Because cooking them on the stove top is annoying.
You guys. I love breakfast. I love breakfast for breakfast. I love breakfast for lunch (We call it brunch because we’re fancy). I love breakfast for dinner (we don’t call it brinner because that triggers me).
I am very passionate about breakfast food. I feel there needs to be balance. You need your savory, you need your sweet and most importantly you need your potatoes.
Breakfast potatoes are a category in and of themselves. Sure you can do home fries, I won’t hate you for it. There is however something about the crispy edges of shredded hash browns that reaches down into my very soul. I just love them so deeply. It’s an important relationship in my life. Sadly this relationship has for a long time remained long distance. We have been restricted to only seeing each other in diners and breakfast joints. We have not been able to move in together because I truly hate making them.
Well I did. Until now.
Here is what you will need to allow this potatoship to flourish (For those of you not in the know, a potatoship is a potato based relationship. It is NOT a ship filled with potatoes… although that is a nice thought).
-5 good sized potatoes. I like a russet or white potatoes for this (you can also uses shredded bagged potatoes from the freezer section. 1 good size bag will do and this will save you the pesky food processor step that is coming up. It’s much less noisy this way. This means you can hear yourself sing better!).
-2 small onions (or 1 large).
-3 Tbsp. Melted butter (I know things just got sexy right???).
-2 Tbsp. oil (this can be olive or vegetable or canola or corn or avocado or grape-seed. Any edible oil will work. And yes I really did feel like I needed to specify edible. I cannot have people making potatoes with baby oil again… OK that didn’t happen but that would be hilarious right???).
-1 Tsp. salt (Potatoes crave salt as much as I crave potatoes).
-1/2 Tsp. black pepper.
-1 Tsp. garlic powder.
-½ Tsp. chili powder (you can omit this if you want. I mean if you don’t like flavor or whatever).
-½ Tsp. dried chives.
-½ Tsp. dried parsley (this is just for color really).
OK. You have what you need. Let’s get to it.
Add 2 Tbsp. of oil (whatever edible choice you made) to a sheet pan, coat the pan with the oil and place the pan in the oven.
Preheat your oven and pan to 350 degrees.
While your pan and oven are preheating use a food processor or cheese grater to shred your potatoes (which I assume you have washed and peeled because you’re getting so good at anticipating my needs).
NOTE: If you are using the bagged shredded potatoes, make sure they are fully thawed.
Soak the potatoes in cold water for about five minutes to rinse off the starch (and yes you have to do this with the bagged ones too. Let’s not get lazy here kids).
Drain the potatoes and add to a colander lined with clean (yup It needed to be said) dish towel and set aside.
Using a cheese grater (or better yet the food processor I want you to buy), shred the onions (Yes. I am aware this step is odd but who’s in charge here? If you MUST know why, it’s because the sugars in the potatoes actually help create that brown deliciousness AND add some yummy oniony flavor).
Add the onions to the potatoes, wrap in the (clean!) dish towel and squeeze out any excess moisture (a step I always find oddly gratifying).
Once fully drained and as dry as my sense of humor (or a good gin martini), add to a bowl.
Add in your 1 Tsp. salt, ½ Tsp. black pepper, 1 Tsp. garlic powder, ½ Tsp. chili powder, ½ Tsp. dried chives and your ½ Tsp. dried parsley and mix together.
Pour in your 3 Tbsp. melted butter (take a moment to marvel at how gorgeous melted butter is) and mix well to ensure the potatoes are covered in all the things.
Using a pot holder (because remember that pan has been preheated and I refuse to be responsible for your hospital bills), take your oiled pan out of the oven.
Carefully spread the potato onion situation evenly all over the pan in as thin a layer as possible.
Using that pot hold again (because fire bad), place the sheet pan back in the oven and bake for about 20 minutes, checking on them periodically and flipping to the best of your ability half way through. The cook time of these will depend on the moisture content and as a result will vary (which is still way better than making these in batches and sweating over a skillet… I don’t like sweating…). Cook until the edges are golden brown. It’s a matter of preference really.
Serve with your favorite breakfast combo. Just think about how sexy a poached egg would be on top of this nonsense. All yolky and glorious… mmmmmmm… … … Sorry got caught up for a second.
No matter how you serve them, enjoy!!!
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