smashed roasted marble potatoes + garlic confit

My go-to recipe for potatoes consists of cutting little potatoes in half and tossing them with olive oil, rosemary, salt, and pepper and throwing it in the oven for awhile. So I've decided to branch out and I actually used a recipe for once. I stole this one from Thomas Keller's ad hoc at home cookbook. I got the cookbook for Christmas, so I'm sure I'll be posting more recipes from it soon! (including a delicious roast chicken made in a le creuset dutch oven)

Before and After

Smashed Roasted Marble Potatoes (from ad hoc at home)
Ingredients:
2 1/4 pounds marble potatoes, washed and dried
1/4 cup canola oil (i used olive oil)
4 thyme sprigs + a few sprigs for garnish
Kosher salt
4 tablespoons (2 ounces) unsalted butter
8 cloves Garlic Confit, or to taste (see recipe below)
2 tablespoons minced chives
Fleur de sel (let's be really honest here, we probably don't need this)

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Toss the potatoes with oil to coat, the thyme, and salt to taste in a large bowl.

Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a large ovenproof frying pan. Spread the potatoes in the pan, transfer to the oven, and roast for 15-30 minutes (depending on potato size) until the potatoes are completely tender when pierced with the tip of a paring knife.

Drain the potatoes, discard the thyme sprigs, and transfer the hot potatoes to a bowl. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons butter, the garlic confit, and chives and, using the back of a fork (or...a potato masher!!!!), smash the potatoes to combine them with the other ingredients. Serve garnished with thyme sprigs and a sprinkling of flour de sel.

Note: potato mashers? so much cooler than you think they are. definitely a worthwhile investment.

Garlic Confit and Oil
Ingredients:
1 cup peeled garlic cloves
2 cups canola oil (lets be real honest again, you don't have to measure anything in this recipe)

Directions:
Cut off and discard the root ends of the garlic cloves. Put the cloves in a small saucepan and add enough oil to cover them by about 1 inch - none of the garlic cloves should be poking through the oil.

Set the saucepan over medium-low heat. The garlic should cook gently: very small bubbles will come up through the oil, but the bubbles should not break the surface; adjust the heat as necessary. Cook the garlic for about 40 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes or so, until the cloves are completely tender when pierced with the tip of a knife. Remove the saucepan from the heat and allow the garlic to cool in the oil.

Refrigerate the garlic in a covered container, submerged in the oil, for up to 1 week.