Scattered Hash Browns

One of my favorite things in the world when I was in college was Waffle House hash browns - scattered, covered, chunked and diced.  And if you don't know what I mean, you are obviously a Yankee not from around these parts.

The funny thing is. I'm a Yankee, too.  In my case I was transplanted young and grew up liking some of those things that southerners do.  Like Waffle House hash browns, for example.

So anyway, I have recently realized I have a plethora of potatoes in my cupboard.  I'm part of a produce co-op and get potatoes regularly, but I haven't been using them.  For one thing, my kids don't usually like potatoes, and for another, it's been too hot to actually cook.  Last night I decided it was time to use up some of my spuds.  Since I was cooking 2 other things for dinner that my kiddos don't like (beef and broccoli), I tried to think of a way to prepare them that my kids would like.  I really do try to have at least one thing on the table that they will eat.  And you know what?  We had success!  And it wasn't actually that hard, OR that greasy.

One more thing before I get started.  I highly recommend using an electric griddle to make these.  You can do a smaller amount in a non-stick frying pan, but I found it much, much easier to do this on the non-stick, electric griddle.



Scattered Hash Browns

5 smallish russet potatoes
1 onion
olive oil
salt/pepper to taste

Wash and trim your potatoes.  Do not peel.

Grate the potatoes and onion, and place in a colander.  (Forgot to get a picture of this step, but I'm sure you can figure it out!)  Place in the sink and rinse with cool water.

 Cover a cookie sheet with paper towels, and spread the hash browns evenly.  Blot dry using another paper towel on top.

 Sprinkle the hash browns with salt/pepper, and drizzle with olive oil.  Toss together to mix lightly.

Spread the hash browns in a thin layer on a pre-heated electric skillet.  I set mine on 350, and also sprayed it with non-stick cooking spray - just for good measure.

 When the hash browns start looking crispy on the bottom, go ahead and flip.

You'll need to do this a couple more times until the hash browns finish cooking.  If they aren't getting crispy enough for your taste, go back and drizzle a little more olive oil over the potatoes.

Eventually you'll end up with a little piece of heaven that looks like this:

And even though I didn't cover, chunk or dice them (remember the picky kids...), we all thought they were delicious.  This is definitely going to get a repeat performance in this house.

So how do you like your hash browns?

Garlic Mashed Potatoes

As promised, here is my recipe for Garlic Mashed Potatoes.  I actually don't get to make them very often since my kids prefer potatoes of the oven roasted variety, but The Honey and I love these.  In fact, I'm kind of a mashed potato snob.  I really (and I do mean really) don't like instant mashed potatoes.  And although it takes a slightly longer time to make regular mashed potatoes, it's totally worth the investment.  Trust me.

As an added bonus to this recipe, it's going to roll into the next one - we're going to save our water from boiling the potatoes and turn it into the softest bread you have ever had.  So be prepared!

Garlic Mashed Potatoes

4 red potatoes
1/4 c. light butter spread
2-4 Tbsp. milk
1/4 c. light sour cream
salt/pepper to taste
1 clove minced garlic OR garlic powder

Scrub and dice red potatoes.  If desired, you can peel them, but I prefer to leave the skins on.  In this case, the potatoes were old enough that by the time I finished cutting off the blemishes they were half-peeled anyway.  After you've diced the potatoes, place them into about 5-6 cups of boiling water.  Boil for about 15-20 minutes, or until potatoes are tender.

When potatoes are finished, remove from water with a slotted spoon, keeping the water in the pan for future use - we're making bread, remember!

Place potatoes in a medium bowl and mash slightly with a fork.

Add remaining ingredients and mix well with a spoon.  If you prefer no lumps in your mashed potatoes, use a kitchen mixer.

Tip #1: 
 You can adjust the amount of milk you add to make the potatoes thicker if you desire. I prefer thicker mashed potatoes, so I only add the lesser amount of milk. If you aren't sure, start with 2 tablespoons and add a little more at a time till potatoes are the desired consistency.

Tip #2:
If you've never made garlic mashed potatoes before and aren't sure how much you are "into" garlicky stuff, I recommend using garlic powder your first time around.  After you have added your desired salt/pepper, add about 1/4 tsp. of garlic powder at a time, mix and taste.  If you like it, stop.  If you want it more garlicky, add a little more.  Fresh minced garlic can be very strong if you aren't careful or you have a large clove and if you aren't used to garlic, you may want to opt for the safer bet of the garlic powder.

The end result?  Umm, umm, good!

Roasted Potatoes

Several months ago I had these fantastic roasted potatoes at a friend's house. Because I am the Candid Cook and lover of all things edible, I asked her for her recipe. I was floored when she said that all she used for seasoning was the Good Seasons Italian dressing mix packet. Another friend that was there said she used it to season everything, too. What?! How did I miss that memo?

That's when I bought my first package. I even bought the starter kit that came with a shaker bottle and two packets of seasoning. I used it to make a marinade for chicken and veggie shish-ka-bobs, and I was hooked! Not only is it a cheaper and better way to make salad dressing, but as I had already been told, I could also use the seasoning packet to roast potatoes.

