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if your talking homefries, we cook them in bacon fat, covered on a low heat , then when they begin to soften we throw in some garlic and chopped onion, s&p and turn the heat up and let them sit then turn, they are crispy outside and soft inside. you don't want to bang them around they fall apart and become mashed potato.

If by skillet potatoes yhou mean essentially pan roasted potatoes, it's not that hard. I never precook the potatoes

I dice new potatoes fairly small, like I guess around 1/2 inch or smaller and cook it slowly, in a covered cast iron skillet until it starts getting crusty. Oh, I add a bit of salt. I toss the potatoes around and repeat a few times until the potatoes are just barely tender. They should have a fairly decent crust on them by now. Then I turn up the heat a bit, cook a couple more minutes uncovered then add some crushed garlic and toss a minute or so. By now there should be a really nice crust on the potatoes. I toss in a bit of minced flat leaf parsley and a dash of lemon juice, freshly ground black pepper and more salt if it needs it. I think the parsley and lemon juice is important because it lightens up the flavor a bit.

I fix potatoes for SO three to four mornings a week, all I ever do is cut them fairly small pop them in a good nonstick pan over med heat, toss a little salt on them and let them cook about 10 to 15 min before I even touch them, then toss around a bit, also I add diced up onion and green peppers if I have them on hand. but plain works great too. You'll get a good crust on them by just leaving them alone. I find if I use precooked potatoes they dont crisp up as much for me.

i second the non-pre-boiling part. i think bashing them all around just makes them LESS crispy because the sides are all broken. i do just chisai and honeybumper's method, make them rather small and pan fry them. i add paul prudhomme's vegetable magic sometimes too and onions and peppers. mmmm.

I wash them, nuke them whole and unpeeled in wax paper till done, smash them flat when cool enough to handle and fry them up in my favorite fat of the moment until brown & crisp. My seasonings & add-ins vary according to what I'm serving them with.

Well, I use a pan in the oven as my "skillet." After scrubbing the skins clean, I nuke them for 4 to 8 minutes, depending @ the # and size of the spuds. Then I let them cool a bit while I work @ other dishes. When I cut them up, I try for semi-triangle shapes. Then I dump them into a large plastic bag w/ a couple of tbsp of olive oil. Next I dump them into a pan large enough so all of the pieces are @ a single layer. I like using a Corningware pan, because I can crank up the heat w/out much worry @ burning them. I sprinkle a bit of salt, onion powder and garlic powder (one of the few uses I have for such powders), and finally shower a bit of oregano flakes. THen it's into the oven for 15-30 minutes @ 400F. I use a metal spatula to flip them after the time runs out, and gauge how much more time they'll need to finish cooking. (And once they've reached this point, I can set them aside while other dishes finish cooking.) When they're done, tHey come out w/ a nice crisp crust that "pops" when you bite 'em. Yummy.

So, I used the method that chisai and a couple others on here had promoted this Saturday. I'm happy to say that the potatoes were fantastic! They got rave reviews, even though I totally forgot to buy red bell peppers to add in. I used red potatoes, sweet onions, olive oil, Kosher salt and Trader Joe's 21 Seasoning Salute spice mix. So delicious, I could eat these every morning. Thanks for all the help!