Country Potatoes

My wife took off for the weekend for a work trip. So I was left to fend for myself. Thankfully I'm a pretty self-sufficient person.  In my younger days, I would have stayed out really late drinking and then paid for it all weekend. Now in my much mellower years, I was in bed by 10 on Friday night and up bright & early to cook myself a hearty breakfast.

I bought way too many potatoes last weekend for my Easter brunch. I don't know why I kept buying more. I guess I didn't want to buy too few.  We had loaded baked potatoes one night this week, which is a staple in our weeknight diets. But then I kept one set aside for these little breakfast gems.

Sometimes at restaurants I go back & forth between hash browns or country potatoes. I think I ultimately like hash browns more. But more often than not you don't get them as crispy as I would like. With these, you are much more likely to get what you really want. So my advice is to order country potatoes when they're on a menu. Usually they have to be cooked longer for the presentation.

I learned how to make them really well (if I must say so myself) a few years back. Vegetable oil is a key here. It will help you get them the right color and texture. Cutting them in even sizes is also important so they will cook at the same rate.  Then it's just a matter of heat, patience, and paying attention. Don't burn them.  I think medium-high heat is the sweet spot.

Toward the end I threw in a few thinly sliced shallots for flavor. But if you do that too soon. they will burn and get really bitter. I also decided to trim a little fat from my sticky glazed ham and throw that in for some richness and smoky flavor too. That was an excellent idea.

Season with a little salt & pepper to taste. These will go great with eggs, hot sauce, cheese, ... you name it. They are the perfect base for a breakfast skillet (another go-to dish of mine).