The definition of a consomme is: “a clear soup made with concentrated stock.” I might add “mind-blowing” to that sentence, especially with this recipe. The key to success– and this is crucial–is to use absolutely garden-fresh, in-season ingredients. If you try this with greenhouse or supermarket tomatoes, you’re just wasting your time.
4 1/2 lbs. of fresh garden tomatoes (my favorite is the heirloom: Brandywine)
1 large bunch of fresh basil, leaves and stems
1 2-inch piece of fresh horseradish, peeled
1 clove of garlic, peeled
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar (I use Alessi)
2 oz. vodka (I use Tito’s)
sea salt and pepper
Remove the core of the tomatoes, but leave everything else, including seeds and skin.
Put all the tomatoes, basil, horseradish, garlic, vinegar and vodka in a blender or food processor. You might need to do this in batches if your equipment can’t handle it all.
Process until you get a kind of slush.
Line a mixing bowl with a double layer of cheesecloth and pour the tomato slush mixture into it. Gather up the corners of the cheesecloth carefully, and tie them securely so you can lift the bundle up by the knot. Hang the bundle from a hook over a clean bowl in the fridge so that it catches the liquid that drips out, and leave the whole thing in there overnight. The liquid that drips out will be clear.
Cheesecloth bundle dripping overnight in the fridge.
To serve, chill bowls (or in this case: the sipping glasses) in the fridge. When you’re ready to serve, ladle out the consomme and garnish each with a tiny basil leaf. A drop of excellent quality olive oil is optional.
Synthetic cheesecloth apparatus. The real thing works better.
I tried using a synthetic cheesecloth for this recipe, and I found that it doesn’t filter out enough of the solids to make a clear consomme. You could use it along with real cheesecloth, just to use the stand, or just hang it all in real cheesecloth, as described in this recipe.
When we’re grilling, we always think of beef. But there’s no tastier way to prepare lamb than on the grill! Many people are turned off by lamb because somewhere in their past, they had a horribly overcooked piece of meat that ruined it for them. Don’t be sheepish! Try lamb again!
If you think lamb is too “gamey,” buy American lamb over New Zealand or Australian lamb. Although the animals are mostly pasture-raised, most American lamb is larger and grain finished, which results in a milder flavor. Unfortunately, like with non grass-fed American beef, this also results in a larger, fattier animal, and a less healthy cut of meat.
I prefer 100% grass-fed lamb, and most of it comes from New Zealand. Having been to the country, I can tell you that the quality is unmatched and the grasslands of New Zealand are the most beautiful I’ve ever seen. New Zealand lamb is smaller and is slaughtered at a younger age than American lamb, making it very tender. In New Zealand, as well as many other countries, only an animal under 12 months of age and without incisors can be called “lamb.” No such labeling is required in the United States.
I love the baby lamb chops that look like miniature porterhouse steaks. You can find them in any supermarket. Here’s an easy recipe that I served at a party in my home for 40 people, many of whom claimed they didn’t like lamb or never had it before. By the end of dinner, the chops were gone!
8 small lamb chops
½ cup olive oil
¼ cup balsamic vinegar
2 cloves garlic, through a garlic press
1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, chopped
1 tablespoon honey
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon dried oregano
Salt and pepper
Place the lamb meat in a plastic bag. In a bowl, combine all the ingredients for the marinade and pour it over the lamb. Seal the bag and squish it around so that the marinade reaches every part of the chops. I leave it at room temp if marinating for a few hours…or in the fridge if overnight.
Before grilling, take the lamb out of the fridge and let it come back to room temperature.
Pre-heat the barbecue grill. Grill the lamb until it’s done. That means cooked no more than medium. Don’t cook it to death! If you can’t get to a grill, place the lamb chops in a hot oven-proof pan (cast iron is always best) and sear it on all sides. Then place the pan in a 350-degree oven to cook all the way through.
In New Orleans, I had oysters every which way: Bienville, Rockefeller, char-grilled, baked, and, of course, raw. But here in New England, we’re pretty proud of our oysters, and in Rhode Island alone, we’ve got a wide variety to choose from.
Fresh oysters deserve an amazing cocktail sauce, and my recipe kicks butt: lots of horseradish, lots of flavor, and a secret ingredient: vodka. Not only does it give it a kick, it keeps it from freezing solid, so I can keep the cocktail sauce in the freezer until I need it. Then, I just scoop it out like sorbet.
2 cups ketchup
4 tablespoons prepared horseradish
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon Frank’s Red Hot, or other hot pepper sauce
5 grinds of fresh black pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon good quality vodka, like Tito’s
Combine all the ingredients. Store in a tight plastic container in the freezer.
