Pan-Fried Brunch Potatoes! Wooooot

As I sit here on this lovely, too-bright Sunday morning, hydrating heavily, slowly and stupidly beginning to contemplate the point at which I will have to venture outside once more, I'm listening to the whine and crackle of sautéing onions, potatoes, peppers and broc. That's right, I'm making my pan-fried breakfast potatoes. Hells yes.

RLK's mom is in town and she invited a bunch of us to Hotel Quincy (Bagpipes: If you're reading this -- not a real hotel) for brunch. Being my parents' child I'm unable to go without bringing something so I am making these potatoes. They're time consuming, but pretty easy and low maintenance.

I think I used about 6 or 7 good-sized red potatoes -- fingerlings would be ideal but couldn't find 'em -- and threw them into boiling water for about 20 minutes while I showered and dressed. The key is to cook them only about 90% of the way; you want them to finish on the stove with the spices and accoutrement. Once they finished (you can insert a knife and remove it easily) I began to sauté onion (1 large), broccoli (1 stalk), minced garlic (generous dollop), red pepper (1/2) and cilantro stems in butter. Health conscious kid I am, I normally use olive oil for sautéing, but here the potatoes only really shine as they absorb and cook with bitter. Ok, I used half-and-half butter/smart balance or whatever.

As the onions began to sweat and turn translucent, I added my first round of spices -- salt, pepper, paprika and basil, then the potatoes. A few minutes later, another round of spices. Now this is CRITICAL -- potatoes, starchy little fellers that they are, DEVOUR salt. They need TONS of salt. You'll be continuing to add salt (and the other spices) throughout the process; you'll actually probably say aloud, "Damn. This is alot of salt." TRUST ME.

From here on out and for about 30 to 45 more minutes, I continue to cook on medium low heat, adding more spices as I see fit (lots and lots of paprika, more than anything other than salt) and butter. you've got to continue adding butter to keep the potatoes moist and prevent drying, and stir every, say, five minutes. I think all told, I use about a quarter to a third of a stick of butter, not really that much when you consider the quantities with which we're working here.

The beauty of this is it's all vamping on a theme, so if I want spicy I can add chili powder or even ground chipotle peppers; if I want a bit more decadence I throw on grated parmesan (didn't this time since RLK is very intolerant of lactose). These potatoes are a real staple of my cooking; although it takes about an hour and a half or even more I spend most of that sitting on my couch typing to you, my faithful readers (hahahaha). Plus the outcome looks and tastes like a tough dish and it just isn't. Score!

Final Effect:

Comments

[Gretchen]

Dude, these potatoes look baller! I make mine by first microwaving the potatoes to cut down on the cooking time. Can't wait to try yours...

[Hungry Sam]

Awesome! I often do as well. do you microwave them in water or par-cook them, or cook them through right away?