CRUNCHY MESH POTATOES

These are perfection. And I’m not even a potato girl.

Perfection.

I’ve used the ‘chopstick’ method on potatoes before when I’ve made Hasselback potatoes. (When you see that name am I the only one who thinks of Elizabeth Hasselbeck who was on ‘Survivor’ all those years ago? No? Just me? Okay fine). This is just a flattened version of that in which butter, garlic, parmesan and all the good things in life are poured into the crevices. The difference between these and Hasselback is they take less time to cut and because there is less potato, when they bake they make the outside crispy and crunchy and the inside soft. You can eat just a few as an appetizer or about a hundred of them like I did.

You don’t have to boil these first like a lot of other crispy smashed potato recipes. By the time your oven is heated up, you can have these cut and brushed and ready to bake.

You think it’s going to take awhile to cut them this way, but trust me, it really doesn’t. Laying the chopsticks down or even something like folded paper towel on each side stops the resistance of the knife without you having to think too much. It looks something like this.

The chopsticks stop the knife from going all the way through

When done, spread apart slightly like this

I mean common, how cute are those?? You probably even have all these ingredients in the fridge so try these TODAY. You can thank me later.

INGREDIENTS:

• 4 large white, yellow, or russet potatoes
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 5 cloves garlic, minced
• handful of parsley, minced
• 1/3 cup freshly grated parmesan and 1/4 cup parmesan
• generous pinch kosher salt

DIRECTIONS:

Peel potatoes. Cut a little bit off one end of potato to flatten edge. Cut into slices about 1/2 inch thick. Repeat with remaining potatoes.

Combine butter, garlic, parsley, 1/3 cup parmesan, and salt in a small bowl and mix well.

Preheat oven to 425.

To make the cutting of the ‘mesh’ a little easier, lay down two chopsticks and put a slice of potato down in between (see picture above). Make cuts horizontally and vertically until the knife hits the chopstick and no further. You will end up with a mesh design. Slightly pull apart in each direction so that it’s not sticking together.

Place potatoes on a baking sheet that has been lined with foil and slightly greased. Generously brush potatoes with about 3/4 of the butter mixture trying to make sure you get that butter mixture into every nook and cranny of the potato. Bake for 20 minutes and then brush again with remaining butter and sprinkle a little more cheese on. Bake for another 20 minutes or until potatoes are crispy on the outside but still soft on the inside.

Remove from oven. Sprinkle with a little more parmesan and salt if you like. Serve.

Makes 4 servings.