Kitchen Sink Hash Browns

Hash browns are one of my very favorite side dishes. They go great with steak, pork chops and smoked baby back ribs. And while I certainly love them fried up plain in butter, there's nothing more mouth watering to me than my own Kitchen Sink Hash Browns. I like to throw the whole pantry in there.

Now you can make your hash browns from scratch with a potato, but I opt for a much easier (if not just plain lazy) approach. If I'm making hash browns for company, I usually buy Simply Potatoes Shredded Hash Browns. They are fresh and you'll find them in the refrigerated section of your grocery store. The bag contains 20 ounces, which is perfect for four generous servings.

The good news is that Simply Potatoes are fresh. The bad news is that they have a very limited shelf life. So I always keep Golden Grill Hash Browns in my pantry. Costco sells them as an 8-pack for $9.00. They are fully cooked and dehydrated. Each carton is 4.2 ounces.

All you do is open the carton up and fill it with really hot tap water. Close the carton back up and let it stand for 12 minutes. Then drain and you are good to go. When rehydrated, you get approximately 16 ounces of hash browns per carton (good for four medium servings). These have a shelf-life of like forever, so anytime I get a hankering for hash browns I can just reach in and grab a carton.

The primary ingredients of Kitchen Sink Hash Browns, besides the potatoes, are minced onion, bell peppers, garlic and bacon. I buy the onion, peppers and garlic in bulk from Amazon. They are all dried product and I find the butter in my recipe does a great job of re-hydrating them. I get my bacon crumbles from Costco. A 20-ounce bag goes for $10.00. While you can make the recipe from fresh ingredients, I find it is much less work with these shelf-stable products. To put a nice sear on my hash browns, I cook them in a cast iron pan.


Ingredients
1/2 stick of butter
20 ounces of shredded potatoes
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon dried minced onion
1 tablespoon dried minced garlic
1 tablespoon dried bell pepper
2 tablespoons bacon crumbles
1/2 teaspoon Lawry's Seasoned Salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground cracked pepper


Directions

1. In a small pan, melt the half stick of butter. Keep warm.
2. In a large pan or skillet, heat 1 tablespoon each of butter and olive oil over medium heat until the butter foams.
3. Add potatoes, onion, garlic, bell pepper, bacon, seasoned salt and pepper. Stir to mix thoroughly and then press the mixture down with the back of a spatula to form a cake. Cook without stirring for 10 minutes.
4. After 10 minutes, add melted butter and then flip potatoes with a spatula. Press into a cake again and cook for 10 more minutes, then serve.

Wine pairing: If I'm serving my hash browns with a steak, I'd choose a Cabernet Sauvignon. If I'm serving them with smoked ribs, I'd go with a Zinfandel.