Home Fried Potatoes: The Home Fried Way

Everyone knows that Squat and Gobble has good home fried taters; but they aren’t perfect. Bay Watch also has good home fried taters, but they tend to be served cold and not very crispy. They always say, if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself. So, we started making our own home fried taters. It’s easier that way: we get to control the ingredients and preparation; and if the kids decide to throw tantrums, we don’t have to walk them outside.

We started making our own home fried potatoes about a month ago. We had a single Russet potato sitting on the kitchen counter hanging out with a couple of bananas and an apple. We weren’t sure what to do with our lone potato, and after long consideration, we decided to make our own home fried potatoes: and the result was better than anything we’ve had at a restaurant.

The secret is to bake the potato the night before you eat it. We use the microwave for our baking (it’s faster…in case you didn’t know). After nuking it, test the potato to make sure it’s soft. Use a paper towel or an oven mitt, because (here comes the safety tip) nuked potatoes tend to get hot. After the potato is sufficiently nuked, put it in the refrigerator. The next morning, you’ll have a soft, yet firm potato, ready for slicing.

After your kid wakes you up at 6AM, and you’ve done diaper changes, and brewed the coffee, it’s time to pre-heat the pan. This is probably the most important step. The first time we made our own home fried potatoes, we used butter. The second time, we used extra virgin olive oil from Trader Joe’s. Prep your extra large frying pan with either butter or EVOO (we prefer butter) and turn the heat up high. The trick is to get the pan screaming hot to achieve golden brown perfection.

While the pan is heating up, slice up your tater. We prefer thin sliced, so they get extra brown and crispy. If you prefer a mushy center, then slice the potato a little thicker.

After the pan is screaming hot, place the potatoes in an even layer in the pan. This is where the restaurants fail. They tend to heap the potatoes on the grill in huge piles. Doing it this way, not all the potatoes become golden and crispy. And some stay soft and mushy. This is not preferred… After the potatoes are sizzling in the butter or EVOO, it’s time to season to your liking. We prefer dried, minced onions, and of course, salt and pepper. I add a little Tabasco at the end.

Let the potatoes cook and don’t mess with them. They tend to break apart if you’re too attentive a cook. After several minutes, check one of the potato slices to see if you’ve achieved golden perfection. If it has, then gently turn each potato slice over one at a time. If you use a spatula, and flip all at once, they might break apart and you’ll wind up with a pan full of mush.

Let the second side cook just like the first side, but for not as long. The second side always takes a shorter amount of time than the first side.

We like to serve a scrambled egg melt with our home fried taters; complete with sliced lil smokies and shredded cheese. Enjoy!