Hash brown Goodness
Serving size: 2
Time needed: 20 minutes
Ingredients
1 medium to large potato
1 teaspoon butter (olive oil or bacon grease are a good dairy free replacement)
1 tablespoon diced onion
Salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup shredded cheese (optional)
2 tablespoons butter
Steps to make it
Turn the burner to 3 if you have a gas stove, 5 for electric and induction to heat up the skillet or griddle
Grate the potato onto a towel. Fold over the towel and squeeze out any liquid (don’t rinse the potatoes). Melt a teaspoon of butter in a bowl and toss with the salt, pepper, grated potato, and cheese (if using)
Melt one tablespoon of butter in skillet and place the potatoes in 2 small groups. Make sure all errant gratings are pushed back into the pile and flatten to 1/2 inch using the spatula. Set your timer for 8 minutes.
When the timer goes off, melt your final tablespoon of butter on the pan and flip the potatoes on top of it moving them back to their original location and set a timer for another 8 minutes. Check to make sure it’s not burning and turn down the temperature if it’s getting too brown too fast.
You should have incredibly delicious hash browns with a fully cooked center and lightly browned exterior.
It always felt like a bit of a personal failure when hash browns were always delicious in pretty much every diner, but I just couldn’t make them good at home. they were undercooked or burnt. I shared my frustration on Facebook and asked for input and got loads of good advice. I started reading up on all the recipes and trying them all out. It took a couple months to find a recipe I loved. And even the initial recipe has evolved since I first settled on it.
First, I don’t have any pictures of this recipe having made it for friends, but I know I have a few different times. The pictures I have were when I put together a recipe to send out as part of my Christmas letter one year. Because I was so proud of myself for making a recipe I really liked.
The grater in the picture belonged to my great aunt Vivian. Every time I use it I think of her. There were a set of three with small, medium, and large grates. I usually use the small or medium depending on my mood. I think they are grate ;)
If I’m making it at someone else’s house it’s never quite right because I haven’t learned their stove yet. Now I use a kitchen towel to squeeze the potatoes dry because I hate to use paper towels when I don’t have to. Am I doing it because I am eco-conscious or because it bothers Nancy Baker? Perhaps both. She retaliated against her mother’s need to find multiple uses for every empty container and bag. I rail against all the single use convenience items Nancy Baker prefers, though I am not as hard core as June Drake. I use rags, cloth napkins, wash ziploc bags to use again, and make my cleaning products or use green cleaning products. I do not use empty food containers and bags or the foam plates that raw meat came on as a plate for my sandwiches. I do throw away a ziploc bag that contained raw meat. Raw meat creeps me right out.
I loved this center griddle on my old stove. I also loved the convection oven…when it was working. If I could give one piece of advice, it would be not to buy a GE Chef Series oven. It broke 5 times over 6 years and caused me endless rage. I finally traded it in for a Kitchenaid induction convection oven that has been largely delightful since I bought it. A couple of times it has glitched, but re-setting the breaker makes it work just fine again. No 90 minute calls to schedule service or 6 weeks of waiting for a part. It’s lovely. I named her Pearl and feel fortunate to have a stove that consistently works. I bought an iron skillet griddle that makes equally delicious hash browns.
These hash browns are perfect with a poached egg. Rebecca taught me to make a perfect poached egg when we had a weekend planned to sew jeans. We started to hear about a freak snow storm so I asked if she wanted to have a sleepover jean making camp. We spent the time occasionally yelling “We’re sewing mother f*cking jeans!” and having a friend there to help me dig out and teach me to make delicious poached eggs was so delightful. If you like poached eggs, here is how to make them:
1 egg cracked and put in a small bowl or teacup
Boil a small saucepan of water and add a capful of vinegar. Once boiling, add the egg, turn off the stove or move to a cool burner and cover the saucepan. Let sit for 4 minutes. You will get a delicious runny poached egg for your hash browns.
Rebecca took this photo so I could figure out the back pocket placement. The jeans didn’t fit quite as I hoped, but I am determined to improve on them and make them again.
Someday.
Though I was far more gung ho about sewing jeans before the pandemic. Since then I’ve purchased 5 pairs of black lounge pants that I’m still really attached to. I’m still super proud that I made motherf*cking jeans.
Like with anything I make, I enjoy learning from the process and thinking about how I can improve on it. All the recipes I make will continue to evolve. I’ll make it the way they tell me the first time and then all bets are off.