One of my favorite things about this recipe is how stinkin' easy it is. You don't even have to peel the potatoes. You just scrub, chop, season, and bake. My second favorite thing about this recipe is that for the FIRST TIME (not counting french fries) Horse Lover has not only liked to eat potatoes, but she has asked me to make them. With the skins, no less. Do you hear the choirs of heavenly angels singing? I do!


Roasted Potatoes

4 Russet potatoes or 6 red potatoes
1 package Good Seasons Italian dressing mix
2 Tbsp. olive oil

Scrub and chop potatoes into bite-size pieces. Add 1 packet of Italian dressing mix. Toss lightly to coat the potatoes. Drizzle a olive oil and toss again to coat.

Line a 13x9-inch pan with aluminum foil. Coat with non-stick cooking spray. Pour potatoes into pan. What you see pictured here is only 2 russet potatoes (I made a half-batch!), so your pan should look a bit fuller than mine does.

Bake at about 425 to 450 until potatoes are cooked through. Be sure and stir gently about half-way through. The length of time you need will vary based on how full your pan is and how large your potato dices are. I cooked mine about 30-35 minutes.

Shortcut Potatoes

It may come as a surprise to you, but sometimes I forget to do things when I'm cooking. Take Monday night for example. We were having an easy night of it with some grilled hot dogs (the light ones, but don't tell the kids!) and corn and I thought the natives would enjoy some baked oven fries with their dinner, too. But I was so excited about grilling the corn that I completely forgot about the fries.

So picture it: it's 6:05, The Honey will be home in 15 minutes, and we're already having a late dinner. I'm NOT going to start some oven fries that will take 25 minutes alone just to cook. However, I knew we had our hearts set on crispy potatoes, so I devised a plan.


Shortcut Potatoes

potatoes
Cooking spray
salt

Scrub and slice potatoes and place them in a microwave-safe dish. Add a little water and cook them in the microwave until tender. (For 2 potatoes it's about 4-5 minutes.)

Preheat oven to broil and cover a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Place potatoes down in a single layer. Coat tops with cooking spray and sprinkle with salt.

Broil until the tops are starting to brown - about 3 minutes. Turn potatoes over, coat with additional cooking spray, and salt. Broil until other side is done.

Sweet Potato Fries

Yes, you should be jealous. Doesn't this look good?? Garlic chicken, cheesy steamed broccoli, and sweet potato fries!

What's that you say? You don't like sweet potatoes? Well, my friend, the time has come for you to give them another try.

Growing up my introduction to sweet potatoes involved holidays, melted marshmallows, and forced ingestion. My father would always make those mashed sweet potatoes topped with marshmallows. Blech! And then, since he always made us eat at least a small serving of everything he cooked and I never voluntarily did more than pick off the marshmallow topping, he would scrape the sweet potatoes in with the remains of the other food on my plate into one big pile and make me eat it. Nasty. It's no wonder I have always hated sweet potatoes.

And then one day my younger sister told me an amazing thing. If you treat a sweet potato like a potato and don't try to sweeten it, it's actually quite good! Several months ago I was preparing some baked fries for my family and I decided to cut up a sweet potato and give it a try. I treated it the same way I did the potatoes - only added oil and salt - and can you believe what happened? I loved it!

Sweet Potato Fries

1-2 medium sweet potatoes
2 Tbsp. olive oil
salt to taste

Peel and trim sweet potatoes. Cut into fries.

Place fries in a large bowl or ziplock bag. Drizzle with olive oil and toss until evenly coated.

Cover cookie sheet with parchment paper. If you don't have parchment paper, you can use aluminum foil but you must spray with non-stick cooking spray. (If you forget to do this the fries will stick to the foil!) Place the sweet potatoes on the parchment paper or foil and sprinkle lightly with salt.

Bake in preheated oven at 425 degrees for about 20 minutes, turning fries and re-salting once during cooking. Tip: If cooking both sweet potato fries and regular fries for dinner, start cooking the regular fries about 5 minutes before adding the sweet potato fries. They don't take quite as long.

Easy Baked Home Fries

My kids love french fries, and let's be honest - don't we all? I've tried different home-made fries in the past. Usually fancy recipes calling for things like Parmesan cheese and garlic salt. But these always flopped. My little potato-haters just didn't fall for it. But then I decided to give it just one more try with nothing more fancy than oil and salt... And amazingly enough they were a big hit with the kids and The Honey!


Easy Baked Home Fries

3-4 medium potatoes, any type
2-3 Tbsp olive oil
Salt

Peel and trim potatoes. Cut potatoes into fries.










Place in large bowl or ziplock bag and drizzle with olive oil. Mix until all potatoes are lightly covered with oil.









Cover cookie sheet with parchment paper. If you don't have parchment paper, you can use aluminum foil but you must spray with non-stick cooking spray. (If you forget to do this the fries will stick to the foil!) Place the potatoes on the parchment paper or foil and sprinkle lightly with salt.









Bake in preheated oven at 425 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes, turning fries and re-salting once during cooking. Serve with garlic chicken and steamed broccoli for a healthy meal!