Crash Hot Potatoes

Today, finally unable to resist The Pioneer Woman’s mouthwatering photography in her step-by-step recipe section, I relented and made ‘Crash Hot Potatoes’.

Photo from ThePioneerWoman.com

I wasn’t really planning to do any cooking today because I was feeling too lazy. But then I remembered I had baby potatoes in the fridge which I bought a week ago. I decided I had to cook them before they shrivelled up or started to grow.

So I scrubbed and washed the potatoes, as they’re meant to be eaten skin and all. The skin’s the best part, believe me!

Then I boiled them, drained them, put them on a cookie sheet that’s been generously coated with a nice layer of olive oil.

Then I smashed the baby spuds as gently as I could using a potato masher, flattening them into little cookies. Tip: the thinner you make them, the crunchier they’ll get! But do it gently so that they stay in one piece.

Then I sprinkled salt and pepper on them, skipping the herbs, lest my kids end up not eating them because of the herbs.

Finally, another generous drizzle of olive oil went on top before I popped them into a hot oven (230 C). I was supposed to leave them there for 20-25 minutes or until they’re crispy. But I cheated a bit and flipped them over when they were halfway done.

OMG! They were so crunchy and so yummy! They flew so fast from the oven to hungry little mouths that I didn’t have the time to photograph them (hence, I have to link to ThePioneerWoman’s photo from her site — hope you don’t mind, Ree!). They tasted like potato chips, only better. And they’re much, much healthier, thanks to the olive oil.

I believe the same results can be had by frying them instead of putting them in the oven, only they’d need looking after in the frying pan, whereas you can forget about them for 20 minutes or so when they’re in the oven.

Browse through the Pioneer Woman’s recipes — with photos every step of the way, mind you! — and get inspired to whip something up in the kitchen today. But be warned: the recipes on her site always involve butter and/or cream, so if you are to try any of her recipes, you might want to arm yourself with a weight loss pill first ;)