Say goodbye to boring boiled potatoes. In fact, it might be time to retire your burger buns too. The latest internet trend yields the crispiest, most delicious "accordion" potatoes (which make an excellent vehicle for a variety of sandwich fillings) that will keep you from ever looking back.
Sure, these crispy taters might look complicated, but anyone with an oven can make them. All you need is a few bamboo skewers and some knife skills. Here's how to make the crispiest oven-baked potatoes (recipe via @thejoshelkin).
Start by preheating your oven to 400°F. Grab some potatoes (russet or Yukon gold), then slice them vertically to get the longest portion of potato. Each medallion should be about ½ inch thick. Lay a single potato slice on your cutting board and place two bamboo skewers on each side to act as guardrails. Carefully slice small cuts in one direction all across the surface of the potato, pressing the knife down only until it reaches the skewer. Flip the potato over, and make the same cuts in the opposite direction. By now, the slice should be bendy and malleable. Repeat with all potato slices.
Take the skewers and carefully twist the cut potatoes onto the stick vertically, gently stretching out the potato as much as possible. Place all the skewers on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Now, create a quick glaze by whisking together 1 tablespoon garlic powder, 1 teaspoon smoked paprika, 1 teaspoon onion salt, and 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Use a brush to coat both sides of the potatoes. Transfer the baking sheet to your preheated oven and bake for 15 minutes, then flip each skewer, and cook for another 10-15 minutes. Carefully remove each skewer and place the potatoes on a paper towel to drain excess oil.
From there, you can eat your oven-baked waffle fries as is (with perhaps a little dipping sauce) or turn your potato creations into a sandwich. Just place one potato onto a cutting board, layer with your desired sandwich fillings (a mini burger patty, bacon and eggs, or even some fried chicken) and top it off with a final crispy potato. Enjoy!