Healthy & Delicious: Lighter Home Fries
Note: On Mondays, Kristen Swensson of Cheap, Healthy, Good swings by these parts to share healthy and delicious recipes with us. Have at it, Kristen.
While we may disagree on economic bailouts, abortion law, and whether cilantro is awesome or tastes like soap, Americans universally agree on a single principle: home fries are the freaking BEST. Salty, starchy, crisp on the outside and tender on the inside, they’re the pinnacle of breakfast foods, rivaled in deliciousness only by bacon.
Alas, home fries are traditionally very fatty. When the Husband-Elect and I were searching for a good recipe recently, we discovered the highest rated ones tended to have at least one tablespoon of oil or butter per serving. Not good. So, I embarked on a mission: Using techniques from a few different blogs, I had to create home fries that were both tasty and significantly lower in fat.
First, I opted for Yukon gold over red potatoes because I wanted a buttery taste and texture without too much actual dairy. Second, I sautéed the accompanying onions and peppers in only a little butter, then steamed them to complete the cooking process. Finally, since I don’t own a cast iron pan, we used a large nonstick skillet. That way, I could use less oil but still get a decent brown on the potatoes. The suggestion came from Deb at Smitten Kitchen, who argued that Teflon pans are just better suited to certain dishes (eggs, home fries, etc.). She was right.
In the end, this was good stuff. The recipe had all the benefits of homemade home fries with only about half the fat. And that, Americans, is something we can all be happy about.
Lighter Home Fries
- serves 3 -
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen, All Recipes, and Diet, Dessert, and Dogs.
Ingredients
1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, separated
3 Yukon gold potatoes, cut into 3/4-inch pieces
1/2 green bell pepper
3/8 medium onion
3/4 teaspoon Steak or grill seasoning
A few dashes paprika
Salt and pepper to taste
Procedure
1. Place potatoes in a microwave-safe dish, cover tightly with plastic wrap, and nuke on high for 4 to 7 minutes, shaking the bowl halfway through. Once finished, potatoes should be cooked, but not mushy. Remove from microwave and let cool in refrigerator.
2. While potatoes are cooking, chop onion Lyonnaise-style (in crescent moons). Then, thinly slice bell pepper and halve those slices.
3. Melt 1/2 tablespoon butter in a nonstick pan over medium heat. Add peppers and onions, and sauté for one minute, stirring to coat vegetables with butter. Cover pan and let steam for 6 to 8 minutes, stirring occasionally. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.
4. Turn heat to medium-high and melt the other 1 tablespoon butter in the pan. Add potatoes and steak seasoning, and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring every 3 minutes or so. Once potatoes have developed a nice brown crust, add the vegetables back in and cook for 1 minute more or until warmed. Salt and pepper to taste.
Note: Check the salt content of your steak seasoning before adding salt and pepper at the end. Some steak shakes come with quite a bit of both in the mix, and you don’t want to overseason.
Related
Chorizo and Potato Frittata
Paprika-Spiked Home Fries with Poached Egg
Jalapeño Cheese Fries
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12 Comments:
I don't like the idea of nuking anything, so would you suggest baking or boiling instead for the first step? (They sound awesome & I'd love to try making it!)
gastronomeg at 11:44AM on 05/18/09
3/8 of an onion? Hello?
secondtimearound at 11:53AM on 05/18/09
@gastronomeg - I've done baked potatoes (in a campfire or doing extra with dinner's baked potatoes) for home fries as well as boiling - I think both work pretty well and would accomplish the first step just fine, just make sure they aren't over cooked or they'll fall apart in the skillet.
My guess is they're nuking just to make it easy, which is what I end up doing when I want potatoes in veggie curry.
joyyy at 12:41PM on 05/18/09
Nuking the potatoes is a step that is used by the Cook's Illustrated people in their home fries recipe to parcook them. You could go the lengthier route of parboiling them or partially steaming them if you'd rather.
Amandarama at 12:56PM on 05/18/09
I have been told (though don't know if it's really true) that it's microwaving in plastic containers or with plastic wrap that you really have to be careful of. I try to use glass or ceramic baking dishes with glass lids in the microwave, and figure that's a safe enough compromise.
CEBakes at 1:00PM on 05/18/09
I've found that Teflon pans cause egg dishes to pick up a weird taste. There are also longstanding safety concerns about using Teflon:
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/08/dining/08teflon.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/14/business/14shortcuts.html?_r=1
Maybe it's a matter of choosing your poison - an extra teaspoon of fat or a toxic chemical reaction
MMinNYC at 1:16PM on 05/18/09
Gastronomeg: you could definitely boil the potatoes. Just be careful they're not overcooked.
Secondtimearound: I know, right? I found that 1/8th of an onion per potato was my favorite ratio, but feel free to up that to a full-on 1/2 an onion if you like.
MMinNYC: the nonstick warnings are a concern. I figure since I use the pan in moderation, I should be okay. Plus, it'd prob'ly take a lot more than an extra teaspoon of butter, if most other recipes are right.
Kristen Swensson at 1:37PM on 05/18/09
My husband started using Spanish smoked paprika on our home fries a couple of years ago, and now we can't imagine having them without!
GoodStuffNW at 2:31PM on 05/18/09
We make home fries by baking then broiling the potatoes in the oven. It gets them soft on the outside and slightly crispy on the outside. It also doesn't require much oil. Here's a link to the roasted home fries recipe. But more recently, we've been making equally healthy Indian spiced home fries using chat masala and lemon juice - tangy and soft and crunchy. They rock my weekend. Here's a recipe to those.
nithya at hungrydesi at 2:42PM on 05/18/09
I nuke my home fries before I fry them in a teflon pan.
I may die earlier, but I'll have a great smile on my fat face!
gb944 at 2:58PM on 05/18/09
My one pan method is a couple teaspoons of oil or chicken fat, a lb of pealed potato sliced into large chunks, a cup and a half of chicken stock (or water), half a tablespoon of salt (or more), some crushed red pepper. I cover the whole thing, cook for about 45 minutes over a just below medium heat.
The potatoes steam/boil in the water, and then eventually the water boils off, and the potatoes brown/fry. It will ONLY work in a teflon pan.
Reminds me of cooking pan fried dumplings.
The result is browned dark and crisp on one side, the other side steamed. Using stock gives it an extra flavorful dark crust.
You can easily do indian variations by browning cumin seeds and/or mustard seeds in the fat before adding the potato.
If you use excessive water, the potato will break down and form a sort of pancake. If you use less water the potato will be firmer.
If you get to the 40 minute mark and there is still a lot of liquid, remove the lid, and turn up the heat to force it to finish quickly. (and next time use a higher heat (if potato too firm) or less liquid (otherwise))
peekpoke at 3:33PM on 05/18/09
If the Teflon doesn't kill you, the air, milk, water, e coli in random veggie will kill you, or you might just get hit/run over by someone texting while driving. Not saying you should ignore warnings,but... :P
The recipe looks good. I don't like onions so I would probably cook it with the onion as one gigantic chunk so I can avoid it when I scoop it for myself. The husband can eat it.
When I cook with Teflon, I typically cook w/o any oil/fat/butter.
The last batch of potatoes we made was with red and green bell peppers, curry, cumin, lemon grass, ground pepper, a pinch (seriously, a pinch, not a piiiiinch) of Hawaiian salt, sliced jalapenos, and baby spinach. I add squiggly of sriracha on top.
Cassaendra at 7:36PM on 05/18/09