Home Fries for the Home Bound

There is nothing like an extended national shelter-in-place order combined with empty grocery store shelves to inspire creativity and resourcefulness in the kitchen.  Finding ourselves increasingly having to cook with what we have on hand, we’ve been having some fun coming up with new combinations that are unexpected but make total sense as soon as you take a bite.

Tough Times Call for Potato Chips at Breakfast

In the “before times” we did out best to eat healthy and saved the junky treats for special occasions.  Now we find ourselves eating potato chips every day at lunch and thinking about all of the other things they’d be great with.  Breakfast is our favorite meal of the day so why not combine the two?  Home fries make the perfect base where the potato chips add a welcome bit of salty crunch.  Throw in a little jalapeno for some heat and you have a breakfast miracle: a new dish so good you’ll want to keep making it even in the after times.

 

Brought to You by Guest Chef Mike

This delightful dish was developed by the man who invited the King Size Family Breakfast tradition we experience every Sunday.  He was inspired by boredom, curiosity and a need to use up everything in the kitchen before it went bad to create this amazing dish that is now a family favorite.  He is hoping by sharing his recipe he will inspire others to experiment in the kitchen and share what they come up with for the rest of the world to try.

 

THE RECIPE: SHELTER AT HOME FRIES

Ingredients

5 to 6 Medium Yukon Gold Potatoes, diced
1/2 Medium Spanish Onion, diced
1 Red Pepper, diced
1 Jalapeno Pepper, diced with seeds removed
1 Tablespoon Paprika
1 Teaspoon of Red Pepper Flakes
1/2 Cup of Crushed Ridged Potato Chips
1/4 Cup Vegetable Oil
1/4 Cup Ketchup (approximately)
Salt & Pepper to Taste

Tools of the Trade

Large skillet with fitted lid
Cutting board
Knife
Measuring cup and spoons optional (I don’t measure anything)
Stove top burner

Preparation Time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: Approximately 30 to 45 minutes

Step 1:  Prepare the Home Fries

Place cooking oil in a large skillet and set to medium high heat.  Add all diced ingredients into heated oil and toss with a wooden spoon until all ingredients are coated with oil.  Season to taste with salt, pepper, hot pepper flakes, and paprika.  I don’t measure my ingredients, but go more off of the color and taste.  I like the potatoes to have a red tint from the paprika and tend to go heavy on the salt and pepper for a spicier potato.

Once all the dry ingredients are added, toss again until the potatoes are evenly coated with the seasonings.  Now add ketchup.  Once again, I do not measure, preferring to squirt out a liberal spiral of the red stuff on top of the potatoes and then toss again with the spoon.  Cover with the lid to steam the potatoes and check frequently.  Turn the potatoes about every 4 or 5 minutes.  If they appear to be burning on the outside too quickly, reduce the heat a bit.

Total cook time should be between 30 to 45 minutes depending on how soft you like your taters.  The ketchup should caramelize a bit and the potatoes should be easy to spear with a fork.  Then you are ready to apply the chips.

Step 2:  Prepare and Apply the Potato Chips

While you’re waiting on the potatoes to cook, take handfuls of ridged potato chips and crush into a bowl until you have about 1/2 to 3/4 cup of crushed chips.  The crushed chips should be bigger than bread crumbs, like 1/8 inch shards similar to what you find in the bottom of the bag.  I use the original Ruffles chips but you can experiment with kettle chips or BBQ chips.  When your potatoes are done (test with a fork),  apply a few more squirts of ketchup and the crushed chips then toss with the spoon until the potatoes are evenly covered with potato chips, peppers, onion and jalapeños.  Put the lid on and steam for another 5 to 10 minutes on a reduced heat (medium low).

Remove from stove and toss again with the spoon, then serve hot.  Crush a few more chips on there if you want some extra crunch.

Tell us what you think!

Please comment below if you try our Shelter at Home Fries recipe and let us know how it goes!  Find all of Brooklyn to the Catskills‘ recipes in the Food section of our website.  We’d love to hear what you think about our other recipes too!