Sunday, January 18, 2009

The Pioneer's Crash Hot Potatoes

Digital cameras are clearly a godsend, allowing us the liberty to take countless photos of life's greatest minutiae. Remember when you actually had to buy rolls of camera film?

The novelty of taking countless shots of the same colorfully gorgeous sunset from each and every angle could get a little costly. Plus, how did you know that your last shot sucked and you needed to take another? In this age of instant gratification, it seems almost odd that we used to wait hours, days or even weeks to witness the fruits (...or duds) of our photography efforts.

On the other hand, I must say that a part of me misses the excitement of rushing out to the drugstore to develop film, tearing open the envelope when they were finished, and having all the good memories unfold before me like a storybook. I now find myself forgetting where I saved pictures, kind of bored of them since I can look at them over and over again on my camera, and worst of all forgetting to get them developed. Do you agree?

While combing through forgotten photo files, I found these delicious potatoes in a random Thanksgiving folder. I'm not sure how I forgot about these potatoes as we never make potatoes any other way after trying these!


I first found the recipe for these potatoes on the admirable Pioneer Woman's website. Small red potatoes are boiled until tender. Once drained, you smash them with a potato masher and sprinkle with Kosher salt, pepper, Rosemary (or a spice of your choosing) and a nice bath of olive oil. Roast and voila, you have some of the most delectable, crispy and flavorful potatoes you could hope for. The Pioneer Woman is always full of magic :)

These are so easy, you really don't need a recipe. For those of you who still want one here you go!

Crash Hot Potatoes
Courtesy of the Pioneer Woman Cooks

Small red potatoes
chopped Rosemary
Kosher salt
freshly ground pepper
olive oil

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

In a large pot, bring salted water to a boil. Add in as many potatoes as you'd like to cook. Boil until forked tender. Drain.

Drizzle a cookie sheet with olive oil. Place potatoes on the sheet and with a potato masher gently press down on the potato. Rotate the masher 90 degrees and mash again. Repeat with the remaining potatoes. Brush the tops with olive oil.

Sprinkle rosemary, salt and pepper on the potatoes.

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown and crispy.

45 comments:

LizNoVeggieGirl said...

Wowza those look divine.

Unknown said...

these look incredible!! i'll have to give them a shot :)

Jersey Girl Cooks said...

I made these and they were so good. Yours look so nice and crisp.

Anonymous said...

These are pretty much the only potatoes I make anymore too! So incredibly delicious. :-)

Aggie said...

Ok, I'm not much of a potato girl, BUT those are my kind of potatoes!! Little red ones are my favorite and I love them roasted...I saw this recipe on PW and loved it. I'm totally making this soon!!!

And I was just thinking about the whole digital camera age too...I have SO many pics of my kids, it's amazing.

kat said...

Such a great way to serve potatoes!

MrOrph said...

I like the crisping at the end. A little oil and rosemary go a long way on potatoes.

Coree said...

OMG. I just realized I have a bag of small red potatoes and a potato masher. I am going to make this!! Thanks for the recipe!

grace said...

i used to love ripping into a packet of photos for which i had waited two long days. more often than not, however, they were extremely disappointing. hallelujah for digital cameras! (and hallelujah for pioneer woman and crash hot potaters.) :)

Pam said...

I love these. They look really incredible.

Lisa said...

This look amazing! I'm definitely going to have to save this recipe for a dinner party. Yum...

Sweet Bird said...

I think these will be making an appearance on my dinner table soon...

Banjo said...

How funny, I made these this weekend too! It is a terrific recipe... I got mine good and crispy. Love the Pioneer Woman!

skinnybovineskitchen said...

oh my gosh! those look so good. as soon as i catch red potatoes on sale, i'm soooo in...

and your blog is awesome, by the way! and your pics are gorgeous. i'm glad you found mine so i could find yours!

The Blonde Duck said...

These will be perfect with the chicken fried steak I'm making next week! Thanks!

Cathy - wheresmydamnanswer said...

These are so great - I have made these as well - I also use the small gold potatoes and they are incredible as well!!

Mo said...

Wow, those potatoes look mouth watering!
Such simple fresh ingredients - hard to go wrong.

MaryBeth said...

Heavenly, I would love to give these little jewels a try.

That Girl said...

Everyone I know loves these!

Laura said...

Wow those look good. And so easy.

pigpigscorner said...

Looks really delicious! Love the colours!

Anonymous said...

These look fantastic - They are really making my mouth water!

La Cuisine d'Helene said...

I prefer digital now. I don't want to go back to rolls.

I saw these on The Pioneer Woman. I have to try them because they look insane.

Emily said...

Ohhh yeah. These are my kind of potatoes. How could you forget about these?!

I agree about taking pictures. Maybe we should buy some disposable cameras to keep around?

La Bella Cooks said...

I am always looking for good potato recipes and this one would be right up my alley. I love the crispy aspect to them and it might just get my kids to give them a try.

Anonymous said...

I saw those on PW's site - yours just reminds me that I need to make them!

Unknown said...

I had seen these before but never tried them out. Your pics look great and now really have me wanting some. :)

Bunny said...

Your right these qare easy but boy do they look good! Bookmarking!

Katrina said...

So good. Thanks for the reminder of these. I will make them again soon!

Sara said...

I make these all the time, we love them in my house!

Jenny said...

MMMM, I remember seeing those, they look just perfect!

Maria said...

Wow, these look fantastic!! I love that they are crispy!

Theresa said...

My husband loves these and I never miss a day of PW!

Coree said...

I made them on Tuesday. They were delcious, but when I went to mash them, they broke apart. Maybe I boiled them too long? Can you give me any tips?

FROGGITY! said...

Looks AWESOME! :)

vanillasugarblog said...

isn't it amazing how fast these potatoes spread around the food blogger-land? I made them countless times, but can't get good photos, maybe summer when there is more light. But I must say your photos are pretty darn good.

Sharon said...

Hi Coree - I had a similar experience. As you can see from my photos, not all potatoes are one and the same! I found spraying the masher with a little cooking spray (too prevent the potatoes from getting stuck) and mashing slowly helps.

gaga said...

Yum, you did a great job! It looks so nice and crispy!

Anonymous said...

I usually try to sort my photos in folders by date to try and avoid the lost photo problem, but even so, sometimes 2 different dishes photographed on the same day end up in one folder and I totally forget about it.

The potatoes look great! I do something similar with my potatoes except instead of roasting, I pan fry with a little olive oil to crisp.

Antonio Tahhan said...

I heard of this recipe once before (using fingerling potatoes) and have always wanted to give it a try! The crust looks fantastic!

test it comm said...

Those crashed potatoes look good!

Mila said...

This looks amazing! I love your blog it is adorable! Will be visiting!

Michele said...

I've made these and they are fabulous!

cakewardrobe said...

I love easy breezy recipes with comfort food ingredients! I am so bad.. even though I carry my digital camera with me at all times, I use my camera phone! ACK!

Anonymous said...

I've made these a bunch...they are awesome & everyone loves them!