I learned how to cook potatoes by the caseload. By the caseload of salt, too. I was working in a restaurant in Philadelphia and gasped the first time I saw the chef unload a box — literally one 3-lb. box — of kosher salt into a pot, albeit a very large pot, filled with fingerling potatoes, water, many cloves of garlic and several bunches of rosemary and thyme.
Bring the water to a boil, he instructed, then turn off the heat. The potatoes, he ensured, would finish cooking as they cooled.
He was right. The potatoes were cooked perfectly, not the slightest bit overdone. And moreover, they were seasoned perfectly, too, not a bit too salty and subtly infused with the flavors of rosemary, thyme and garlic.
These days, I eat these potatoes straight out of the pot with not a bit of extra seasoning. They are excellent, too, sliced and tossed into salads.
But when I’m not feeling so lazy, I go the extra mile and crisp them up, as I learned to do at the restaurant, with a bit more rosemary and thyme and a pinch more salt. And then I splash Sriracha all over them. It’s such a treat. I think you’ll like them, too.
Fingerling Potatoes, Crispy or Not
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 5 minutes
- Total Time: 2 hours
- Yield: 4 servings
Print Recipe
Pin RecipeDescription
I learned to cook potatoes this way while working at Fork in Philadelphia. The chef at the time cooked fingerlings as directed below, the keys being: 1. Use a ton of salt. 2. Bring the water to a boil, then shut it off. As the potatoes cool, they continue to cook, and they take on the seasonings of the herbs and salt. They are irresistible.
Ingredients
To cook the potatoes:
- 1 1/2 lbs. fingerling potatoes
- 1/4 cup + 2 T. kosher salt
- several sprigs of rosemary and thyme
- 2 cloves garlic, smashed
To crisp the potatoes:
- olive oil
- kosher salt
- a few more sprigs rosemary and thyme, leaves removed and minced
Instructions
- Place fingerlings in a pot. Cover with approximately one inch of water. Add the salt, herbs and garlic. Bring the pot of water to a boil, then turn off the heat. Let the potatoes cool completely in their liquid before proceeding.
- Once cool, you can eat the potatoes as they are or you can brown them. These potatoes are wonderful to have on hand — they are truly delicious cooked as they are, sliced and tossed into salads or just eaten straight out of the refrigerator.
- If you want to crisp them up a bit, slice the potatoes in half on a bias (or leave them whole if they are really small). Then, heat a pan (preferably cast iron or carbon steel or stainless steel) over high heat. Add a thin layer of olive oil and swirl the pan to coat the bottom — the pan and oil should be very hot before adding the potatoes. Add the potatoes, shake the pan once and then let them be. Do not disturb them for a minute or two. Check one before trying to shake the pan or stir them with a spoon — you want that edge to get crispy and it won’t get crispy if you try to move them too quickly.
- Once the fingerlings are browning nicely, shake the pan, toss in the herbs and give them a pinch more of kosher salt. Serve immediately. I like to eat mine with Sriracha. Yum!
- Category: Side Dish
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: potatoes, fingerlings, salt, herbs, crispy
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Heron says
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bellini valli says
It does sound like a lot fo salt but I often hear chefs say we underseason our dishes. Thanks for this top.
Eliana says
There is nothing like a well cooked potato. So although I’m sure both ways taste good, I’m a sucker for the crispy type which look AMAZING in your photo.
leslie says
Will this work with little red new potatoes?
alexandra says
yes, definitely. Little red new potatoes would be delicious cooked in this manner.
Jennifer Smaldone says
Hi Alexandra! Remember me…I teach with your Mom and Dad at Choate. I love your food and look forward to your recipes. I couldn’t find fingerlings but I had baby white potatoes. I followed the recipe, fresh rosemary and thyme, and garlic. The only change that I made was the cooking time. Because these potatoes were larger than fingerlings, I let them boil for a few extra minutes and turned off the heat. They are perfect andI’m going to serve them with turkey burgers and a salad with chipotle and lime dressing. Keep up the good work and keep the recipes coming. By the way, our department, HPRSS, had a wonderful luncheon in your father’s honor a couple of weeks ago. He was so charming and gracious and competely self effacing as tributes about him were read; he has a wonderful sense of humor. It was fantastic. We gave him a box of cigars and a fabulous bottle of scotch!
Joyti says
I usually cook fingerlings with garlic and thyme…haven’t tried rosemary though (but there is a cafe in my neighborhood that serves the most delicious rosemary and sea salt potato wedges, so it stands to reason that I’d like rosemary on my fingerlings)…
I never thought of having my potatoes with Sriracha. THAT I will have to try…I absolutely love Sriracha.
katie says
I LOVE crispy potatoes. And I really like them in salads-which shocks me since my mind says that cold potatoes in a salad are gross.
keena says
I made these last night (to a family, alas, of non potato lovers) and all were gone. I cannot believe I can basically ignore potatoes (as I’ve learned I can do with hard boiled eggs) when they come to a boil, and they are delicious!
