These Rule-Breaking Breakfast Potatoes Are Legendary in Maine

I love diner food. I grew up on the East Coast of the United States, where diner culture takes on many forms. There are old-school diners that have been around forever, Greek diners that you can find in the hearts of big cities, and roadside diners with vinyl booths and gigantic menus with so many offerings you feel like you could come in every week and still never try everything. I love them all. I’ve always been a diner person, and everyone who knows me knows I’m always down to head to the local diner for lunch and dinner (or for the best meal to eat at a diner: breakfast). 

When a good friend (and Maine native) told me that her favorite diner was a new-ish (in diner years, which are measured in decades) tiny affair in an old train car in a southern Maine town, I put it on my list of diners to try. She regaled me with tales of their unique tuna sandwich and how she never ate a meal there without ordering their legendary potatoes. Breakfast potatoes are a ubiquitous dish on a diner menu, and typically fall into one of two camps: home fries or hash browns. I’m a hash brown girl myself, and feel strongly that they are the superior preparation. However, when she informed me that the potatoes at Palace Diner fall into neither camp and are, in fact, closer to a smashed potato, I knew I had to give them a try for myself.

The potatoes at Palace Diner in Biddeford, Maine, are unlike potatoes I’ve been served at any diner before. Instead of shredding or chopping potatoes before frying them, they boil whole red potatoes in a flavorful broth with herbs and spices, smash them on a cutting board, and then fry them. The result is a unique, delicious dish that tastes like a cross between fluffy mashed potatoes and fried potatoes, but with so much more flavor. 

Boiling the potatoes with herbs and spices infuses them with an extra layer of flavor you just don’t get from potatoes that have just been seasoned with salt and pepper. The texture is crunchy on the outside, but still fluffy on the inside, and they’re served whole, which means they stay hotter for longer than a potato that’s cut into small pieces. 

Don’t get me wrong — I still love regular diner potatoes, but I can’t deny that since trying these for the first time I’m often thinking about when my next trip through Maine will be so I can make a stop to get some more. In service of saving myself from having to make the drive to another state every time I want great potatoes, I spoke with Chad Conley, one of the owners of Palace, who gave me advice on how to recreate them at home.

1. Prep. At the diner, they use medium-sized red potatoes “about the size of a duck egg,” according to Chad. Scrub 1 pound of potatoes, but leave the peel on.
2. Boil. Add 6 dried arbol chiles, 2 bay leaves, 1 tablespoon of black peppercorns, 3 sprigs of thyme, and the scrubbed potatoes to a pot of heavily salted cool water. Chad advises using “more salt than you think you’ll need,” which translated to 3 tablespoons of kosher salt for me in about 4 quarts of water. Cook over medium heat until the potatoes are easily pierced by a fork or paring knife, 15 to 20 minutes.
3. Cool. Drain the potatoes and place them on a large plate or rimmed baking sheet to cool to room temperature. Once they’ve cooled down, transfer them to the refrigerator for “at least a few hours, preferably overnight,” per Chad.
4. Smash. When the potatoes are fully dry and cooled, transfer them to a cutting board. Use the palm of your hand or the back of a 1-cup measuring cup to flatten them to about 3/4-inch thickness.
5. Fry. Fry the potatoes in a cast iron skillet in about 1/4-inch of vegetable oil over medium-high heat until well-browned and crispy on both sides. Sprinkle with flaky salt before serving.

• Don’t overcook the potatoes. Chad advised me to “pull the potatoes from the water as soon as they are fully cooked. Don’t overcook them or they get waterlogged! “Pull them out when they’re just finished cooking; they need to have enough structure to stay together when smashed and not completely fall apart. 
• Start them the day before. The boiled potatoes hold very well in the fridge, and because they should be fully cooled before smashing, boiling them the day before so you can just fry them up when you’re ready for breakfast makes breakfast a speedier affair.