Freshly shucked oysters with pickled red onion ice.
When I’m in Portland, Maine, I visit one of the best oyster bars in the country: Eventide. Besides some wickedly creative dishes, they consistently have a fantastic variety of fresh oysters to choose from. And they offer a variety of “accoutrements” to go with them: anything from a red wine mignonette to kimchee ice. My favorite is the pickled red onion ice. All you need is a shot glass with a freshly shucked oyster inside, a half-shot of chilled vodka on top, and some pickled red onion ice, and you’ve got the best oyster shooter on planet Earth. I even suggested the shooter to the manager at Eventide. It has yet to make it to the menu. (But I remain hopeful!)
An oyster shooter with pickled red onion ice. Bottoms up!
I’ve managed to come up with a pretty good version of the pickled red onion ice at home, and I serve it alongside my cocktail sauce.
2 large red onions
1 tablespoon sugar
3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
Peel and quarter the onions. Drop them in a medium-sized pot and cover with about a quart of water. Bring it to a boil and cook it down until it has reduced to a cup of concentrated onion water after straining.
Bring the strained onion water back to the stove, and on medium heat, add the sugar and vinegar, stirring. When the sugar dissolves, remove it from the heat and let it cool to room temperature before pouring it into a container and placing it in the freezer.
When it’s time to eat oysters, remove the block of red onion ice from its container, and, using a fine cheese grater, shave the ice over the top of the freshly shucked oysters and devour immediately! (It melts quickly.)
My daughter likes to find new recipes on line for us to try. And although they might look like new ideas to her, the ingredients tell me these recipes came from somebody’s cookbook from the 70’s.
Hey, maybe I’m the exception to the rule, but I haven’t opened a can of cream-of-anything soup in at least 30 years…and that includes cream of mushroom for the classic Thanksgiving bean casserole. (I’ve never made one.) Maybe it’s because I wasn’t raised on Betty-Crocker-midwest-American fare. My parents were from Lithuania, and we had our own list of favorites that would probably raise a few American eyebrows.
But my daughter had friends coming over to hang out for a few hours, and I always like to cook something for them. (I learned from my mom and grandmother a long time ago that you don’t invite someone over without feeding them.)
This casserole recipe my daughter chose, originally called something like “Chicken Spaghetti,” had some good ideas, but wrong ingredients for a group of teenage girls who could be a bit finicky. For example, it called for 2 cans of cream of mushroom soup. I decided to ditch the mushrooms and I substituted one can each of cream of celery and cream of onion. The recipe called for green peppers. I chose to use peas and corn. And since it was all going into a casserole dish, spaghetti seemed like the wrong pasta. We went with smaller penne instead.
We made it a day ahead…keeping it wrapped in the fridge. But if we needed less than what this recipe made, we would’ve divided it into two smaller casseroles, freezing one of them (before cooking) for future use.
1 lb. pasta 1 can (10.5 oz.) cream of celery soup 1 can (10.5 oz.) cream of onion soup 1 cup chicken broth 2 to 3 cooked chicken breasts (about 3 cups shredded) 1/2 cup peas (frozen is fine) 1/2 cup corn (frozen is fine) 1 small onion, finely chopped 1 teaspoon seasoned salt (I use Lawry’s) 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper salt and pepper 2 1/2 cups shredded sharp cheddar, divided
Homemade chicken stock is the best. If you don’t have any that you’ve made from the leftovers of previous chicken dinners, and you don’t have any store-bought stock in your pantry, here’s any easy cheat…
Get a pot and fill it with about 6 cups cold, clean water. Put the pot over high heat. Chop up a carrot, a stalk or two of celery, and 1/2 an onion and toss them in the pot. Then add the raw chicken breasts you’re going to use in this dish.
Bring the pot to a boil, then turn the heat down to medium until the chicken breasts are thoroughly cooked and the liquid in the pot has reduced by at least half.
Strain the veggies out, and what you have left is basic chicken stock.
If you’re going to cook this dish the same day, pre-heat the oven to 350.
Grease a 9 x 13 pan with cooking spray. (Two smaller pans if you’re dividing the recipe.)
Cook the pasta according to the package instructions, but stop the cooking even before the pasta reaches the al dente stage. (It will cook more in the oven, so you don’t want it mushy.) Drain the pasta and set it aside.
Sauté the onion in a bit of olive oil until it’s translucent.
Get out a large bowl and add the can of cream of celery, the can of cream of onion, the sautéed onions, the peas and corn, the shredded chicken, the chicken stock, the cooked and drained pasta, the seasoned salt, the cayenne, and 1 1/2 cups of the cheese. Season with the salt and pepper, to taste. Mix well.
