TOTS!
There's nothing better than tater tots in your belly.
About a decade ago, tater tots made a huge comeback at bars and restaurants across this great land. Every child from the 80's grew up on tater tots, which along with fish sticks and macaroni and cheese formed the great trifecta of food our parents really shouldn't have been feeding us on the regular but shit, it got the fussy kids to eat. So when all of a sudden tater tors started showing up on the menu at trendy bars and gastro pubs it was a welcomed blast from the past because tater tots are fucking delicious and go amazingly well with craft (or otherwise) beer. Which makes you think: if parents really wanted to shut the fussy kids up, they should have served up a cold one with the tots. Parenting tips, folks!
Two of my culinary hereos are Tieghan from Half Baked Harvest and Nat from Nat's What I Reckon. They couldn't be more polar opposite in life, but they are unmatched, in my view, in their approach in the kitchen and, in Nat's case, swearing. The tater tots recipe below is Tieghan's. I don't know why I mentioned Nat here, to be honest. But definitely check Nat out.
I couldn't make them look as pretty as hers, but I can confirm they tasted really, really good. I actually made them twice because the first time they flattened a bit during baking and came out looking more like mini potato pancakes than nicely shaped tots, but that just gave me an excuse to try again the next day meaning I got to serve them with dinner and breakfast.
As Tieghan says below, ENJOY!
Ingredients
2 (16 ounce) bags frozen potatoes, thawed
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, plus more for coating
1 cup plus 1 tablespoon grated parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 large pinch kosher salt
1/2 a clove garlic, grated
1 tablespoon fresh thyme or oregano leaves
Preparation
1. Preheat the oven to 450° F. Grease a baking sheet with olive oil.
2. In a food processor, pulse the potatoes together until finely chopped. If you don't have a food processor, you can skip this step.
3. Add the potatoes to a large bowl. Add the olive oil, 1 cup parmesan, flour, onion powder, garlic powder, oregano, and a large pinch of salt. Mix until combined and the mixture is moistened.
4. Scoop 1 tablespoon of the potatoes out of the bowl, pack it together with your hands until it holds a ball, then form into a cylinder and place on the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining mix. Don't stress about the shape, they don't need to be perfect. Brush/mist each tot with olive oil, be generous. Transfer to the oven and bake 10-12 minutes, slide a spatula underneath the tots, then flip and bake 10 more minutes. Flip once to the uncooked side, bake 10-12 minutes, until golden and crisp.
5. In a small bowl, combine 1-2 tablespoons parmesan, the garlic, and thyme/oregano. Sprinkle the warm tots with the parmesan. Serve tots with lots of ketchup for dipping. ENJOY.