Bacon and Cheese Hashbrowns with Baked Eggs
A recent visit from my parents brought with it a 5-pound bag of salt potatoes. This is a ubiquitous Central New York taste of summer: new potatoes boiled in water so salty that the steam crystallizes on anything it touches, and drenched in butter. And yes, it’s as delicious as it sounds.
A bag of Hinerwadel’s Famous Original Salt Potatoes comes with it’s own salt packet, which looked to be about a cup-and-a-half. I felt a little like Tony Montana bouncing the flat sachet of white granules in my hand. Street value? About thirteen cents. You cock-a-roach!
I boiled the entire bag a couple of nights ago, and now have a shitload[1. Not an official unit recognized by the Department of Weights and Measures] of salty, tender new potatoes at the ready. Dinner for breakfast, anyone?
This dish is a riff on the “cheesy hash brown” dish from Bobby Flay’s “Brunch @ Bobby’s”. With the potatoes already boiled, this came together in no time (using one pan, no less).
And it goes a little somethin’ like this…(hit it!)
- What’s In It:
- 1 Tablespoon of butter
- 1 small onion, small to medium dice
- about 7 or 8 new potatoes, boiled to fork tender and cooled (a couple of Yukon Golds would work here as well)
- 4 strips of bacon (if you want more, go for it!)
- 2 eggs
- ¾ Cup of grated cheddar cheese
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
- Melt the butter in a non-stick skillet over medium-low heat and add the onions, cooking until soft. You don’t really want to fry these guys, so keep it slow and low. Transfer to a bowl
- Return the skillet to the flame, raise the temp to medium-high and fry the bacon until just crispy. Please, pleeease don’t over-cook bacon. This is a general statement. (Please? For me?) Move to a paper towel-covered plate to cool, and then chop into ½” pieces.
- Kill the heat and get rid of some of the bacon drippings in the skillet, but keep enough to cover the bottom of the pan.
- In a large mixing bowl, smash the potatoes with a fork: you’re going for chunks here, not a smooth mash. If you prefer, you can dice the potatoes and then add them to the bowl. Mix in the cooked onion and bacon pieces.
- With the heat back to medium-high, pack the potato mixture into the skillet and spread out evenly. Fry side A in the bacon drippings for about 5 – 7 minutes: you want the potatoes to get a nice crisp working.
- Spice side B. Since the potatoes were already crazy salty, I just added some fresh black pepper and a sprinkle of paprika. But do what you feel here.
- This thing is not a pancake, so when it comes time to turn it over, you’ll need to dig in with a spatula and flip sections at a time. Just use your spoon to re-pack the potatoes one they’re turned over. Add your spice to side A.
- After about 5 minutes, use the fork or spoon to make a shallow well on facing sides of the potatoes. Crack one egg into each well, and sprinkle the rest of the open real estate with the grated cheese.
- Pop into the oven for about 8 minutes or so: just so the white of the egg sets but the yolk is still runny.
And there you have it! Split this between two dishes — careful not to break the yolk — and serve immediately. I added a half-grind of fresh black pepper and a couple of dashes of Frank’s Red Hot to make it juuuuust right.
Yes, it’s butter and salt and bacon and potatoes pan fried in bacon juice. And innit great?!
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