the cook stack

I am cooking my way through Cook This Book this year, and here is recipe #10: Smooshed and Crispy Potatoes with Salt ‘n’ Vinegar Sour Cream. I was excited to try this recipe because Crispy Smashed Potatoes was one of my favorite recipes from Dining In, the book I cooked last year and one our family eats on repeat. The Dining In version is labor intensive – potatoes are boiled, smashed with a water glass, then fried in chicken fat in batches on the stove. In the Cook This Book version, potatoes are also boiled and smashed with a water glass, but then crisped in a hot oven. If this dish could be made a little more hands off, especially at the end, when I am trying to get a whole meal together, great! Also, I love a salt and vinegar potato chip, and Molly’s version is basically the bougie version of salt and vinegar chips. I had visions of serving this as a side to sandwich night, when we usually bust open a bag of Uglies Salt and Vinegar kettle chips.

Well, after cooking both, I do prefer the Dining In version, and my husband agrees. That version captures the essence of a potato better – buttery and soft on the inside and crisp on the outside. The Cook This Book version does give a crispier potato, but it is drier – more like a salt and vinegar chip, but a lot more work than opening a bag. While not a bad recipe, I know there is a better version out there, and I won’t be cooking this again.

I will say the salt ‘n’ vinegar sour cream that is made with the potatoes is wonderful. I could see it being a delicious dip or spread on a sandwich, or really anywhere else you use sour cream.

Onto the next one!