Sunny Side Up on Potatoes

I was home alone because the other half was in San Francisco conferencing. I woke up very late and wanted to treat myself to a wonderful breakfast or brunch. Nothing better than eggs, potatoes and bacon. As much as I like fried potatoes but hash brown is my favorite.

So, while my bacon was getting perfectly crispy in the oven, I grated some potatoes. Chopped some onion and tomatoes. Made a bed of hash brown, placed a perfect sunny side up egg on it, add the tomato and crispy bacon pieces, sprinkle chopped cilantro, season with salt and pepper and you have your breakfast ready in 30min. Oh, what a treat!

Oh, that perfect morsel- bacon, tomato, hash brown with little bit of the runny yolk.

Warning- I don't use oil in making any of it. Oops! I use bacon fat :)

To make this wonderful breakfast/brunch, you need (for 1 serving, can easily be scaled up):

1 medium size Russet potato, grated using a box grater
1 small yellow onion or half a medium onion, chopped
1 small tomato, chopped
1 egg
2-3 strips of thick cut bacon or as many as you like
salt and pepper for seasoning
Chopped cilantro or parsley

How:

Line a baking tray with foil and place the baking strips an inch apart from each other. Place it in a cold oven and turn it on to 400°F. Putting the  bacon in a cold oven and then turning it on is the key to perfectly crispy bacon. The bacon should be perfect in about 17-20 min. Keep an eye on them so they don't burn. The time depends on how long your oven takes to reach the temperature. Take the bacon strips out of the baking tray and drain on paper towels. Let it cool.

While the bacon is getting perfectly crisped in the oven, grate the potato, chop the onion, tomato and some cilantro. Put the grated potato in cold water to prevent them from turning brown. When ready to cook, put the shredded potato in a cheesecloth and wring out all excess water. The more its dry the more it will be crispy. Although here, I didn't make them crispy (enough crispiness from bacon). But you can.

Put about a tablespoon of bacon fat from the baking tray on to a small pan on medium heat. Add the onion. Fry for a min and then add the shredded potatoes. If you want them crispy, then lay them in a single layer and don't disturb. Let it crisp up on one side for 2 min and then turn over like a pancake.  If you want mushy, like I have here, fry the shredded potato with onion stirring them until they are brown. Season with salt and pepper. Place the potato on a plate.

Add a teaspoon of bacon fat to the same pan on medium heat. Crack a fresh egg on to the pan. Be careful not to get any shells in there (I need not say that!). Cook till the white part is no longer slimy. Place the egg on top of the potato you plated earlier.

Add the crispy bacon (I just break it into small pieces), chopped fresh tomato, cilantro. Season with salt and pepper and enjoy!

Simple and Tasty Potato Fans

Potato is one humble adaptable vegetable that has the ability to change moods, fulfill cravings, bring comfort and last but not least, be very delicious. There is nothing that a little potato can't do. Oh, forget the carbs for a moment and think of the crunch of fries and chips or the creaminess of mashes potatoes!

If you are in potato heaven right now (as I am!), this one will surely satisfy you. Why, it has crunch on the outside, softness inside.

Why did I not know about this recipe before?

It was only a matter of chance that I came across this on the internet (I am looking for recipes all day long!). The best thing about this is- you can make it with any flavors you want. I made it very simple with just salt and pepper. But go ahead and use your imagination- garlic rosemary, only garlic, only rosemary, thyme, lemon pepper, red chili powder, anything you want. Isn't that great?

These potato fans crisp up on the top and stay soft on the bottom. They have multiple personality.

Serve it as a nice potato side dish or enjoy just as it is right out of the oven (like me!).

Above all, easy to make!

Ingredients:

Potatoes (as many as you want to make)- I used small russet potatoes. I love them because they are more starchy than others. You can use yukon gold potatoes or red potatoes too.

Extra Virgin Olive oil (approx. a tablespoon per medium sized potato)

Salt (as per your taste)

Freshly cracked black pepper (as per your taste)

Freshly squeezed lime juice

Method:

Preheat the oven to 425°F.

Slice the bottom off potatoes so that they sit on your cutting board. (Don't you roll away potato!)

Place two chopsticks or pencils (from your kid's school bag) and place them on both side of the resting potato. The chopsticks are going to prevent you from completely slicing the potato - hence the fans. They are your friends. Trust them. They will guide you to potato heaven!

