Spud redux

Back in late 2007, I posted some ideas for new ways to make potatoes. And they are still good. In fact, I am very proud to say that one of my "students" (that's an unfair way to describe the guys who come and cook with me), took one of those recipes, and made it for me and some other friends, and it was as good as I have ever made it. I was SO PROUD of him.

Sometimes though, you want a recipe that is a little less involved, especially now. And interestingly enough, potatoes are a summer vegetable. What you get in late fall and winter are storage potatoes. New potatoes are available just about everywhere. These are the potatoes where, when you look at them, you wonder if you should peel them. You shouldn't. You'll waste more potato than you want to, and the skin is nice and thin. So just wash them, if you feel compelled to do so, scrape some of the odd bits off, and leave them alone.

I usually do this recipe in two parts. It actually reduces the amount of work to do it this way, and the heat. You can do it all at once, but I recommend doing it this way, for a reason I shall explain.

First, decide how many potatoes you want. That depends on how many people, and how much they like them. If my frind Kevin is coming over, I am going to make more of them, than I would if some other people are coming over. Kevin LOVEs his potatoes, and he earned them. So he gets more. But a serving of one, six ounce potato is the standard one (I usually plan on one and a half per person, or about half a pound of them). In the morning, I cut the potatoes into bite sized chunks, and put them into cold water with a tablespoon of salt. It's a LOT of salt, but potatoes can take it. They NEED it. Then I bring that pot to the boil, at medium heat, and let them cook for about ten minutes. It's not enough time to cook them through, but there's a reason for that.

I drain them, and then leave them out, to dry in the air. Why? Well, if your product is not dry, you are not going to get a crisp crust, and that's what we're going to do. We're going to crust up these potatoes. And this is how.

When you get home from work, get out your biggest nonstick pan. I'm not a big fan of nonstick, but with potatoes, because of the starch, I like them. Use more oil than you think you'll need. A quarter cup is good. Stick with vegtable oil here. Get it hot, and put down the potatoes, in one layer, and listen to them sizzle. Listening is the key feature here, because the sound will tell you when they're crisped. You'll go from a fast sizzle to a crackle that is slow and deep. And of course, LOOK. Turn some of them over. When they're browned nicely, flip em and cook the other side. Now, you don't have to be brutally efficient here in browning them, just get them nice and brown as you like them. Cook them longer if you are a person who likes the burnt french fries, less if you like the softer, sweeter ones. And when they're brown enough for you, you're done.

These are perfect just as they are. Interestingly, sometimes I feel compelled to use ketchup on them, but other times, I do something that I find very interesting. I squeeze a lemon over them, and add some chopped parsley. And those are REALLY DAMN GOOD. And, if I'm feeling extremely bad, and I've been evil and made fresh mayonnaise, yup.....

If there are any left over, they make great breakfasts, by themselves, or with eggs, or by themselves (Oh, I said that, didn't I?). Just make sure you make enough.

You never will.