Home Fries

Okay, in a few days you're going to have a lot of turkey hanging around, and the issue of what to have with it is going to come up. Well, here is one idea, and it happens to go well with a lot of things (all right, it goes best with eggs,but that's where turkeys come from).

I learned it at the Turtle Pier in St. Maarten, and it goes a little something like this:

Assume that there are four if you having this. You'll need:

five or six red skinned potatoes

3 Tbs unsalted butter

1 Tbs sweet onion or shallot, chopped

sweet paprika

tamari (or soy sauce)

salt & pepper to taste

Microwave the potatoes until nearly done. You don't want to cook them until completely done, because they will fall apart when you cook them and won't retain their shape in the pan. While you are cutting them into a large dice, get the skillet good and hot. You really want to use a cast iron one here, to get that good brown crust on the potatoes. If you don't have one, I suppose you could use a good quality skillet with a heavy bottom. If all you have is the non-stick kind, don't bother reading this. Go play a video game or something, and eat home fries in a restaurant. You don't deserve homemade home fries.

Put two Tbs butter in the pan and let it almost get brown, then put your potatoes in, making sure to have them in a single layer. Then LEAVE THEM ALONE, at lest for a few minutes, so that they can get brown on one side. While this is going on, chop the shallots. Sprinkle the shallots over the potatoes, then dot the pan with the remaining butter.

Now it's time to turn the home fries over (see what I did there? They're no longer merely potatoes, because they've picked up that crucial color). Once again, make sure that they are in a single layer. This is a good time to salt & pepper them. Remember, all potatoes love salt, so don't be shy. You can lower the eat to medium now.

You'll probably have to turn them at least one more time, and add some butter if necessary, but the entire cooking time in the skillet should be less than fifteen minutes. When there is only a minute or two left to cook them, give them a good dusting with the paprika and toss them about in the pan, allowing the spice to cook as well.

Once you have done that, turn the heat off and immediately splash a Tbs or two of the tamari over the home fries tossing them around so that they all get coated. This is the secret to these amazing little fellers.

enjoy