Crushed and Fried Potatoes

Any time I have the chance to fry something, I jump at it. So when I had some oil sitting around from a previous night's dinner, I used it as an opportunity to make potatoes my friend Gregg turned me on to. They are relatively easy and incredibly good.

Now I say "relatively easy" not because the recipe has ten steps, but because it involves both parboiling and frying (Gregg went out and bought a fryer just to make these). If you keep some oil always at the ready, you shouldn't have to plan to far ahead. If you don't, this may be more of a "destination" side versus a last minute thought, or at the extreme a trip to the store to pick up a fryer.

First, wash and scrub about 3 lbs of small potatoes (fingerlings, red, or in my case small Idaho). Parboil the potatoes until just soft. The key here is to cook the spuds, but not overcook them. Have them beg for mercy, just don't kill them.

Once they are soft, remove from the boiling water, place in a colander and cool under cold water from the tap. We want to stop the potatoes from cooking further.

Now, place each potato on a cutting board and smash it with your hand, or really whatever you want...club, ball bat, small child. You get the idea.

While you prep your fry oil for 350 degrees, place the potatoes in a bowl and sprinkle with a liberal amount of kosher salt.

When your oil hits temp, drop them in the oil and fry for about 5 minutes, or until the potatoes float.

Remove them from the oil and place on paper towels to allow any excessive oil to drain off (not that I believe there is really such a thing, of course).

Sprinkle the potatoes with some chopped parsley and serve. I found they went great with some planked tenderloin, but in reality they are potatoes. They can go with anything. Oh, and most important, figure out what you want to use that leftover oil for next. Something close at hand is alway ready to be fried at a moment's notice.