This weekend, the world celebrates Saint Patrick’s Day.  In honour of this world-wide event, I thought a *pp was in order. (*pp = potato post)

Did you know, that during the Irish Potato Famine (1845 – 1852), over one-third of Ireland’s population was entirely dependent on the potato for food.  It is hard to imagine, as today we have so many options for fresh fruits and vegetables.  It really is a time to reflect on all that we have and how far we have come.

It is kind of ironic that in today’s society, many of us are very cautious of the amount of potatoes and starches that we consume.  I know that Jamie and I rarely eat potatoes, in fact, I think a generous guess would be that we have potatoes once a month.

One afternoon, while I was wasting the day away watching the Food Network, I saw a Chef at Home episode where Chef Michael Smith was making Smashed Potatoes.  They looked so good!  Don’t get me wrong, just because we don’t eat a lot of potatoes doesn’t mean I don’t want to eat them 🙂

I decided that I wanted to make up a batch of these Smashed Potatoes, but his recipe called for cooking them in the oven, I really didn’t want to turn on the oven, so I searched for another recipe that called for frying them in olive oil.  Yum – the best of all the potato worlds: boiled, mashed and fried!

I decided to use baby (mini) potatoes, that way I didn’t have to cut them in half, I thought that they would smash better as well.  I wasn’t disappointed, and if when I make these again, I will stick with the mini potatoes.  I also added some fresh rosemary and red pepper flakes to the olive oil while they were frying, it definitely added more flavour.  I think that next time I will make some fresh garlic butter or roasted garlic to serve with these yummy potato bites!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Adapted from:

Chef Michael Smith – Smashed Potatoes
epicurious.com – Panfried Smashed Potatoes

Ingredients:

• 10 mixed baby (mini) potatoes (I used Yukon and Red)
• 1 tbsp salt
• 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 sprig rosemary – chopped
• pinch red pepper flakes
• 1/3 cup grated Parmesan Cheese

Directions:

1. In large pot filled with cold water, add 1 tbsp salt and potatoes.  Make sure the potatoes are completely covered with the water.  Boil until almost tender 8-12 minutes.  Drain.
2. Transfer potatoes to cookie sheet and lightly crush with a flat bottomed glass (I used a measuring cup).  Potatoes should be about 3/4 inch thick once smashed.
3. Heat olive oil, rosemary and red pepper flakes in skillet over medium-high heat until the oil starts to shimmer (then you know it is hot!).  Carefully transfer potatoes to the skillet (use a spatula), then lower heat to medium-low and cook, turning only once, until potatoes are golden brown (approximately 20 minutes total).
4. Serve sprinkled with Parmesan Cheese.
5. Enjoy!  These are yummy, so you might have to make a couple extra for “sampling” 😉