Lori smashed fried potatoes

These mashed potatoes were inspired by a weekend trip to the backwoods of Mendocino County, California. Let me stress that I’m not kidding when I say backwoods. Imagine – a few miles from the nearest paved road where a high clearance SUV is a necessity. Pass numerous cleverly rigged hydroponic hippie buses (clearly old buses die here). Beyond a pack of hunting fanged guard dogs and finally down into the riverside sanctuary that is my friend Lori Narlock’s cabin.

Before I get into the details of our weekend, I just want to say (I feel more than a little guilty) I barely lifted a finger all weekend – Lori cooked for our cabin of six women, meal after delicious meal. Today I’m going to share her recipe for smashed hash browns. First because they were delicious. Second, to show how equal parts thoughtfulness, experience and preparation can result in delicious dishes even in rustic conditions.

How rustic you might ask? I kept asking myself that same question while packing. I had a few clues based on the flood of emails before the trip – including snippets of information like this:

“The cabin is very rustic. There are two bedrooms with one bed in each and then two single beds in the living room…. There is no proper electricity. We mostly read, play scrabble, drink copious amounts of beer and wine and gave by day and lantern. “

And then:

“Please bring clogs or other slip-on shoes for the night if you require this
Get up and go to the bathroom – every now and then some creepy crawlies have appeared.”

I later found out that creepy crawlers = scorpions. Lori’s sister Lisa also chimed in with the following:

“Let me add that this is not a ‘Tahoe’ booth and any slippers or similar you wear in the booth can very well get dirty – so I would leave your favorite white slippers at home.”

So if your fantasy is as rampage-prone as mine is – I braced myself for a weekend in the rain, in a cabin (moon through the slats in the roof, spiders through the gaps in the floorboard), huddled by a stove, in a dugout in the Kaczynski style. Something along the lines of an overgrown outhouse. I was all in. I mean there was no tent involved so this would be an upgrade for me no matter how you look at it. You can imagine my surprise (and delight!) when I walked in here….

The cabin sits on a vast property that has been in the Narlock family for generations. The hut was built by hand and an incredible amount of love was put into it. Pictures of the family line the walls, as well as artifacts contributed by various family members. It’s the kind of place that makes you feel right at home – complete with the wood-burning fireplace, the sound of the river playing in the background – and the stove! Can you believe the beautiful stove?

Lori made good use of this family treasure over the course of the weekend, but before I get into that, let me back up a little and say — it’s great to have a host who also happens to be a food writer. I’m sure many of you are familiar with Lori’s work on books like The Food Lover’s Companion to the Napa Valley, The Wine Lover’s Guide to the Wine Country, Smoothies, The Niman Ranch Cookbook, and Cocktail Food. She is fantastic and talented on every front. It was fascinating to watch as she put together meals for us at the cabin (no electricity, water that takes an hour to boil) – and gave me all sorts of cooking/prep ideas for future “rustic/camping trips”…. partly because she was smart about how and what to prepare before she even got into the dressing room.

The smashed fried potatoes

Lori’s meals came with hardly a bead of sweat rolling off her forehead (or at least she made it look like it). So I started asking her about some of her cabin cooking tricks. The fried potatoes were a great example. She pre-cooked the potatoes and brought them in like this – in the morning, just before breakfast, she mashed them up in a large pan with a little olive oil and salt – in a matter of minutes they were crispy and brown on the outside, hot on the inside, and the perfect accompaniment to the frittata that she put together.

I also have to mention the pasta she made for dinner later that night – outrageous amounts of garlic (in a good way), tons of shredded zucchini and shredded cheese. She had boiled the noodles the night before we got the cabin. Do you know how many times I’ve struggled to cook pasta over a camp stove? So many. Their pasta was delicious – the noodles were not mushy or sticky at all. Lori had all kinds of great shortcuts like this that never detracted from the final judgment.

So, here’s how she made her mashed hash browns. Imagine all the things you could drizzle or sprinkle on it. Thanks for the recipe and have a great weekend Lori! I’ll sleep with the scorpions anytime…

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