Sunday Brunch: Ina Garten's Hashed Browns: Best Ever?
Good hashed browns, really good hashed browns, are indeed a beautiful thing. Serious eaters know this because we've all been exposed to so many bad hashed browns; we truly appreciate the good ones. I have found the best way to ensure eating crunchy, crispy-edged, tender-on-the-inside hashed browns is to make them yourself. I've adapted this recipe from Ina Garten's terrific Barefoot Contessa Family Style cookbook.
Seriously Good Hashed Browns
- Serves 4 serious eaters -
Adapted from Barefoot Contessa Family Style by Ina Garten
Ingredients
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 1/2 pounds boiling potatoes, peeled and 1/2-inch diced
1 1/2 cups chopped yellow onions (2 onions)
2 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons minced fresh-flat parsley
2 tablespoons minced scallions, white and green parts
Procedure
1. Melt the butter in a large (10" or 12") saute pan. Add the potatoes, onions, salt, and pepper and cook over medium-low heat for 15 to 20 minutes, turning occasionally with a flat spatula, until the potatoes are evenly browned and cooked through. Allow the potatoes to cook for a minimum of six minutes (until they are least golden brown) before turning.
2. Turn off the heat and add the parsley and scallions.
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23 Comments:
I like my hashed browns with corned beef in them.
seyo at 2:18PM on 10/26/08
Oh, erg....I hate to do this, but you've tapped my pet peeve button. It should be ensure, not insure. For those who aren't sure what the difference is, you want to make sure it happens, you're not offering insurance. The third word that gets confused with these two is assure, which means that you're saying that it will be okay -- you're offering assurance.
As for the hash browns, this is something I seldom make. If I was headed in this direction with potatoes, I'd shred 'em, add eggs and whatever, and make potato pancakes. But if someone wanted to make 'em for me, I'd happily eat them.
dbcurrie at 3:51PM on 10/26/08
I've found the best fat for cooking hash browns is bacon fat.
wookie at 5:14PM on 10/26/08
Palm restaurants do them really well.
greenkitchen at 6:38PM on 10/26/08
I prefer hash browns to be shredded and cooked slowly on each side for 12-15 minutes. I also like leftover boiled potatoes sliced or diced and fried. It doesn't hurt if there are onions in either of them and possibly bell peppers.
IndyGal at 7:44PM on 10/26/08
Ummmmm! Add finely chopped shallots, some butter and bacon fat. Shredded, like Indy Gal, please :)
Chef Jo at 9:43PM on 10/26/08
With that much butter, I bet you could get anything to taste great. Ina Garten does love her butter, that's for sure. That said, I made this as a side for dinner tonight, and it worked as great as it tasted. Turning every 6 minutes is the key -- any sooner, and the potatoes are apt to stick and break apart.
DaveFaris at 11:31PM on 10/26/08
I use equal parts butter and bacon fat. Sometimes I sprinkle it with a little Chipotle Tabasco before eating. mmmm . . It's so good.
yankeesgal at 11:39PM on 10/26/08
dbcurrie, thanks for the insure-ensure lesson. I made the change. Bacon fat and chopped shallots sure would taste good in hashed browns, ChefJo and IndyGal.
Ed Levine at 7:35AM on 10/27/08
I make a similar bacon potato hash - cube about 3 med potatoes, a whole onion, and a heaping portion of cubed bacon. High heat, a little olive oil and in first the bacon - once it has just started to brown in goes the potatoes and onion, with a heaping spoon of salt. Flip it every other minute until all the potatoes are browned on all sides (flipping is the key - don't even use a spatula) - make sure to season it with whatever just as the potatoes start browning. Turn the heat to it's lowest setting and crack 4 whole eggs on top. Cover, and cook until eggs are the consistency you like...
covenofovens at 10:43AM on 10/27/08
can someone clarify? to me, hash(ed) browns have always been shredded potatoes. these I would call home fries (especially with the browning component).
anysuchname at 1:00PM on 10/27/08
@anysuchname -- i had the exact same question.
too bad there are no waffle houses in the northeast. always scattered & smothered. peppered, diced, and/or covered depending on the mood. unfortunately almost all of the diners around here serve what is described in this recipe which, to me, is home fries, not hash browns.
sloppy at 2:56PM on 10/27/08
These are home fries, hash browns are shredded.
msmeghan at 9:24PM on 10/27/08
Toss in a finely diced jalepeno.
dbcurrie at 2:03AM on 10/28/08
sloppy and anysuchname:
I am in total agreement with you!! I love Waffle House's Hash Browns. I like mine Scattered...............isn't it great to have a choice?