Jocelyn says
Just wanted to say that I’ve made these several times (and will make them again on Sunday). They really are delicious. Thanks for sharing.
becca says
I made these tonight – fantastic! Five minutes ago, I found myself standing over a pot of almost-cool water and potatoes with a bottle of sriracha in my hand…
It was fun seeing you when we were in Calif. for my cousin’s wedding – take care, and let us know when you’re on the East Coast!
adele says
Mmm. These sound fabulous!
(Oh, and I hear you on the caseloads. I scraped asparagus by the pallet during my summer in a hotel kitchen!)
Mike says
Thanks alexandra, this is the way I cook all my potatoes now.
Amanda says
Honestly, these are the best potatoes I’ve ever made!!! Thank you!
alexandracooks says
Amanda, this makes me so happy! I love these potatoes, too.
Kyleen says
Do you think these would freeze well? If I cook them, freeze them, then thaw and brown/crisp them up? I’m trying to find side dishes for the holidays that I can prepare in advance, freeze and cook later.
alexandracooks says
Kyleen, gosh, I don’t know. I am not the most experienced freezer. Have you ever frozen potatoes before? If you have successfully, then I would say, yes, do it, but otherwise, I don’t want to lead you astray. I totally am feeling your preparedness — just the thought of menu planning is making me anxious. I wish I could offer more guidance.
Debbie @ Cooks with Cocktails says
I love potatoes that are roasted and the spices sound amazing. I am definitely going to try them this weekend.
Megan says
Hi! Approximately, how long does it take the potatoes to cool off after boiling? Thanks!
alexandra says
Hi! So, once the pot comes to a boil, shut it off immediately and let them cool for at least 20 minutes if possible. You might get away with a quicker cooling time if the potatoes are small, but the big ones might not be cooked through. I often do this first thing in the morning or mid afternoon, and just leave the potatoes in the water until I’m ready to cook them. They are irresistible straight from the pot. Hope that helps!
Alix says
Silly question but are these to remain uncovered while bringing to a boil?
alexandra says
Not silly at all — leave the pot uncovered while bringing to a boil. Let me know if there is anything else!
Carol Buynak says
Is all of the salt necessary? I am on a salt restricted diet (heart failure problems) and was wondering of cutting the salt in 1/2 or even less would affect the taste and cooking? Thanks, these look awesome and I love the cooking method.
alexandra says
Of course! Try using half and see how the flavor is. You can always add more salt during the browning part, but of course, you don’t have to especially when health is a concern. Hope you like them!
Parker says
I’ve made these so many times and they are delicious! So delicious in fact I wanted to try this method minus the crisping with Yukons for my Thanksgiving mashed potatoes. Have you tried this method with larger potatoes such as Yukon? Any advise on adjusted cooking time?
Maureen says
Not sure if you are still around but must tell you and your readers that these are the best tasting potatoes I have ever cooked. And I’m Irish! I know my potatoes. The boiling in salty water left them tasting amazing. I was worried they couldn’t possibly all get cooked as my bag of Fingerlings had many different sizes so I cut the biggest in half but I needn’t have worried. They were all cooked by the time the water had cooled off. I wasn’t thrilled with the results after I tried to crisp them but I will try that part again. Many thanks for a recipe I will use over and over!
alexandra says
So happy to hear this, Maureen! I’m glad the first half of the recipe was a great success. A few thoughts to help with the crisping step is: make sure the pan is hot pan, add the oil, make sure the oil is hot before you had the potatoes, then try hard not to disturb them — let them cook for at least a minute, turning the heat down to medium, before giving them a push around the pan. Also, patting them dry lightly before crisping them will help.
aj says
hello – do you cover the pot after you turn off the heat? or do you cool uncovered as well? Thanks.
alexandra says
Just leave it uncovered. Enjoy! I love these 🙂
Alexandra says
shall i cook them a few minutes longer if they are more the size of new potatoes?
alexandra says
Yes, this is a good idea, (though in the restaurant we used the same method even with larger potatoes … I can’t really explain the science, but I think bc the pots were so large, it took longer to heat up them up, and therefore the potatoes cooked longer at the restaurant than they would at home. Make sense?) So yes, give them a few more minutes.
Heather says
A keeper!! We enjoyed these for the first time tonight. My husband didn’t stop talking about them. I pan fried them in the cast iron. Love the ease. Dinner party pretty . Perfection. Thank you! 🙂
Kristen says
Hi there! Do you think these would work as fondue dippers? I use gruyere and Swiss cheese.
alexandra says
YES absolutely. Yum!!
Deanna says
When you turn the heat off do you leave the pot on that burner to cool (since it’s going to be still hot for a while) or completely take it off the hot burner as well as shutting off the heat?
alexandra says
I remove it from the burner completely. If you have a gas range, you can leave it on top, but otherwise, move it to a cooler spot.
Meridith says
These look fantastic! I am cooking for a large crowd and don’t know that I want to crisp these up in a pan because it would take many batches- do you think roasting them after boiling them would work?
★★★★★
alexandra says
I do! I would do it at very high heat — maybe 450ºF or even 500ºF. Good luck!
Kyli says
If we are cutting the larger potatoes in half, should we do that before boiling? Or wait until potatoes have boiled/softened and prior to crisping on the stove ?
alexandra says
I would cut them before hand so that they cook at about the same rate as the smaller ones. Are you using Fingerlings? I know some fingerlings can be large … just curious 🙂