Hash Browns!

"He Said"...

Alright. Hash Browns, good ones, have been elusive to me. Almost as much as trying to make Carrabba's Chicken Parmesan and General Tsao's Chicken. I've tried all sorts of recipes for hash browns and none of them resemble the type of shredded potato hash browns you get at a coney island greasy spoon type restaurant. G has tried some "fancy" recipes with eggs and such in with the potatoes while I have stuck to just plain old potato recipes. All have come up short.

Last week I tried my hand again using a Pampered Chef mandolin to shred the potatoes. It shredded them fast and easy but the consistency was like cheap shredded cheese. The potatoes were very thin. I cooked them in a bit of bacon fat (I know I know... But my family is a bunch of hillbillies okay!). They were edible but nothing to write a blog about. Then yesterday I found an old stand up shredder way back in the back of our cupboard. This one had much bigger holes so I gave it another try and IT WORKED! These shredded potatoes were like little tubes instead of ribbons.

Here's what I did:

1. I washed 3-5 small to medium sized russet potatoes. (I did not peel)
2. I shredded them by hand with the biggest hole shredder I could find.
3. I washed and washed and washed until my water was clear. (3-4 times)
4. I left the potatoes in the water and threw in some ice cubes too.
5. I heated a heavy cast iron skillet medium low and threw in 1/3 to 1/2 stick of butter.
6. I had to turn the heat down to keep the butter from burning.
7. I dried the potatoes with a paper towel. I tried to get as much water off of them as possible (I learned from the home made fries flying hot oil trick!)
8. Put the potatoes in the skillet so that they are 2-3" deep all around the pan.
9. Let them cook. I checked them after 5 minutes or so with a fork just lifting up a little to see how brown they were. I would guess it took about 10 mins. You must resist the urge to flip until they are golden brown and crunchy!
10. Flip'm. Don't stir, just flip. Use a spatula to flip them in sections trying to disturb them as little as possible.
11. Let'm cook again until the second side is golden brown. This side will cook much faster and may require a little more butter.
12. EAT!

My Notes:
The heavier cut of potatoes, ice bath, and lots of butter did the trick. I still can't determine how much the ice bath helps but at this point it's a superstition so I keep doing it! Last week I had what looked like a pretty good batch going but I stirred them thinking more of them would get brown and I would have hash browns that were more crunchy. WRONG! The moisture in the potatoes ended up steaming the already crispy ones and I ended up with a soggy mess. So from now on I will resist the temptation to "stir fry" hash browns. I also pushed really hard while cutting the potatoes. My thought was that I might be able to force more potato into the holes of the shredder. I don't know if this worked or not but do it with an open hand because shredders make short work of knuckles too!

Oh baby look at the size of the holes on this shredder!

Results:
These hash browns were the best yet! I let them cook a little too long after the flip and should have added a little more butter. They burnt a tiny bit but were still very good. Nice crunch and nice buttery potato flavor! Now all I have to do is remember to take pictures!