These are hashbrowns of the dinner variety -- great with steak, burgers, ribs or any meaty happiness you pull off the summer grill. This makes 4-5 servings.
Ingredients
15 oz. frozen shredded potatoes (most bags are 30 oz.)
Half can/6 oz. of condensed cream of onion soup
4 oz. crumbled blue cheese (or more to taste)
Salt & pepper
4 Tablespoons butter
Preparing
Pour frozen hashbrowns into a large bowl and break apart the potato shreds with a spoon. Mix in half a can of cream of onion soup (unprepared -- straight from the can) and stir until potatoes are coated evenly.
Stir in blue cheese crumbles and salt/pepper to taste.
Cooking
- Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat and melt 2 Tablespoons of butter to coat the pan. Pour in the potatoes and gently press them down to fill the bottom of the pan and flatten them out. Use a spatula to nudge the potatoes away from the edges, so they don't stick.
- Cook about 15 minutes without touching them, until the potatoes are crispy and brown on the bottom (carefully lift an edge to check).
- Fun part: You need to flip the potatoes, keeping their shape. The easiest way is to lay a cookie sheet over the top of the pan. Holding the cookie sheet to the top of the pan with one hand, use your other on the handle to flip the pan upside-down. Keep the potatoes on the cookie sheet while you melt 2 more Tablespoons of butter in the pan. Then carefully slide the "hashbrown cake" back into the hot butter/pan.
- Cook in the pan for another 10-15 minutes until the bottom is crispy and brown, like the top.
- Heat the oven to 350. Pop the skillet into the oven for about 10 more minutes until any extra butter is absorbed and the potatoes are even crispier. This is also a good way to keep them hot while you prepare the rest of your food.
Serving:
Straight out of the pan is a simple way to serve these hashbrowns. If you want to step it up a little, you could add cooked, crumbled bacon.
A Little Backstory:
This recipe was a Memorial Day weekend experiment -- starting with a sunny deck conversation that went something like: "I have a lot of leftover blue cheese." I looked up pan hashbrown recipes and -- not having sour cream or half-and-half to use -- we substituted soup and played with the times and heat until the consistency was crispy and right. Isn't that what weekend meals are for? Sunny deck conversations, experimenting with ingredients, finding good stuff to eat with great people. Have a happy summer with awesome food, folks.
