkey fat for the job, and if you’ve made our Chicken Confit, coating them in that would take this dish to stratospheric levels of delectability.  Be warned, though, that even the canola oil version of this technique will ruin you for most other potato dishes.  If you’re going to try it with the confit even once, you might be setting yourself up for disappointment in “lesser” versions, and while our confit recipe is wonderfully simplified, it’s still a commitment.  This has been a Public Service Announcement.

The two step cooking process also makes these a perfect make-ahead option for entertaining any time of the week, but particularly for brunch.  Once they’re boiled, you can pop them in the fridge, then when you need them, toss them in the fat and seasoning, give them a smash and slide them into the oven.  Easy peasy.  These also happen to make great appetizers or hors d’oeuvres, since you can treat them like finger food.  Just put them on a platter with a nice dipping sauce and it’s a party.  Spicy or curry ketchup would work really well, or sour cream mixed with either sweet Thai chili sauce or bacon, cheddar and chives–for a loaded baked potato vibe–would be fantastic.  One simple recipe, multiple, wildly satisfying serving options.  Enjoy!

Inspired by a.kitchen. Technique adapted from Serious Eats.

Ridiculously Crispy Smashed Potatoes

 

Save Print

Ingredients

• 1 ½ pounds yukon gold potatoes. rinsed
• Kosher salt
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil (or chicken or duck fat)
• Freshly ground black pepper
• a few sprigs of rosemary

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 500°F. Place potatoes in a large saucepot and cover with cold water by 1 inch. Add 2 tablespoons salt. Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce to a simmer, and cook about 10 minutes, until potatoes are tender but not completely cooked through. Potatoes should show slight resistance when poked with a paring knife or a cake tester. Drain potatoes.
2. Place potatoes on rimmed baking sheet and drizzle with oil/fat. Top with 1 tablespoon kosher salt and a generous portion of freshly cracked black pepper. Toss to combine everything then add a few sprigs of rosemary to the pan. Place another sheet pan on top of potatoes and press down gently, distributing your weight evenly across the pan, to “smash” the potatoes.
3. Transfer baking sheet to oven and roast until bottoms of potatoes are crisp and golden brown, about 15 minutes. Using a thin metal spatula, flip potatoes and roast until second side is golden brown, about another 15 (check every 5 minutes or so to ensure the potatoes don’t burn). Discard rosemary sprigs and serve.

3.5.3226

Please follow and like us: