Potato Tot Glamourie

[talon]

The lowly frozen tot can be dressed up in many, many ways.

I don't eat a lot of frozen tots, but when I do, I tend to dress them up. Plain tots just don't cut it.

I prefer the ones called "crowns" because they offer more crunch, are closer to bite-sized (what? I have a small mouth), and are sturdier to handle the dress-ups and dips.

I like making dips for the tater crowns as they are the perfect size for dipping. They are also great to use for fondues, not breaking apart the way the full-sized tots do. Almost any dip will do: bleu cheese, nacho sauce, queso, dill sour cream, French onion dip, Buffalo wing and chili sauce dip, barbecue sauce, or any other soft dip. The tougher cream cheese dips do well when warmed so they soften. Sweet dips also work surprisingly well with tater crowns - a lightly salted caramel dip makes for a sweet and salty crunchy taste experience, and chocolate, especially the darker chocolates, pair well with crisp fried or baked tater crowns.

Either the tots or the crowns can be used as the base for a nacho-style dish of guacamole, sour cream, jalapenos, olives, salsa, chili, refried beans, and cheese.

If you don't like the frozen tater tots or need gluten free tots, you can make your own:

4 or 5 waxy potatoes
1/4 cup finely minced onion
1 finely minced garlic clove
2 tablespoons gluten free flour substitute of your choice (I prefer rice flour or a mix of rice flour, garbanzo bean flour, and arrowroot powder)
dash of salt and pepper
cooking oil (up to 2 cups, depending)

Peel and boil the potatoes until just barely tender. You should be able to pierce them with a fork easily but they shouldn't crumble, crack, or fall apart when pierced.

Shred them on a mandoline (food processors tend to turn them into mashed potatoes and you want them to be discreet little minces of potato) and chop them a bit more with a very sharp knife so they are finely minced, but not mashed!

With a fork, stir in the onion, garlic, salt, pepper, and flour substitute.

Shape the tots into crowns, tot-shapes, or even small balls. Brown the outsides of the tots in hot oil. You can drain, cool, and freeze them at this point for making later.

You don't really want to eat them at this point even if they are cooked all the way through because they aren't really crisp and done on the insides. To finish off the tots, bake them on baking sheets lined with the no-stick foil or parchment paper. 350ºF for about 25-30 minutes. If they start browning too much, cover them lightly with foil.

Then you can use them as ingredients in casseroles, as croutons for soups and salads, as "chips" for dips or making nachos, as a dipper for fondues, and as fancified hors d'euvres, with cheeses, roasted red pepper slices, olives, or other items topping them and speared with toothpicks.

Tots, never eat them plain.