From Nashville, TN...Comfortcook
Comfortcook at 2:22PM on 10/28/08
I hate to step in and give a comment about a comment, but...
Hashbrowns are many things to many people, depending on where you live. While you may believe that hashbrowns are shredded potatoes, do not try and serve that in Canada, they will run you out. Here, hashbrowns are small diced potatoes fried until they are crisp.
Hashbrowns: Wiki, almighty god, wiki:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hash_brown
welldonechef at 10:19AM on 11/01/08
These are actually home-fries in my neck of the woods - hash browns are shredded potatoes, not cubed.
That being said, the best hash browns, IMO, are the ones made from the leftover potatoes from a pot roast. This give them a real extra flavor kick. If you don't have any, you can almost get the same effect by cooking the potatoes in some beef stock or bouillion. Almost, but not quite.
One you have these yummy potatoes, proceed with recipe above.
reader110 at 9:47AM on 11/03/08
In the interest of full disclosure, Ina Garten herself apparently refers to a dish of crispy, crunchy, delectable browned potatoes as "hashed" browns and there is no mention of meat in her recipe. Could this word "hashed" v. "hash" be one of those "regional" things like icing v. frosting? Stay tuned. I sense another SE debate on this subject...
I like my hashed browns with corned beef in them.
I agree. When I read the title of this thread, I assumed (dangerous!) there would be corned beef somewhere in this equation. And phraseology does make a difference.
I saw the following dish on a diner menu: Corned Beef With Eggs and happily ordered it, expecting some incarnation of corned beef wend its way to my plate. The waitress presented me with a plate of greasy slop instantly recognizable as Hormel "corned beef hash" from a CAN with its vulgar pellets of potato-like substance, swimming in pinkish gray-ness. "What is this?" I asked. "Corned Beef Hash with Eggs, as you ordered," replied the waitress. "No, I ordered CORNED BEEF with EGGS - the word 'hash' was never mentioned, exactly as on your menu. Take this away, bring me two blueberry pancakes and PRAY that my stomach can get over its queasiness long enough to eat them."
ensure, not insure...
This has obviously been fixed in the main story. Now puhleeeeeease can we, the dedicating reading and posting public here at SE have an edit button?
Lovin' this SE Universe, BTW.
therealchiffonade at 10:30AM on 11/03/08
I think this "hashed" vs. "hash" business is a regional thing. I've been eating "hashed" browns for more than a half-century, and in the Deep South, so far as I know, they've never been prepared with corned beef, but then corned beef (unless you're talking about that disgustingly gelatinous mass in a tin) isn't big in my part of the South. And on an only slightly different subject, Ina's Basil Chicken Hash (imagine "When Harry Met Sally..." moans and gasps). This stuff is sinfully delicious, though you'll have to track the recipe at Food Network site; it's not in "...at Home".
expat39520 at 10:53AM on 11/03/08
Um, dbcurrie, I'm afraid you are not correct: synonyms ensure , insure , assure , secure mean to make a thing or person sure. ensure , insure, and assure are interchangeable in many contexts where they indicate the making certain or inevitable of an outcome, but ensure may imply a virtual guarantee (the government has ensured the safety of the refugees), while insure sometimes stresses the taking of necessary measures beforehand (careful planning should insure the success of the party), and assure distinctively implies the removal of doubt and suspense from a person's mind (I assure you that no harm will be done). Secure implies action taken to guard against attack or loss (sent reinforcements to secure their position). Now, please pass the potatoes!
cheezepleeze at 11:37AM on 11/03/08
I love all of the recipes that Ina has in her cookbook. I've tried so many of them and haven't had one I was disappointed with.
Panda444 at 2:38PM on 11/03/08
http://tinyurl.com/5mkraf
Ina's Basil Chicken Hash....
pjacob01 at 2:41PM on 11/03/08
If it's adapted from Ina, it's got to be good. I forgot about Family Style. I haven't used it in a long time. My favorite books of hers are the first one and the last one. I can't wait for the new one - I still don't have it but will most likely purchase it this weekend.
Thanks for the reminder. Looks just wonderful. As expected.
RisaG at 1:05PM on 11/05/08