Pour the contents of the bowl into the 9 x 13 pan (or between the 2 pans if dividing), and top it with the rest of the cheese. This is the point where you wrap and freeze or continue to the oven.
Bake for 40–45 minutes, until it’s nice and bubbly. (If it looks like the cheese might burn, cover it with foil.)
If you’re freezing this recipe for later, wrap it tightly in plastic and foil before placing it in the freezer. A day before you want to cook, take it out of the freezer and thaw it in the fridge for 24 hours. Then cook as usual.
This is the most amazing fish sandwich I ever made.
There’s no other way to describe this sandwich, something that shouldn’t work in some ways and yet is absolutely perfectly crunchy and delicious. It starts with the cole slaw, ideally made a day in advance…
1 medium cabbage, sliced thinly
2 medium carrots, peeled, and finely chopped
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon Kosher dill pickle juice
1 teaspoon celery seed (not salt)
You can use a machine, but I like to finely slice my cabbage with a chef’s knife, cutting as thin as possible. Place the chopped cabbage in a large bowl.
For the carrots, peel them to remove the outer skin, and throw that away. Continue to peel the carrots into paper-thin slivers until there’s no carrots left. Finely chop those slivers and add them to the cabbage.
Add the mayonnaise, pickle juice, and celery seed, mixing thoroughly. Keep it in the fridge, covered with plastic, until ready to use. The next day, before using, taste it and decide whether you want more mayo or pickle juice, salt or pepper. Mix it well before using.
Like a classic pulled pork sandwich, the slaw will go inside! But it needs a sauce to tie it all together. Make this a day ahead as well.
1/2 cup ketchup
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon dill pickle relish
1/4 teaspoon Tony Cacherre’s Original Creole Seasoning (optional)
1/4 teaspoon salt (skip if using Creole seasoning)
1/8 teaspoon pepper (skip if using Creole seasoning)
Tony Cacherre’s Original Creole Seasoning is a personal favorite, and it works well in this sandwich. You can find it in many stores, and online. But if you don’t have it handy, salt and pepper do the job.
Combine all the ingredients in a bowl, mixing well. Keep it in the fridge, covered, until ready to use.
Cod or other white fish, preferably fresh, cut into sandwich-sized pieces (about 4″ square)
1 cup all-purpose flour (or Cup4Cup gluten-free flour, see below)
1 teaspoon celery seed (not salt)
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/8 teaspoon cayenne (optional)
2 eggs
1 cup corn flakes, crumbled (or Corn Chex for gluten-free, see below)
avocado oil or other oil for frying
I had some grouper the last time I made this sandwich, and the results were fantastic. I suggest you use whatever white fish is your favorite.
Cut the fish into pieces that will fit the bread you’re using, and make sure the filets are the same thickness. Don’t make them thicker than 1/2″ or they’ll stay raw in the middle when you fry them. Set them aside.
In a bowl, combine the flour, celery seed, salt and pepper and cayenne (if you’re using it). Mix well.
In another bowl, crack the eggs and scramble them.
Put the corn flakes (or Corn Chex) in a plastic bag, squeezing the air out of it. Crush them into oatmeal-sized pieces, then pour them into a third bowl.
Heat a heavy pan with a couple of inches of oil. One by one, take the fish pieces and dredge them in the flour mixture, then into the egg, and then into the corn flakes, pressing into the corn flakes to make sure they stick to the fish.
When the oil in the pan is hot enough, fry the fish pieces on both sides, until cooked through and golden brown. Place them on paper towels to drain.
To assemble the sandwiches, take a slice of the rye bread and spread some of the sauce on it. Place a piece of the fried fish on top, then cover it with some of the cole slaw. Place a few thin slices of Swiss cheese on top of the cole slaw. Take another slice of rye, slather it with the sauce, and place it on top of the slaw, sauce-side down.
Brush the top of the sandwich with the melted butter, and place the sandwich on a sheet pan. Do the same with the rest of the sandwiches.
Place the sandwiches in the oven and bake them until the cheese melts. Cut the sandwiches in half and serve.
The gluten-free sandwich in the front.
What I changed to make this sandwich gluten-free…
My go-to all-purpose gluten-free flour is Cup4Cup. It works really well in any dish that requires all-purpose flour.
Not all corn flakes are gluten-free, and the ones that are can be hard to find. I found that Corn Chex cereal is a good substitute. It’s gluten-free, and has a nice crunch.
The Pepperidge Farm Marble Swirl Rye Bread is the ideal bread to use for this sandwich. But I made a pretty darn tasty gluten-free version using this Schar bread, found in many supermarkets.
