My mission for a decent fluffy home made hash brown potato

[crochambeau]

For years this has eluded me, starting as I did simply grating a raw potato into a frying pan and eating the chewy hardened shell encapsulating a somewhat gooey center that said method produced.

Flustered, I simply gave up for a while, content to buy heavily overpriced manufactured goods when the hankering for hashbrowns hit, until recently when I learned of blanching.

Last night I had a go at blanching the potatoes prior to shredding them and introducing them to heated oil in the skillet at medium heat. Blanching, I was pleased to learn, is the act of partially cooking the potato in boiling water and fast cooling it in cold water prior to completing the cook through frying.

Last night, I overshot the initial precook by a factor of roughly 100%, blanching FULLY cooked potatoes, that essentially became MASHED potatoes at the shredding stage.

Happily, fried mashed potatoes, while a bit messy, taste really good too. Next attempt will limit the boil to five minutes with quartered russets prior to shred. I'll be sure to report my results.

In the meantime, please don't hesitate to bog this thread down with excellent potato recipes.

[Rev Bucky]

I haven't tried it yet, but I saw on the Food channel, when they showed how to make hash browns, after grating the potatoes, they put it in paper towels, and squeezed a bunch of the water out. It made sense, and would probably help with the cooking.

A trick I learned a long time ago when making french fries at home was put a bunch of pepper on them before cooking. It imparts a really good flavor, and it's not just a peppery flavor.

I love fry sauce, Mayo, ketchup, and relish or pickles. Last night I had fries, and mixed some ketchup in with some herb mayo I made. Best fry sauce ever. So simple, so delicous, I think it would be marketable.

[ob1117]

squeezed a bunch of the water out

Yes. Then squeeze some more out. Though I haven't yet made any that don't break or stick or burn, but I don't try often. Really hot oil (hmm - olive? sunflower? lard?) probably helps too. Also I had a go at making hash browns in a sandwich toaster but I don't think I let it heat up long enough first. Tasted good but needed a scraper.

Perhaps giving the H.B.s a good brushing with oil then steady blasting under a hot grill would achieve a valid result without a high level of structural decomposition, especially if using part cooked potatoes.

[fire]

blanching is what you do to veggies

par boiling is what you do to potatoes

5-7 minutes, put taters in rapid boiling water

many potato dishes can be made better with par boiling

no need to paper towel, boiling dries them out

i make a mean potato and tofu fritatta with blue cheese and roasted veggies, but alas, i dont write down my recipes so could only describe it

potatoes
tofu
celery
onion
carrot
other seasonal veggies
real blue cheese
salt, pepper, spices
garlic
onion
turmeric
olive oil

par boil potatoes, cut into chips (saladmaster)
fry tofu with spice mix until browned (cast iron skillet)
carmelize onions, roast veggies (grill)
mix all together in pie pan, bake for a while until done