How to make hashbrowns from real potatoes
I eat potatoes all kinds of ways, but my favorite is homemade hashbrowns!
I used to buy the premade frozen patties of hashbrowns, and still do occasionally, but lately I find that grating up a potato in the morning has become second nature and premade hashbrowns have fallen off the grocery list.
The trick is to remove as much starch and moisture as possible from the potato before cooking it.
Recipe for homemade hashbrowns:
Ingredients:
Potato.
(also water and salt, but mostly just the potato)
1. Use a large cheese grater to grate the potato. You can go skin on or peeled, it's up to you. Fill a bowl with water and a couple teaspoons of salt. Place the grated potato into the water bowl and swish it around.
2. Drain the potatoes into a colander, rinse, and drain. Spread a kitchen towel out on the counter and dump the potatoes onto it. Roll the towel up so you have a log with the potato in the center. Holding the towel log in both hands, wring it out over the kitchen sink.
3. Unroll the towel and fluff the potatoes with your hands.
4. From here you have a couple options:
Freeze for later - Place the shredded potato on a metal baking sheet loosley or form them into patties. Place the baking sheet into the freezer for one hour to "flash freeze" the potatoes. This will lightly freeze the potatoes individually, so that you don't end up with a frozen mass of potato that won't break apart. Transfer to a bag or container for long term storage.
Pan Fry - Heat your favorite cooking oil in a skillet and add the potatoes. Salt and pepper the potatoes and let them cook, without stirring for 1-2 minutes. Use a spatula to flip the potatoes over and cook for another 2-3 minutes, or until they’ve reached your desired crispiness.
Oven Baked - Preheat oven to 350. Grease a muffin tin with butter, olive oil, or your preferred cooking fat. Fill the tins with shredded potato. Don't pack them in too tightly, leave some air in between so that the potatoes can cook. If they're too dense they'll cook unevenly and you'll end up with crispy outsides and an uncooked center. Bake at 350 for about 12 minutes.
Waffled - heck ya! Grease your waffle iron and add the shredded potato. Cook until toasty brown and delicious!
Eat and enjoy!!
While you’re munching a plate of delicious, crispy hash browns, here are some things about potatoes that you probably don’t know! Because knowledge, yo.
Steam your potatoes instead of boiling.
Potatoes are rich in B vitamins and vitamin C, all of which are water soluble and can leach into the cooking water, leaving a smaller amount in the part you eat.
Eat the skin!
Practically all of the dietary fiber and about half the nutrients are contained in the potatoes skin. If you can’t kick the habit of peeling your potatoes, freeze the skin peelings to make broth. (I keep a tuperware in the freezer to collect bones, parmesan rinds, and bits of veggies to make stock every couple weeks.)
Buy organic whenever possible.
Potatoes are number 12 on the EWG’s Dirty Dozen list. They tested over 3,000 produce samples in 2013 and ranked 50 fruits and veggies by the quantity, frequency, and volume of pesticides found. Potatoes had more pesticides by weight than any other produce.
Keep them with the apples, not the onions
Onions and potatoes need similar storage conditions, somewhere cool and dark. Many people store the two of them together. Onions actually release a gas as they 'breathe' that can cause potatoes to sprout faster, which is not what you want for long term storage. Apples on the other hand also need similar storage conditions and won't cause the potatoes to sprout prematurely!
Look for variety!
Although your grocery store probably only offers russets, reds, and fingerling potatoes, there are over 4,000 different kinds of potatoes on the planet! Most of them are grown in Peru, but you can find unique kinds at most farmers markets in the US. You can even try your hand at growing them yourself!
(Have I mentioned how beautiful the potato plant is?) Photos from International Potato Center
I teach people how to cook and eat real food with confidence so that you can have less stress, better health, and WAY more fun in the kitchen and in life.
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