Lamb is such an underrated meat. It was one of the things my Mom cooked really well, so I grew up loving it, and was never bothered by the gaminess of it.
If the gaminess does bother you, look for American lamb. If gamier meat doesn’t bother you, go for the gusto and get grass-fed New Zealand or Australian lamb.
The balsamic vinegar in this recipe is not the crazy expensive stuff. It’s the bottle you can get for about 9 bucks in the supermarket.
Place the lamb in a plastic bag and pour the marinade in, squishing it around to make sure it makes contact with the meat. Place it in a pan or a bowl to prevent accidental leaking.
Screenshot
Let the lamb marinate for several hours at room temperature, or in the fridge overnight.
Before cooking, bring the lamb back to room temperature.
Screenshot
Use some oil in a hot pan, and then sear the lamb on both sides. Place a lid on the pan, and reduce the heat to medium-low.
I cook lamb until I get the lamb to a perfect medium. That means cooking to 130-135 degrees. But cook it the way you like it!
Update:
Last night, I used this recipe to marinate some baby lamb chops. I love these, because they look like mini porterhouse steaks, and meat off the bone is always juicier and tastier.
I placed the lamb in a freezer bag with the marinade, and let it marinate a solid three hours at room temperature. Any longer than that, and it would go to the fridge.
I always remove meat from the fridge and let it come back to room temperature before I cook it…and this time, I decided to try my air fryer, set at 400. Not only did it cook the lamb perfectly, it gave it that nice slight char on the outside, as if I grilled it. Delicious!
I grow several varieties of squash and pumpkins in my garden every year, so I’ve got an overload of blossoms. They’re delicious sweet or savory.
In my savory version, the blossoms are stuffed with ricotta cheese, lightly battered, fried and served with a delicious tomato sauce.
The sweet version is directly below.
At home, we went for a sweeter version for breakfast, using pancake mix as the base, experimenting with two fillings: raspberry preserves or strawberry cream cheese.
I simply followed the directions on the box of pancake mix, using fat-free milk instead of whole milk and a little less of the dry ingredients to make the batter thinner than I would use for regular pancakes. I use King Arthur Gluten-Free Pancake Mix, which requires adding an egg and melted butter to make a smooth, slightly sweet batter. I set that aside and let it rest for a few minutes.
Next, it’s off to the garden to snip a handful of squash blossoms. I prefer the ones that are open. They’re easier to stuff, but it’s also easier to spot the little critters that like to make themselves comfortable inside. I carefully snip the blossoms off the plant, then give them a light shake, which is enough to convince the bugs inside to fly out. It’s pretty cool to find a happy bee inside every blossom that I snip.
Other than making sure all foreign particles (and insects) have been removed from the blossoms, and pulling out the stamen, no other preparation is needed. I snip the stems right up to the blossom, and they’re ready to be stuffed.
Blossoms stuffed with strawberry cream cheese and the fantastic raspberry preserves from Briermere Farms on the North Fork of Long Island!
I heat a few inches of grapeseed oil (or any other high smoke point oil) in a pan to 325 degrees, then start the process: I stuff the blossoms, closing the flower petals around the stuffing, then carefully dip them in the pancake batter, and release them gently into the oil, flipping them as they fry, until they’re golden in color.
I drain them on paper towels, dust them with powdered sugar, and they’re ready to be enjoyed.
For the savory version, I make my own batter.
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup low-fat milk
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon olive oil
water, as needed
Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. In another bowl, whisk together the milk, eggs and olive oil.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet, and mix well. If the batter is too thick, add water until it’s smooth and looser than pancake batter. If it’s too thick, it’ll get clumpy. You want it to be thin–just enough to coat the blossoms well, without too much batter on each one.
Fresh out of the garden!
For the stuffing…
1 cup ricotta cheese
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella
pinch of salt
pinch of oregano
In a bowl, mix the stuffing ingredients well.
Add a small spoonful of the stuffing into the cleaned and prepared squash blossoms. Dip them in the batter to coat, then gently place them in a pan or deep fryer with grapeseed oil, or other high smoke point oil at 325 degrees.
Stuffed and ready to dip in the batter. (I eat the baby squashes attached as well!)
Fry them until they’re golden, placing them on a metal rack to cool and to let the oil drip off.
I prefer a deep fryer over a pan of oil.
Season with salt while they’re hot!
They’re delicious by themselves or with a little marinara sauce on the side.
This is the time of year when I stop making banana bread for the gang at work, because the zucchini in my garden grows out of control. I’m pretty good at keeping an eye on things, but sometimes a giant zucchini pops up out of nowhere, and at that point, the only thing I can do is make zucchini bread!
