Hash Browns

For the past two weeks I have had hash browns every single morning for breakfast. No, this is not an overstatement. In fact, I would say since I moved to Kedougou I eat hash browns for breakfast about 80% of the time. So, in honor of how much I eat these, I feel I owe you a few blog posts on this topic. To start us off, I bring to you today a guest post from Rachel Billings. She is the one who taught me how to make hash browns, so I figured it would be appropriate that she share her knowledge with you directly today.

Spuds, taters, potatoes, starchy golden deliciousness, Hash browns!

This simple breakfast food has a special place in my heart. As a kid my father taught me how to make hash browns. They were his favorite…. and probably the only thing he didn’t ever burn! When I got older I got interested in running races and triathlons, and my dad was my best training partner. After every race we competed in we always made hash browns. Coffee and hash browns: The best recovery meal in my opinion.

Take as many potatoes that you want to eat (I have in one sitting eaten 2 pounds of hash browns….).

Peel the skins.

Shred with a grater. If this is your first time, I recommend cooking 1 and 1/2 cups of hash at a time.

Pour enough oil in a non-stick flat pan to cover the bottom well. You will need about 1/4 a cup of oil for 1 and 1/2 cups of hash.

Turn heat on high.

Wait for about 2 minutes to get the oil really hot.

Load in your spuds.

–a note: once you put the potatoes in the pan, do not stir them because this will cause them to stick. Just throw them in, flatten them out so they take up as much surface area as you have and then don’t move them. That is the key to not sticking your potatoes. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Keep on med – high heat until the first flip (about 2-5 minutes). When the spuds are starting to turn brown on the edges and the middle is starting to dry out a bit if you can easily slip a spatula underneath now is the time to flip. Like a pancake, you want to try and get the whole thing in one flip, but if you mess up it’s no big deal just as long as all the potatoes get cooked.

Once you do the first flip, turn the heat down to medium-low. This will ensure that the potatoes in the middle get cooked.

Flip a second time when the spuds on the bottom are a golden brown (about 15 min for 1 and 1/2 cups of hash at med-low heat).

Continue to cook until they taste done (looses that pure starch taste) and are golden brown and crunchy on the outside. You can flip to cook whichever areas aren’t yet golden brown, and you might want to turn the heat back up to help crisp up the outsides. If it starts to burn, turn down the heat and or add more oil. Salt and pepper to taste.

Serve with ketchup or other breakfast things, or just coffee!

That’s all.

P.S. Make sure a certain someone (cough couCAMILLEgh) tells you if the top to the salt is off……

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