Cut crosswise at about ⅛ inch (2-3mm) intervals, cutting to within ¼ inch at the bottom guided by your friends (read chopsticks).

Place the potatoes in cold water to prevent them from turning brown (brown potatoes are not so tempting).

When all the potatoes are fanned, wash them thorough under cold running water. Try to wash away all excess starch. Open up the slits a bit with your fingers and let the running water flow. Yukon potatoes with less starch will need less washing.

Drain water completely and pat them dry with your kitchen towel. Dry potatoes will crisp up better.

Mix olive oil, salt and pepper in a separate bowl. Add the mix slowly to the potatoes trying to get it in between the slits.

Arrange the potatoes on a foil lined sheet pan with the cut side up. Put the small piece of potato that you sliced off in the very beginning underneath. This will help the potato to open up like a fan.

Cover the potatoes with foil and bake for 30 min.

Remove the foil and bake for another 15 min until they are tender and golden and crisp on top.

Remove from oven. Sprinkle some black pepper and lime juice and serve hot.

TIP: #1 After slicing the potatoes, with your thumb press the potatoes from the flat side to open up the fan.

#2 You can prepare the potatoes (slicing and washing) ahead and store them in cold water.

Inspired from: Ina Garten's recipe

Spicy latkes with creamy yogurt dip

Or should I call these aloo tikkis (potato patties) with a twist?

Latkes can be very simple recipies with few ingredients while aloo tikkis (potato patties) can call for many ingredients. Picking the best from both gives spicy latkes complemented with creamy cilantro and lime yogurt dip.

Potato patties or aloo tikkis as commonly known among indians are made with boiled potato. Latkes are made with grated potato. Grated potato give a nice texture which I like. So, along with grated potato, I added onion and carrot. This part is like a latke but adding some spices to it brings in the tikki taste.

Grating a potato, an onion and a carrot may sound like a lot of work but it isn't. Use the big holes side of your box grater. It will not take much time. You can choose to finely chop your onion instead of grating it. 

The most important thing is to drain all vegetable juice. The mix will not be soupy! Also, add salt at the end to prevent the juices from running again.

Bake or fry? I have fried them as you can see here. But, if you want to opt for less oil version, you can definitely bake them. Mix 1 and half tablespoon of softened butter to your mixture and bake. They will turn out equally yummy!

These latkes get crispy on the outside with soft creamy inside with a hint of spice. I decided to pair these fried spicy goodness with creamy cilantro and lime dip. This dip helps to cool your tongue and to never stop consuming these. Doesn't these look totally to die for?

Ingredients:

For Latkes:

1 large russet potato

1 medium onion

1 small carrot

1 jumbo egg/ 2 eggs

1 tbsp fresh ginger paste

2 tsp cumin powder

1tsp coriander powder

2 green chilies [Modify according to your tolerance of heat]

⅓ cup chopped cilantro

Juice of ½ lime

1 cup bread crumbs [Bread crumbs will soak any excess water. You can substitute with flour if you don't have crumbs]

Salt for seasoning

For dip:

3 tbsp plain greek yogurt

1 tsp of lime juice

⅓ cup chopped cilantro

½ tsp roasted cumin powder [Dry roast some cumin seeds on a pan on medium heat. When the aroma of roasted cumin fills your nose, take them off the heat. Be careful not to burn them- keep tossing them around on the pan. Once they are cool, add it to your grinder and make a powder. I usually roast at least 3-4 tbsp of whole cumin seeds and store my powder for later use.]

a pinch of salt

Method:

For latkes:

Grate potato, onion and carrot in a bowl lined with a kitchen towel. Wring out juices as much as you can.

Transfer it to a bowl. Add all other ingredients except salt and mix well. 

Start heating a shallow pan with vegetable/canola oil on medium heat.

When the oil is hot, add salt to the mixture.

Add about half to 1 tbsp of the mixture and flatten with your spoon. Do not crowd your latkes or they will not get crispy outside.

When it has browned on one side (approx 4-5min), turn and fry the other side.

The latkes will be nice golden brown in color. Put them on a double paper towel lined plate to drain excess oil. Serve hot with yogurt dip.

For yogurt dip:

Mix all the ingredients in a small bowl. Add water to bring it to the consistency you like.