Home Fries and a Weekend Breakfast Suggestion

In an effort not to completely blow my so far good record with NaBloPoMo, it is now 10:37 pm on a Saturday night and I am finally finishing this post.  Ten more days and then I can bring things back to normal and have all my archives just about cleaned up with all the things I have slacked on telling you about.

So, since tomorrow is Sunday, and for me that usually means a little extra time to slow down and take the time to make a more special breakfast, I thought I would share with you one of my favorite breakfast recipes.

Before I talk about these Home Fries though, I have a quick little suggestion to make.  

Do you read Joy the Baker's blog?  I hope so and would guess that most of you do.  If you don't, well, then you should.  Joy is simply wonderful and so fun.  She is always doing something fun or making something great.  In fact, it is because of Joy that I now have these potatoes stuck in my mind.  While this recipe is adapted from one of my favorite books, it was Joy's post to her readers about letting her "make them breakfast" this weekend that got them to the front of the pile.  What a fun idea!

So, if you decide to try these home fries, which, incidentally are great any time of day, perhaps you will head on over to Joy the Baker and get acquainted with her recipes - which, for breakfast, are wonderful and plentiful too.  Personally, I'll be making her Dad's Buttermilk Pancakes for breakfast tomorrow.  I would try to describe how delicious they are, but really, you need to go read her post about them yourself.  All I will say is, it inspired me to stop what I was doing, write down the recipe and go in the kitchen and make them right that minute. Literally.  They are just sweet enough and perfectly delightful.

On to the potatoes.  What I love about these potatoes is that, though they are a bit of effort, it isn't the kind that annoys me.  Extra steps don't annoy me.  Extra mess does.  I am a potato peeling hater.  I'll do it when I have to, but if I can avoid it, then I am all for that.

These potatoes pack a great amount of flavor and texture for, really, minimal effort, with just a couple extra steps.  They get crisp and wonderful spots of caramelized goodness on the outside while being tender and fluffy on the inside.  

Without a doubt, these are my most favorite way to eat any kind of hashbrown like potato.  Go ahead, give them a chance.  You won't regret it.

Home Fries

Adapted liberally from Williams-Sonoma Breakfast

1 1/2 lbs Yukon Gold potatoes, scrubbed and patted dry, cut into bite-size pieces*

3 Tablespoons unsalted butter

2 Tablespoons Canola oil

3 Red Baby Bell Peppers or 1 large Red Bell Pepper, seeded and chopped

1 small yellow onion, chopped

3/4 teaspoon chile powder

Kosher salt to taste (about 1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon)

In a large pot with a steamer basket, add about 1 inch depth of water.  Place the cut potatoes in the steamer basket and place the lid on the pot.  Bring the water to a boil and cover and steam the potatoes for about 10 minutes.  *If you want you can steam the scrubbed potatoes whole and just steam for about 15-20 minutes (if the potatoes aren't too big) until tender, then cut them into the bite-size pieces.  I'm not that patient and like to skim time.  If you have the extra time though, your potatoes may get a little crisper when you are cooking them if you steam them whole.  Either way, they are delicious.

Once the potatoes are tender, remove them from the steamer and place in a large bowl to rest while you prepare the pan.  If you have a large cast-iron frying pan, that is best, but a regular pan will work fine too.  Over medium-high heat, melt the butter with the oil.  When the butter is completely melting and the foam is starting to go down, add the bell pepper and onion pieces to the pan and cook, stirring a few times, until glossy and getting tender, about 5 minutes.

Add everything in the pan to the bowl with the potatoes.  Add the chile powder and salt to the mixture in the bowl and toss gently with a large spoon to distribute.  Once it is fairly well mixed, but the potatoes are still holding together well, add everything back to the pan.  If you don't mind the potatoes being a bit mushed up you can skip this step and just add them straight to the pan and season them there.

Once the potatoes are in a layer in the pan, do not disturb them until they start to brown, about 5 minutes.  Then turn they gently with a large spatula in batches, trying to get them turned so that you only turn them a couple of times during cooking.  This gets the best crust and browning.  It will take about 10 to 15 minutes more.  Serve hot.

Serves 4.