Hashbrowns – Scattered, Smothered and Covered

So…you may have noticed that I’ve been MIA lately. It’s also possible you haven’t noticed since if you’ve been too busy drooling over A’s more recent recipes.  At any rate, the short story is that I got a call to come back to NC for a 3-month job, and had only 5 days notice before I needed to start. If you’re trying to visualize what that must have been like, picture this:

Me, running around my apartment throwing whatever random clean clothes I had into suitcases.

Me, getting giddy with excitement about getting to be in Asheville for 3 months over the summer!

Me, crying because I’m not going to get to go to Cinespia this year.

Me, packing 4 pairs of high heels, which I wear almost never, and only two pairs of flip flops, which I wear every day. I, of course, will not realize this until I am all the way across the country. This will happen at the same time I realize I have 10 dresses to wear on the weekend, and only 3 pairs of jeans to wear during the work week. Packing fail.

So, to kick off my Southern summer, I give you this recipe: Hashbrowns – scattered, smothered and covered. Most of you will remember these from one too many late nights at Waffle House. For those that haven’t had the pleasure, this is what I typically would eat in college whenever I found myself still awake and hungry at 3am. As to what I had been doing to keep me awake that long…umm…I plead the fifth.

Here’s all you need to know: These are potatoes fried in a pan (scattered), topped with sautéed onions (smothered) and cheese (covered). Seriously delicious, even if you eat them at a more respectable hour of the day.

Hashbrowns – Scattered, Smothered and Covered

Print this recipe!

Serves 2

1 russet potato, scrubbed and grated.
½ cup chopped onion
½ cup shredded cheddar cheese
¼ cup of canola or olive oil

Fill a large bowl with water and liberally add some salt. Soak the potato shreds in the salt water bath for about 10 minutes to draw out all of the starch. Drain, and then squeeze all the moisture out of the potato using a clean dish cloth.

Meanwhile, heat about 2 tablespoons of oil in a large pan and sauté the onion over medium heat for about 5-10 minutes, until the onions begins to brown. Remove from the pan and set aside; wipe the pan clean with a paper towel.

Add another 2 tablespoons of oil to the pan and bring up to medium high heat. Scatter the potatoes onto the pan and fry until they turn golden brown. Using a large spatula, flip the potatoes over, keeping them as together as possible. Scatter the onions over the potatoes and then top with cheese. When the other side begins to turn brown, transfer the hashbrowns to a plate. Dig in immediately!

Tagged as: Cheese, Onion, Potatoes