I asked yesterday if you could look at the ingredients for these, and what I called them, and figure out the recipe. Let’s see how close you were.
Ingredients
2 pounds redskin potatoes, about one per guest
1/4 cup rendered bacon fat
1 cup diced onion
kosher salt
fresh ground black pepper
Directions
These were based on an idea I got from Guy Fieri. His version used smaller potatoes, about the size of a large egg. So mine don’t look like his at all. Still tasty, though.
Boil the potatoes in salted water, like you normally would.
They’re done when a wooden skewer goes all the way in easily and pulls out without lifting the potato with it.
Drain the potatoes and set them aside while you dice the onion.
Melt the bacon fat over medium heat and add the diced onion.
Using a clean dish towel or a folded up paper towel to protect your hand from the hot potato, and smash it flat-ish.
Scoop the potato up carefully with a spatula and lay it on top of the onions.
Add salt and pepper — and maybe garlic … or sage … or cayenne … or … you get the idea.
Once they’re browned on the bottom flip them over.
With smaller potatoes, you should be able to keep them together. You can serve one potato to each diner. These were too big, so they broke up when I flipped them. I realized I wasn’t going to have individual potato patties like Guy made. So I just tossed them, made sure they were browned all over like hash browns.
Then mixed them all together.
And that’s it.
So … when I asked you yesterday to guess how this was made, how close were you?
Want more like this? For more recipes like this, that you can hold right in your hands, and write on, take notes, tear pages out if you want (Gosh, you're tough on books, aren't you?) you might be interested in How To Cook Like Your Grandmother, 2nd edition, Illustrated. Or to learn your way around the kitchen, check out Starting From Scratch: The Owner's Manual for Your Kitchen.
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21 Comments
Oh my…I don’t know how to make them but I’m pretty sure I gained 5 pounds just looking at them.
My sister wanted me to make that recipe for Christmas (one of the few times of the year someone cooks for her), but since I had planned other things, it didn’t make it, this year. Perhaps next year.
Pioneer Woman has something like that on her website, but I think she bakes them after the smash to make them nice and crispy.
One of these days, I’m going to do that, but not when it’s just me eating them.
Hip Chick, that’s a neat trick, since there were only about three pounds of ingredients.
Stephanie, any reason to wait for a holiday to make it?
Wench, it does seem like the kind of thing she would do, doesn’t it? And I know what you mean about not doing it just for myself.
Those are a bit like PW’s crash hot potatoes, but pan fried. Good times.
Drew, just that my sister, who wanted it in the first place, lives in Sacramento, and I live in Houston. So barring a hurricane (last September) we only get together at the holidays. And since I’m the maternal one of us, I cook for her. Actually, it’s the same with my mom too. Weird.
Bob, now that you mention it I do remember seeing that. But I’ve wanted to do this one since I saw it on Guy’s show.
Stephanie, any reason you couldn’t make it for yourself?
I’ve made something like this with leftover mashed potatoes. Put them in a nice hot pan and let them sit until browned and crispy. Sometimes Dad opens up a can of Flakes of Ham and chucks it in with the mashed potatoes and onions. It might sound gross, but the saltiness of the ham with the potatoes and onions is great.
(P.S. I thought for a minute that the potato skins were pieces of bacon, which sounded pretty awesome to me. With your history, Drew, bacon wasn’t a bad guess.
)
i’ve made these before, only mine were sort of a combination between german potato salad and mashed potatoes. i cubed the spuds before boiling, then once they were done fried them a short time with some onion, bacon, salt, and pepper. once they were fried a bit, i mixed in a little heavy cream and called it good. i’ll try this version too. looks great.
Melissa, the quarter-cup of bacon fat isn’t enough? Sheesh.
Chris, that sounds really good. And I think I have everything I need to make some. Dammit, I already had dinner tonight.
Oh Drew. There’s never enough bacon.
Thank god I’m afraid of frying, cuz otherwise I’d eat bacon every day! Mmmmmm bacon.
I make smashed potatoes and I make pan fried potatoes but never thought to combine the two processes together! Very clever. Bet they were yummy but how can ya go wrong with bacon fat! Oh yeah.
Mary, I’m sure you can go wrong with bacon fat … I just haven’t figured out how yet.
I love this dish! And the photos you’ve used make it look especially appetizing, that alone i think could use a small local delivery service and make some money from this page. Just a thought:)
I first saw a recipe for potatoes like this in Fine Cooking magazine a couple of years ago. Pioneer Woman’s recipe is very similar to theirs.
These are sounding great with a fried egg on top, too (not with the pork tenderloin).
Thank you, lord, for bacon fat! Someone told me once that they pop their popcorn in it! That is Hard Core!
And by the way, YUM
Avtar, if you figure out how to make money from just this page, we need to talk.
Wosnes, ooh, so now I’m fancy!
Jenni, I’ve heard of that. But I remember popping corn in in oil. I got pretty good at it, but I’ll stick to my hot air popper and a stick of butter afterward, thank you very much.
Drew — you’re fancier than you thought. I just saw another recipes for them in the current (March) issue of Gourmet — page 47.
Oh come on! This is totally ruining my rep here.
can you do this with yellow potatoes?
Waxy potatoes, such as Red Rose, White Rose, and Yukon Gold varieties, will hold together better. Idaho and russet potatoes will fall apart more when you smash them. So pick your potatoes based on whether you want them to hold together or fall apart.
If your yellow potatoes are Yukon Gold, they they should come out about the same as the red ones I used.