Crusty Puffed Potatoes (Unusual Recipe)
Source: The Best American Recipes 2000 by Fran McCullough and Suzanne Hamlin
Servings: 2

8 small red potatoes, cut in half
2 teaspoons olive oil
2 teaspoons sea salt

Place oven rack in the middle and preheat oven to 475 degrees.

Rinse the potatoes and dry well with paper towels. Rub the potatoes with the oil. Cut each potato in half and sprinkle the cut sides with salt.

Place the halves cut-sides down on a wire rack for 10 minutes so the salt can draw out some of the water.

Bake the halves directly on the oven rack until cooked through, about 20 minutes. Increase the temperature to 500 degrees and bake until they are puffed and golden, about 5 minutes. Serve hot.

Little red potatoes are cut in half, rubbed with oil, sprinkled with salt and then roasted directly on a rack in a hot oven. The high heat makes them simultaneously puff and crisp.

If they are baked cut-sides down, they become crustier; if they are baked cut-sides up, they puff high. If they have an egg shape, cut them lengthwise (they will puff higher and get crustier); otherwise, just cut in half crosswise.

Tips: Oiling the oven rack helps with cleanup, as does lining the oven floor with foil. To make these while a roast is resting; just turn up the oven as soon as the roast is out.