Crispy Fried Potatoes

Crispy fried potatoes are one of our staple side dishes.  These are crispy, buttery, and delicious.  They pair well with almost any other food, from eggs to crustless quiche to ratatouille to BBQ chicken, and anything in between!  They are even great sprinkled over a salad or into a bowl of soup.

Crispy Fried Potatoes

Serves 6-8

• 5 medium organic Yukon Gold potatoes

• 6 Tb of butter, preferably from grassfed cows

• fine-ground celtic sea salt and freshly ground pepper

• 1/2 tsp dried dill (optional)*

1. This recipe uses potatoes that have already been cooked and then cooled. (If you are in a pinch and don't have time to pre-cook the potatoes, skip to Step 4. You can use raw potatoes but you will need to increase the cooking time in Step 7 to 35 minutes, starting with a relatively cool skillet, and increasing the heat once the potatoes have cooked most of the way. )

2. Bake the raw potatoes until they are fully cooked. During the hot summer months, I like to just put the potatoes into my toaster oven on 225 degrees for 3-4 hours, until I can squeeze them slightly (with a towel-wrapped hand).  You could easily bake these a day or two in advance, perhaps whenever you are using the oven for something else. I don't even wrap the potatoes or oil them; I just poke a few holes with a fork and bake them plain.

3. Chill the whole potatoes well in the fridge.  The potatoes will fry best with cold potatoes, but if necessary they can be just cool or slightly warm (but NOT hot, else they will completely fall apart in the pan).

4. About 25 minutes before mealtime, roughly chop the cooled potatoes into chunks.  If some of the skin is loose, go ahead and pull it off to discard.  I leave on the skin that is well-adhered to the potatoes, but you could remove it all if desired.

5. Melt the butter in a large cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Don't skimp on the butter, as it is wonderfully healthy and will make the potatoes taste great! 

6. Add the potatoes to the melted butter, arranging them evenly. Sprinkle with salt.

7. The trick to getting nicely browned potatoes is to make sure not to stir them too often.  Leave the potatoes alone, and just let them cook for several minutes before you stir them. A bamboo spatula works wonderfully for stirring the potatoes and scraping any bits that get stuck to the pan. Continue cooking for about 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally until the potatoes are nicely browned.  You may need to reduce the heat during this process if the pan starts to get too hot.

8. Sprinkle the potatoes generously with salt and pepper.  If desired, sprinkle the dill over the potatoes, stir them a bit to mix the dill in, and then cook for a few more minutes. Taste for salt, and add more as necessary. Turn off heat.

9. Serve and enjoy!

*I use Frontier brand spices because they are non-irradiated.

What is your favorite way to eat potatoes?

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