Recipe How? Potatoes O'Brien

I want to make that. Delicious, crispy potatoes and onions and peppers in an incredible melange of flavors... Potatoes O'Brien. It's one of those standard things you can get at a breakfast joint. It's supposed to be one of the easiest potato dishes around.

But I can't make it.

I have tried a number of recipes. Every single friggin' time, I end up with a messed up mish-mash of greasy potatoes. Sure, they taste all right, but they just aren't right.

How do I make Potatoes O'Brien from scratch?

Please, TFP Food Gods! Help me in my quest for the perfect potato!

 

Here are the suggestions I have, not sure if you are doing any of this or not, but these things are key IMO to getting them crispy instead of mushy...


1) Use a cast iron skillet.
2) Get the skillet and the oil (make sure you are using enough oil) very hot before putting any potatoes in.
3) Dice the potatoes up as small as is reasonable, they cook faster that way.
4) Brown the potatoes first, before adding the peppers or onions. Do this on high heat.
5) Turn the heat down after the potatoes are brown and as you add the peppers and onions.
6) After you add the onions and peppers, and have turned down the heat, put a lid on the skillet.

Those are my recommendations based on where I think most people go wrong when they get mushy potatoes. Either the pan they use doesn't absorb enough heat, or they don't get it hot enough, or they don't turn the heat down after they are browned, or they add the peppers/onions too soon, or they don't use a lid.

Hope that helps.

 

Aha! It looks like I've been using the lid too early. How many potatoes vs pan size? Does every potato cube need to touch the bottom of the pan to brown or are you able to put in a lot at once?
Cast iron would be nice. I just have stainless steel for now. Maybe next year...

Have you ever made it with a griddle?

 

Like @Daniel_ said, the thinner the layer of potatoes the better. Blanching is a good tip if you don't have cast iron. Either way, get the heaviest, widest pan you have and don't quite fill the bottom with a layer of potatoes. So yes, I'd recommend letting all of them touch the bottom, and do smaller batches. Too many potatoes will work against you. Having a thin-walled skillet works against you too. Big heavy cast iron works as a heat sink which is great for crispy foods.


I know the time of year is bad for this, but cast iron can sometimes be found at garage sales or estate sales. Also, Target has Lodge brand stuff for under $30. That's an idea, just make sure you season it with a batch of bacon or some fatty ground beef for your first time using it.

 

Thank you for the tip on inexpensive cast iron. I always have my eyes open for them when I visit thrift stores. We're thinking of moving this year, so after the move is when we would invest in new kitchen goods.

Yeah... I'll look into vegetarian seasoning methods for cast iron. Seasoning with bacon fat and/or beef would make me never want to cook with them again.

 

Ahh, forgot the vegetarian thing. I'm sure you could find alternatives that work for that sort of thing.

 

Yeah, NEVER use soap on cast iron. For most things you can just let it cool down and use a paper towel.

 

Yes. Scrub it good with just water, then re-season it.

 

Thanks, everyone, for your tips!

 

What I'd suggest is cooking the potatoes some other way before using them in potatoes O'Brien. I usually use leftover baked potatoes. That way, your temperature management for browning the potatoes is easier to accomplish. Seriously--my parents make potatoes O'Brien in the shittiest thin, nonstick skillet imaginable, but they're still delicious. I use my heavy Calphalon nonstick (thanks again, @cynthetiq) for making them, just to guarantee release, over medium-high heat. Using baked potatoes (leftover boiled potatoes work too) means that the water has been cooked out already, and they're ready to be browned. It is a huge timesaver too. When I don't have leftover baked potatoes, it's easy to just microwave a few on the potato setting to get similar results. I usually use Russets (a floury type) here, but waxy types will work too; just be sure to cook them less, as they are usually smaller in size.

Precooking potatoes is a tactic commonly used by J. Kenji Lopez-Alt, the Food Lab master at Serious Eats. He generally prefers to parboil things before either roasting or cooking potatoes in a pan, so that could be a tactic to try, like in this recipe here: Crispy Potatoes with Garlic-Parmesan Butter | Serious Eats : Recipes

Man, I made breakfast potatoes earlier this week for breakfast burritos. I wish I'd taken pictures before we ate them all. They were perfect.

 

Thanks @snowy. I typically have a few baked potatoes ready to go for a quick meal in the fridge. I hadn't considered using them for Potatoes O'Brien.
@grumpyolddude, thanks for the tip on cooking the peppers and onions seperate from the potatoes. I tried that the last time, but I messed up with putting too many potatoes in the pan. I'll definitely give it another shot now that I know it works for you.