I have to start with the first time I ever tried to make hash browns. I didn’t bother with a recipe or anything. I mean it’s just hash browns…how hard can those be? Well they aren’t hard, but you do have to know the method. My mistake was stirring the potatoes. I didn’t know better and I thought this is how I’d get them all cooked. Not successful. Later I found out that there is no stirring required. Just get the potatoes in there, let the bottom brown up, flip and let the other side brown up.
Fast forward to this past weekend…
I’m also pretty excited about this cooking event because I used the shredder plate on my food processor for the first time. I always knew that it was capable of shredding, but I didn’t really understand how it would work. Saturday morning I had 5 potatoes cleaned up and ready to shred. At this point I was still skeptical of the food processor shredding ability so I got out the hand shredder. After I finished potato #2 I decided to get daring. The old fashioned way was taking a long time and my hands were already tired! Well the food processor was amazing. I just had to cut the potatoes in half length-wise and drop them in the little chute. They shredded up nicely. It does leave a thin slice of potato (very potato chip like), but that’s ok. And 5 medium sized potatoes shredded ended up being a lot of potato (2 plates of hash browns worth!).
This time I consulted a cookbook just to get a reality check on what to do, basically heat level and time. It said medium heat about 10 minutes per side. To grease the skillet (large skillet), I used a little bit of EVOO and butter (about ½ tbsp). I had a large skillet, but I still only got about half of the potatoes in there. I salted and peppered the top side on the first batch, but not the second batch. I’m not sure it made a difference even though I thought I used a lot of seasoning. After a few minutes I decided to cover the skillet…I was a little worried about all of those potatoes getting cooked up. After about 10 minutes I looked underneath as best I could to make sure the bottom was browned up. It was time to flip them.
Here comes the tricky part. I decided to try a trick I recently say Rachael Ray do (I can’t even remember what she was cooking though). I got a plate that was about as big as the skillet and I flipped the hash browns onto the plate. I added a little more EVOO and then I slid the hash browns back in the skillet to let the other side brown up. I was worried about burning myself or that the hash browns would stick or not flip over right, but it turned out beautifully. I used my left hand to tilt the plate up as I was turning the skillet upside down in the right hand. It worked pretty well. I put the skillet back on the stove and let the hash browns slide back into the skillet which also worked fairly easy. If you are nervous about this trick (which I’m sure can be applied to many other things), I recommend practicing with a smaller skillet. My plate was just smaller than the skillet. Ideally the plate will be slightly larger. Then you can put the plate upside down over the skillet. Place one hand on the bottom of the plate and flip the skillet while the plate is in contact with skillet. Or you can always just put the potatoes in half the skillet, then flip it over to the other side.
And the recipe…this is about half of what I did. I had to make 2 batches though.
Servings – 2ish
2-3 medium potatoes, cleaned
½ tbsp butter
½ tbsp EVOO (divided)
Salt and pepper to taste
Shred potatoes. Add salt and pepper. Heat butter and some EVOO (just drizzle) in large skillet over medium heat. After butter is melted, add potatoes. The thicker the layer the less crispy the hash browns will be. Cook about 8-10 minutes (covered) until bottom is browned. (I just poked around the outside to see). Flip and add more EVOO to skillet. Cook until bottom side is browned about 8-10 minutes.
If you like to get daring with your hash browns, I recommend adding chopped onions, garlic, maybe some peppers.
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