Recipe: Smashed Waldorf Potatoes

Recipe by Shelley Adams & Conner Adams

Photography by David R. Gluns

Serves 4 to 6

Mike’s Special Potatoes from the Whitewater Cooks: More Beautiful Food cookbook are so friggin’ good that we decided to include another version in The Food We Love. We can’t get enough of this technique for these little potatoes. The blue cheese and candied walnuts make this dish feel like  a dessert as much as a side!

Ingredients

Potatoes

• 20 to 24 nugget or baby potatoes
• 4 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil, divided
• Sea salt

Blue cheese cream

• 1 cup roquefort, crumbled
• ½ cup sour cream
• 1 tsp white wine vinegar
• Sea salt and freshly ground pepper

Candied walnuts

• 1 tbsp butter
• ½ cup walnuts, roughly chopped and toasted
• Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
• 1 tbsp maple syrup
• 2 tbsp fresh tarragon or parsley, chopped

Method

To make the potatoes:

Preheat oven to 400°F.

Place potatoes in a pot of cold water, bring to a boil and reduce heat to medium-high.

Cook for about 20 minutes, until potatoes are just done and can be pierced with a fork.

Drain potatoes right away and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet.

Gently smash and flatten potatoes with a meat mallet or the back of a wooden spoon.

Drizzle with 2 tbsp oil and sprinkle with salt to taste.

Roast for 15 minutes, flip, drizzle with the remaining 2 tbsp oil and roast for another 15 minutes.

Remove from the oven.

To make the blue cheese cream:

Combine roquefort, sour cream and vinegar in a medium-sized bowl and season with salt and pepper to taste. This can be done with a whisk or a fork to break down the blue cheese crumbles and achieve a creamy consistency.

To make the candied walnuts:

Melt butter in a small frying pan over medium heat.

Toss walnuts in butter for 2 to 3 minutes, then season with salt and pepper to taste.

Turn off heat, add maple syrup and stir to coat walnuts. Set aside.

To serve:

Spread blue cheese cream on a serving platter.

Arrange potatoes on top.

Sprinkle with candied walnuts and garnish with tarragon.

Chef’s Tip

This is the perfect fancy side for your favourite steak.