Home Fries, Cottage Fries and Hash Browns

Home Fries and/or Cottage Fries are what I call skillet fries because no matter what you call them or what you put in them, most times they are cooked in a skillet, especially at home. In a restaurant serving breakfast, they might be cooked on a flat top range. While these dishes can be cooked with raw potatoes, they are most often cooked with precook potatoes of some kind. Those precooked potatoes can be cooked in any manner you like, boiled, baked, steamed or micro waved.  Almost always they are cooled between cooking times and peeled or not, sliced, diced, wedged or just broken into chunks. As you can see, there are as many combinations and options available here, you are never sure what you will get until the plate arrives from the kitchen.

One thing for sure is that these fries are not deep fried, they are skillet cooked in butter, oil or a combination of both. Other ingredients can be added like onions and/or peppers creating the popular dish O’Brien Potatoes. If you are serving them as a side dish with Steak and Eggs, you could even add mushrooms!

Most times, a white potato is used but in some cases we can use red skinned potatoes with skins on, Yukon golds, purple and even sweet potatoes are also perfectly acceptable.

Hash Browns are typically shredded cooked potatoes, but can be grated or riced. Most often these are cooked on a flat top or in a pan with butter, oil or a combination of both. If formed into a cake or patties, they can be called a potato pancake, Rosti or Latke. Many times those preparations include the addition of meats. eggs or vegetables.