Jessie’s Breakfast Potatoes

I’ve been making these for years for Eddy and decided to write it down finally. They are adjusted as certain ingredients are available, but this is the base recipe. If I have fresh herbs on hand like Italian Parsley, Rosemary, or Thyme, I throw that in as well.  These reheat very well, work great for larger groups for family gatherings, and last well on a breakfast buffet.  We suggest they are tastier with ketchup and/or hot sauce of your choice

• 3 large Russet Potatoes, peeled & cubed to about ½ inch cubes (approx 4 cups)
• Olive oil, approximately ½ cup, enough to generously coat the bottom of your pan
• White onion, about 2 cups, roughly chopped
• 1- 14.5oz. can of diced, low sodium tomatoes, keeping the juice in the can
• Dried Thyme, about 2 tblsp
• 1 Tbsp Smoked Sweet Paprika (optional for smoky potatoes)
• Salt & Black Pepper (generous on the black pepper)

Heat your pan to medium high heat, with the olive oil coating the bottom of a non-stick skillet.  Drain your potatoes from their water bath (to keep them from turning brown) and add to the heated pan. The potatoes will take the longest to cook, but they will get a slight crust on them and soften at the same time.  You could do these in a cast iron skillet for more of a crust but it tends to stick if you don’t keep it moving every few minutes.  At approximately 20 minutes, stirring the potatoes every 5 minutes or so, when your potatoes are browned, add your onion.  Let it fry for another 10 minutes, stirring every few minutes.  At 30 minutes, add the can of tomatoes, tomato juice and all, and your spices.  Mix everything thoroughly, lower the heat to half, and let it fry on the stove top for another 10 minutes or so. Your potatoes should be close to falling apart, everything should be heated through, and you can keep them on low, while you assemble the rest of your breakfast.  These also reheat well at 300 degrees for 10 minutes covered for any leftovers.

Options: I’ve added other veggies like sliced mushrooms, diced bell pepper, even finely diced jalapeños, if you’re looking for some heat up front.  If you have available to you sweet onions like Vidalia or Hawaiian, use those instead of white onion.  The sweet onions work well with the sweetness of the tomatoes.  I’ve also had cheese melted on top of individual servings, and sunny side up eggs served directly on top of warm potatoes. 

Bacon Option:  Instead of straight olive oil, we’ve done the bacon in the pan first, and saved some of that bacon grease and mixed it with the olive oil to add a hint of baconiness (as Eddy would say).

Comments

[Amy at TheSceneFromMe]

Yum! Breakfast is the best meal of the day!

[Eddy Cameron]

I agree! Would you mind if we linked to your blog? Ed