On a recent brunch trip to Lula’s sister restaurant Nightwood, we discovered one of the simplest, most addictive incarnations of the potato we’ve ever experienced: the Nightwood Tater Tot.

So what makes these things so good? They’re crunchy (but not too crunchy). They’re fried. There’s nooks and crannies where coarse sea salt is hiding. And then you bite into it. The inside is soft like mashed potatoes. But not cold or weird. Just right. It’s really like hashbrowns in a ball. Pretty far removed from what I would have called a “tater tot”…but whatever. I had to figure out how to make these.

Cut to the same afternoon: A recipe for home made tater tots.

What I liked about making these is that its essentially one ingredient and a lot of prep/cooking variables. I’ve made these a half dozen times now and while they’re always tasty, they are a challenge to make exactly the same each time. I can’t imagine they cut these by hand at Nightwood. The grater attachment on my food processor sucks, so I never really tried simply blanching/frying the shredded potatoes.

I used some leftover purple potatoes…I would imagine something starchy like a russet would work even better.
I tried several ways of preparing the potatoes into their “tot” shapes. I tried making a sort of rough batter, using grater (hand and food processor) – but each of these approaches was too perfect. I decided to thinly slice the potatoes on a mandolin, then quickly blanch the slices and finally julienne the resulting slimy slices:

About 3 minutes in unsalted boiling water. Any longer and you wont be able cut them. Any less and they’ll be too crunchy after frying.

The blanched and subsequently sliced potatoes:

To form them into balls I tossed the potatoes with a few tablespoons of flour. I experimented with adding salt, mustard, oil, etc., but it really wasn’t necessary. I found that the trick to making them shape nicely is to wet your hands and really squeeze the shit out of them.

Fry in 375 degree sunflower oil until golden brown. If you don’t have a deep fryer, I highly recommend using a thermometer and waiting for the oil to reach the right temperature. Frying is deceptively complex. (did I really just say that?)

When they’re done frying, roll them through some coarse sea salt while they’re still oily.

A pretty enjoyable brunch place, Vella Cafe, closed a couple weeks ago. I ran into a couple of the girls who worked there at the Logans Square Farmers Market and they said the new owner was going to open a Mexican-Chinese fusion restaurant.

Addendum:

Apparently, Vella was bought out by the couple who run Urban Belly, which has a weird concept that Chris said he’s going to explain.

Bill Kim: So I have a vision for the food, while Yvonne and Yasmina take that vision along with their own style for the design. What are we calling it?
Yvonne Cadiz-Kim: Reclaimed industrial.
Bill Kim: Right, reclaimed industrial.

Reclaimed industrial? We’ll see, I guess.

I thought Sweet Cakes was suddenly popular seeing the line at Damen and Walton. But apparently there’s a newish restaurant there that’s popular, Jam.

Haven’t been there yet, but the menu’s online and sounds good: Savory buckwheat crepes with braised lamb, Asian pear, hazelnut-sage glaze, and spicy mesclun for $11. Egg sandwich with pig’s cheek? Ok, yeah, I’ll try it. Cured trout quiche? Yeah, all right, I guess. Panini Cristo, a sort of French toast with prosciutto and sweet mustard jam? Nah, not for me.

For breakfast in Ukrainian Village, I’m still a proponent of Uncle Mike’s. Though the good stuff’s not on the menu. You have to get whatever Filipino breakfast they’ve got written up on the chalkboard.