One of my favorite dishes is fried potatoes. They can be the main course or a side dish to something else. They can be made for any meal and are always tasty and filling. You can dress them up or leave them plain depending on how you are using them.
The base of this dish is very simple. Fry up ½ to 1 pound of bacon that is cut into bite size pieces.
After the bacon is cooked to your desired level set it aside and add in the potatoes.
In this picture I diced up about 8 small potatoes. You can peel and dice your own or by a bag of hash browns at the grocery store.
Salt and pepper to taste, cover the pan and fry them up in the drippings from the bacon to add that extra bacon flavor. Stir often to keep them from burning. When the potatoes are cooked to your desired doneness add the bacon back in and they are ready to eat. Add some onion or country gravy and they are a pretty good meal.
As I said, you can dress these up in a number of ways to make them a more interesting meal or side dish. When I make fried taters for breakfast I will dice some onion and cook it with the bacon. After the potatoes are cooked, add the bacon and 4 to 6 scrambled eggs. You can add the uncooked eggs to the potatoes and cook until the eggs are done, or you can cook the eggs separately and mix them in with the potatoes.
If you want a more Southwest style breakfast, add in some red, green and orange bell peppers, some whole kernel corn, and some Jalepeno peppers. Top it with some salsa and you are ready to go.
In the spring when the Morel mushrooms are available I add them to the mix. The flavor the Morels add is unbelievable. In the fall, the Chantrel mushrooms are out and I will do the same with them. Both of these species of mushrooms grow wild and are much better than any you can buy in a store. If you are going to go pick these mushrooms yourself, make sure that you know what species you are picking. There are many poisonous species that look a lot like the edible ones.
How about some bacon fried taters Au gratin? This is also simple and the cheese sauce can be used for other dishes as well. Prepare the potatoes in any of the ways I have described. In a separate sauce pan melt about 4 tablespoons of butter. Add a quarter cup of milk and half a brick of Velveeta cheese cut into small cubes. Melt the Velveeta stirring constantly. If the sauce is too thick, add more milk a little at a time until the desired thickness is achieved. Pour the sauce over the potatoes and serve.
Clacked by Jeff Love
on Aug 15, 2009 @ 13:42 EST5EDT
Sounds delicious!
Love the plate, so manly. Can you name the 7 dwarfs? The recipe sound yummy.
Jeff, this sounds like my kind of dish. I love the smother potatoes with lots of onions and garlic, I think I’ll add some bacon next time. I’m going to try ‘em your way too, looks like a good dish to fix with breakfast. The only thing that I haven’t wrapped in bacon, is bacon!