Paperless cooking. It's not over-rated!

There's just something about it: cooking without a recipe. Cooking because you know what you want. And delivering that. I've been tinkering with roasted potatoes for some time, and have many recipes that I love. Being the simple dinner lady that I am, I am often happy with a plate of potatoes and something fresh and crispy to fill my plate. Lately my roast potatoes have been very Greek - olive oil, fresh lemon juice, dried oregano and s&p. For me, something was missing. So this is what happens when I cook according to me - my very own Garlic Roast potatoes. (I am so sorry if someone else out there makes theirs the same, I truly, honestly am not copying you. Let's just say great minds think alike!)

And since cooking without a recipe, is well, by feel, I'll include general measurements. Use more or less according to your liking. Make it your own! To my liking, roast potatoes should: 1) be moist yet crisp, 2) have a nice golden colour, 3) marry perfectly with herbs and other seasonings while not losing the potato itself.

By the way, I hardly ever use up an entire bundle of herbs before they go bad. So I tried freezing them for future cooking - it works! I wouldn't recommend doing this for use in salads, or any other uncooked herb needs, but sauces, roasts, and so forth love frozen herbs. In other words, never ever deny yourself fresh at the grocery store!

One last roasting tip: after washing the potatoes, dry them thoroughly - otherwise you will oven steam, not roast!

Moni's Smashed Garlic Roast Potatoes
Serves maybe 4, or two if you make them really, really yummy!

Roughly 6 - 8 small or medium yellow fleshed potatoes, unpeeled, 2cm dice
About 4 - 6 garlic cloves, peeled and left whole
Olive oil ... you know I love a lot of it! (For more accurate measuring, count to 3 while pouring!)
A few sprigs fresh oregano, picked
Around 1 tsp smoked paprika - basically enough to give the potatoes a red hue
Fresh ground pepper
Coarse sea salt

Preheat oven to 450 F.
Combine everything in one or two glass casserole dishes. I like to keep them single file.
Roast in the oven for 20 - 30 minutes, stirring once half way through.
Remove from the oven, search for the garlic cloves. Using the tines of a fork, smash them and stir back into the potatoes.