Follow the Leader: Not a Smashing Good Time

Back in November or December I G-chatted BS and declared I had an awesome New Years’ Resolution. It would benefit my bookshelves and the blog. Every week I would cook a recipe from one of the 50+ cookbooks I owned. Sure, the one my brother bought me from Amsterdam that was a Spanish tapas cookbook written in Dutch would be a little tough, but, um, yea, I could make the gist of the resolution work.

It’s now March and I just started to pull out my many sources of recipes. On Monday night, like I said before, I pulled out my Bon Appetit and Gourmet magazines from 2009 (note: I haven’t renewed/bought any subscriptions for 2010), plus Bon Apps 770 cookbook. I used the book’s UNrecipe for roasted parsnips, and incorporated it with spinach, ricotta and onions. But I also wanted something else. I needed a proper starch. I used Gourmet’s Panfried Smashed Potatoes.

Get this – I followed the directions.

I really did. I boiled potatoes for the proper amount of time. Salted the water a shit ton. And then I went to “smash” the potatoes. Not so easy. These fuckers slid around everywhere. The skin came off. There was potato mush all over my counter. It wouldn’t smush. Were the potatoes too big? Were the potatoes not cooked til knife-pokable?

I just don’t know.

I ended up cutting the potatoes in half, lengthwise, to get the most brown bits as possible when frying them.

The potatoes were crispy, and slightly soft inside. But nothing too amazing. I think this is what happens when recipes aren’t all that creative and magazine writers are desperate for another freaking potato recipe. It’s okay. Not everything will work. Smashing barely boiled potatoes with a masher is not the answer. Just let me cut them with a knife.

Is this why I never follow recipes?