Crash Potatoes!

[riverbee]

been preparing 'crash tators' a number of years. i learned this from an aussie.  loved it right away. crash tators are great whether it's on the grill, in the oven on bake or broil......fast and easy, crispy and very tasty.
if you are looking for something different to do with preparing potatoes, other than grilling/baking them whole/halved,  or boiling, mashing, or ricing. this is an excellent alternative, and if you like, prepare some gravy/au juice to throw over them.

we had a good potato harvest this year in our garden, yukon golds and reds primarily. 
served crash potatoes up in the past week with grilled rib eyes, crock pot french dip sandwiches(with au juice) and tonight  marinated and pan fried venison backstrap steaks.
use your imagination and creativity to change the basic recipe to your liking and experiment!  use different spices,cheese, bacon bits,  onions, peppers on top, etc.....whatever!

basic recipe:
small potatoes
olive oil
sea salt and ground pepper * (we use weber chicago steak seasoning, great blend of sea salt, onion, garlic, red bell and red pepper)
fresh chives
potato masher

parboil the tators in sea salt or kosher salt just to get them fork tender.
get a baking pan out, and spray it with pam.
on the pan, drop a fair drip of olive oil where you will place the potatoes on, kind of like baking large cookies. space the potatoes out, and rub a little olive oil on the tators in the process.

potato masher:  if you have a plastic one get rid of it, use a metal one!
set the potatoes on the pan, lightly mash down your tator, then turn 90 degrees and mash lightly again. lightly coat with olive oil on top with a brush.  add your seasonings, and cheese/onion or whatever.

bake at 450 until desired browning. (maybe 20-25 minutes or longer to your desired browning or crispness)  or broil, or grill. 
that's it! 

i went looking on the interweb and found pix/instructions  to describe what i do:
this one is the best: (gotta love pix!):

Crash Hot Potatoes

[Jen]

Perfect winter food, I'm doin' it! I've got rib eyes in the ice box, weekend is coming up..  I can smell it already 

[LazyBkpr]

Interesting, I will have to try that..
   Usually we slice the taters and throw them in a frying pan loaded with real butter. When they begin to brown they are transferred to a baking dish or pan. At this point, you sprinkle what you like on them..   Bacon and cheese, taco burger, chili, sour cream and cheese, etc, etc...
   I am a PURE meat and potatoes kind of guy, but, that is going to have to change..  my wife's cholesterol cant take the diet I grew up with...   SO... I eat that sort of thing for Brunch..  I don't eat breakfast or lunch, but somewhere in between I eat what I have always enjoyed, and when she gets home that night, I fix her something yukky..  she seems to like it a LOT.. but... bleh...

[Marbees]

Have to try this  Thanks river

[Jen]

I've got it printed off and am going to cook a fried venison dinner with this potato recipe for my daughter and her family Saturday night. And I'll definately be using Thyme and Rosemary 

[Jen]

Okay so my crash potatoes turned into a demolition derby. I used the red potatoes I had on hand and they were to big. So next time I'll get small reds, and use the broiler for a minute or two to get that burnt edge goin' on. Hubby, son and I all loved them. Fun to make as well.

[riverbee]

was wondering who tried these?

jen, those are DEMO DERBY POTATOES in your pic there................   might be a new recipe!
some good eatin in your pic though!

smaller or medium size tators work better, not big ones, or the baker size..........
we have been using the smaller reds and yukon golds harvested from the garden this year.  they sure are tasty!

crash tators are fun and easy to mess with, tonight, fixing marinated thick cut grilled pork chops and crash tators.........err....no demo derby style.........
about a week ago, the mister said he was fixing dinner.  did the crash tators.  took them out, i said what the?  "well" he says "what's the deal with mashing them twice with the potato masher, so i skipped it and changed your recipe, they don't look as good as when you do them".
and say's i.......
"that's why they look like they do and don't change it again"...............

[Jen]

Hi Riv, yah that's what I called them in my post 'demolision taters', I used too big of taters so I know what to do now. We all loved them, AND they are just as good the next day... and the next day. I think it's the olive oil that keeps them yummy.

