Pioneer Woman's Crash Potatoes-- kicked up a little creamier

For many of you veteran "bloggers", I'm sure that you've seen one of Pioneer Woman's most popular recipes that she's photographed, and posted, for Crash Potatoes. I have made this recipe, twice, and it has not failed to make my family's eyes bug out when they see these coming out of the oven.

I remembered, years back, that a local restaurant in Carmel, California (my backyard) served potatoes that were prepared just like the Crash Potatoes-- except that they added heavy cream and parmesan as well as the olive oil and rosemary.

I first made the Crash Potatoes on Valentine's Day, with seared salmon and colorful vegetables. I decided to follow Ree's recipe, and then I made a half batch with heavy cream and parmesan.

Both versions were fantastic--but the creamy (and more fattening version) was as tasty as I remembered all those years ago.

I'm a big fan of creamy mashed potatoes-- really, I love spuds boiled, deep fried, roasted and baked. These potatoes are on the top of my list as a favorite way to serve spuds. No wonder this recipe has made it's rounds on countless blogs!

The recipe is so simple that you really don't need measurements. What you will need is:
Baking Sheet
A brush to apply the olive oil
Potato Masher (you can use a fork, but the masher makes thing easier
Potatoes of your choice-- I like red bliss or Yukon Gold
Olive oil
Kosher salt (I never use table salt for roasting)
Fresh ground black pepper
Herb of your choice-- I've used fresh shopped rosemary or thyme. Dried herbs work, too
Optional: heavy cream and parmesan cheese
I've also seen versions using cheese and bacon

I try to buy potatoes that are even in size, about the size of... well, a plum!
I put the potatoes (I figure 2-3 per person) in a pot of water with salt and cook them until they are fork tender-- not mushy
Drain the potatoes

Preheat the oven to 425F

On a baking sheet, drizzle oil and place the potatoes with enough room to give them a gentle "mash".



Go easy, because you can crush those babies and they won't look as pretty as Pioneer Woman's! The easiest technique, is to press firmly but not to hard; rotatoe 90 degrees and repeat:

I brushed olive oil, a little salt and black pepper and some chopped fresh rosemary, from my garden.


Then I poured about 1 Tablespoon of heavy cream and some fresh parmesan on a few of the potatoes, as an experiment.

Then I baked these for about 20 minutes. It really depends on your oven-- it might take a little longer.



The heavy cream and parmesan made a little bit of a mess on my baking sheet, but it's non-stick!


I liked both versions. You decide!

A couple of nights later, I made the potatoes with just olive oil and thyme and some roasted asparagus. Dang! These are good!