Skillet Potatoes with Fried Onions
get cooking. BONUS RECIPE
Recipe by Mollie Katzen
© 2009 by Tante Malka, Inc.
sample recipes from get cooking.
Yield: 4 servings

This classic method for making restaurant style "home fries" involves several cooking steps. First, you boil the potatoes. Then you drain them and brown them in batches in a skillet. Then you sauté onions, and finally you bring it all together in the skillet. All this takes some time, but not a whole lot of work. And it's worth it. If you follow this process (especially cooking the potatoes in patches so they have plenty of room to brown), the end product will be truly, divinely crisp, which, after all, is the whole point of fried potatoes. You can use any type of potato for these. A combination of colors (yellow, red, blue) will taste great and look beautiful, too. A shortcut: use leftover cooked potatoes (4 to 5 cups) to make this dish. Even baked potatoes, although crumbly, will do fine, and if you leave their skins on, they'll cook up crisp and flavorful.

2 1/2 pounds potatoes
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, sliced
3/4 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper
  1. Scrub the potatoes (peeling is optional), and cut them into 1/2-inch cubes. You should have about 5 to 6 cups of cubes. Place them in a large saucepan, add water to cover by about an inch, and bring to a boil. Lower the heat to a simmer, and cook uncovered for about 15 minutes, or until tender. Place a colander in the sink, and drain the potatoes thoroughly.
  2. Place a large (10- to 12-inch) heavy skillet over medium heat and wait for about a minute. Pour in the olive oil and swirl to coat the pan. Turn up the heat to medium-high, and add half the cooked potatoes, spreading them into a single layer in the hot oil. Let them sit without being stirred for 5 minutes.
  3. Sprinkle in about 1/4 teaspoon of the salt, then carefully and thoroughly loosen the potatoes with a thin-bladed metal spatula, and turn them over, spreading them into a single layer again on the second side. Let them sit over the heat for another 5 minutes, or until deeply golden.
  4. Scrape from the bottom to loosen the potatoes, and toss them around in the pan to redistribute them. Cook for another minute or two, then transfer the potatoes to a plate or a bowl, scraping out and saving all the tasty browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Wipe out the pan with a paper towel, and repeat the cooking procedure with the remaining potatoes, using another tablespoon of the oil and a little more salt. Put the cooked potatoes and all the scrapings in the bowl with the first batch.
  5. Wipe out the pan with a damp paper towel. Return the pan to the stove over medium heat, and wait about a minute, then add another tablespoon of oil, and swirl to coat the pan. Add the onion and the remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt, and cook over medium heat, stirring often, for 8 to 10 minutes, or until the onion turns deeply golden.
  6. Return the potatoes to the pan, and stir them into the onion mixture, along with a few grinds of fresh black pepper. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for another 10 minutes, or until everything is done to your liking. Serve hot or warm.

Get Creative