[riverbee]

yep, olive oil is! light olive oil is a staple in our household rather than butter, great for grilling all meats, chicken, fish, vegetables with, and even in the cast iron skillet or oven.  just rub a light coat of it on. it does impart a rich flavor, and doesn't burn.

i always make extra of these tators, cuz they disappear!

jen, the demo derbys looked pretty good!

the seasoning i typically use, and did tonight was 'webers chicago steak seasoning'. it's good stuff.  little extra shake of onion powder, some chives, chopped green onions on top......hmm, mmm good!  i didn't include the chicago steak seasoning in my original post. (blend of sea salt, red pepper, red bell pepper, onion and garlic). i am not a fan of thyme and rosemary(the link i provided to the person who uses it in theirs). sometimes i like to use a sweet/smoky cajun spice on them  for a kick, but have used all sorts of seasonings depending on the meat/fish/chicken/pork, or the craving.

also, i cover my pan in aluminum foil first, then hit it with pam, and the drops of olive oil, then roll the tator around in the oil before i take the masher to it. the aluminum foil saves me from scrubbing the pan.  i do change the heat up in the oven, sometimes from 450 to 475......and sometimes i get impatient, and hit 'broil' for the last few minutes.  on the grill, these grill quickly.

but hey, i love potatoes, and i love garden tators, they are the best!!!

[Gypsi]

I do love garden potatoes. I may try one of these in the toaster oven in a day or 2. Gave my big range away a couple of years ago, got craving something hot and baked last winter and got the little oven..  These sound good

[Jen]

I'm gonna get some of that chicago spice, and yes I did hit mine with the broiler but not long enough, I would like them to have some char on them. Good Recipe 

[riverbee]

that chicago spice is great stuff!

btw, i wanted to try the crashers with larger spuds........it worked!  (not huge baker size) but i had some larger yukon golds, i thought for sure i would have demo derbies but i didn't !  just boil them a little longer, put them on right away, and mash down a little, (not alot~doesn't take much) at 45 degree angles.....i cranked the heat up a little in the oven, broiled very short.......they were awesome!

i am really going to be sad when we run out of garden potatoes, and we are getting pretty low.......

[Jen]

Cool! I'm going to make them for T day this week. That's my job is potato's. Will have to go to the bigger chain store to find chicago spice...

[riverbee]

jen, sometimes it's hard to get here during winter months, hate to say it but the only place that carries it year round is the big W, maybe another?.......so i buy the big bottles of the stuff.
 
i would like to figure out all the ingredients to make my own....

T-DAY?  i am in charge of grilling the turkey on the weber (charcoal) and it's only supposed to be about 10 d F........guess i shouldn't complain, it could be worse? yes?! ...............

[Jen]

EYUM! Turkey from the bar-b is delicious! I may look for this spice on Amazon... Letcha know if I find it ~

[Jen]

Chicago Steak Seasoning ~ there are other bottle styles, is this the one you use?

http://www.amazon.com/Weber-Chicago-Steak-Seasoning-26/dp/B008H06T0A/ref=sr_1_1?s=grocery&ie=UTF8&qid=1416898179&sr=1-1&keywords=chicago+steak+seasoning

[riverbee]

that's it!

[Jen]

Cool! 

[lazy shooter]

Okay so my crash potatoes turned into a demolition derby. I used the red potatoes I had on hand and they were to big. So next time I'll get small reds, and use the broiler for a minute or two to get that burnt edge goin' on. Hubby, son and I all loved them. Fun to make as well.

I love the look of the venison, especially the gravy.  I lop up gravy like a pig eats slop.  That's the texture of good gravy.

[Bamabww]

Ingredients
12 whole New Potatoes (or Other Small Round Potatoes)
 3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
 Kosher Salt To Taste
 Black Pepper To Taste
 Bacon bits (optional)
 Diced onions (optional)
 Rosemary (or Other Herbs Of Choice) To Taste

Preparation
Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Add in as many potatoes as you wish to make and cook them until they are fork-tender.
On a cookie sheet pan, generously drizzle olive oil. Place tender potatoes on the cookie sheet leaving plenty of room between each potato.
With a potato masher, gently press down each potato until it slightly mashes, rotate the potato masher 90 degrees and mash again. Brush the tops of each crushed potato generously with more olive oil.
Sprinkle potatoes with kosher salt, fresh ground black pepper and fresh chopped rosemary (or chives or thyme or whatever herb you have available.) Add bacon bits and onions now if desired.
Bake in a 450 degree oven for 20-25 minutes until golden brown.