I was recently told that zucchinis are green…summer squash is yellow. I use the word “zucchini” interchangeably, but technically, the variety I grow is, in fact, a zucchini and a squash!
Whatever you call it, use it! And make some delicious bread!
If the zucchini is really large, I slice it lengthwise, and remove the center section with all the seeds, because I don’t want that in my bread. But the smaller ones don’t have that problem. Then I grate the rest on a box grater. This recipe needs about 2 1/2 cups of grated zucchini, which is about 16 ounces.
When it comes to baking, I use my small kitchen scale to make most of the crucial measurements, because accuracy counts. It’s much more accurate than going by volume. But this recipe has both measurements, so you can try either method.
Substituting gluten-free flour for the basic all-purpose flour, will make this recipe gluten-free. I like to use the all-purpose GF flour by Cup4Cup.
And I like using olive oil as my vegetable oil, because I love the flavor and its health benefits. But feel free to use whatever vegetable oil you like.
2 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon Kosher salt 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)
1 cup light brown sugar 1/2 cup white cane sugar 3/4 cup vegetable oil 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 1/2 cups (16 oz.) grated zucchini
Preheat the oven to 350°.
Grease an 8 x 8“ or 5″ x 10″ loaf pan with some of the vegetable oil. Then line it with parchment paper…it makes it easier to remove later.
In a bowl, mix together the first five ingredients.
In a separate bowl, combine the remaining ingredients except the zucchini.
Add the grated zucchini to the bowl with the flour mixture and toss it around to coat.
Add the dry mixture to the wet mixture and stir until it’s combined.
Pour it into the pan.
Bake until a toothpick comes out clean, about 45 to 60 minutes…but it could be even longer. Every oven is different, and different zucchini can have different moisture levels, so you may need to cook yours longer, depending on your situation. Even with all the high-tech thermometers I have, I find the good old-fashioned toothpick method still works best.
Remove the baking pan from the oven and let it cool for 15 minutes. Then turn it over on a wire rack, removing the pan, and let the zucchini bread cool completely to room temperature before slicing.
This bread is so good, I just might let the zucchini overgrow more often!
I recently cooked another batch of zucchini bread in a round pan. Worked great! And I experimented with substitutions: I replaced 1/2 cup of the all-purpose flour with corn meal to give it a more rustic taste. And I replaced the 1/2 cup white cane sugar with 1/4 cup of maple syrup. Delicious!
These shrimp burgers are not only delicious, they’re pretty low in calories. The key to success is to use raw shrimp, not cooked. (Overcooked shrimp is never a good thing.)
I always use wild-caught American shrimp, not that nasty stuff from Asia. I’ve found wild-caught American shrimp almost everywhere, from supermarkets to membership clubs, and for a great price. You just have to make a bit of an effort to read the packages.
For this recipe, you don’t need to spend extra money for large shrimp. You’ll be chopping them up anyway…and I think the smaller shrimp are tastier. (A white fish, like cod, is also a good substitute for the shrimp.)
These patties hold together pretty well without a lot of breadcrumbs because the shrimp that goes in the food processor becomes a sticky paste that holds everything together. At around 1 calorie per gram, shrimp is a dieter’s best friend.
This recipe can be made gluten-free simply by using GF breadcrumbs. I make my own by buying frozen GF bread, like Udi’s. I toast it, then put it in the food processor to make breadcrumbs. They’re delicious, and you’d never know they’re gluten free!
1 lb. thawed, peeled and deveined medium wild-caught American shrimp 1/3 cup breadcrumbs 1 tablespoon fresh-squeezed lemon juice 1/2 teaspoon sea salt 1/4 teaspoon granulated garlic 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 1/2 small Vidalia onion or 1 scallion, finely chopped 1 large egg, lightly beaten Splash of cayenne pepper sauce, like Frank’s Red Hot, or a pinch of cayenne pepper (optional)
Oil, for frying
Coarsely chop half of the shrimp. Place the other half in a food processor, and pulse it until smooth.
Combine all the shrimp in a bowl with the breadcrumbs, lemon juice, salt, garlic, pepper, onion, egg and optional cayenne pepper sauce.
I had a few radishes, so I chopped them up and mixed them with the onion. (That’s what the little red flakes are.) But that’s just me!
Refrigerate the mix for 10 minutes. Then remove it from the fridge and form the patties. (I like to use a 1/3 cup measure for this.) Once you’ve formed the patties, put them back in the fridge for another 10 minutes.
Heat the oil (I try to use as little as possible for calories’ sake) in a non-stick pan over medium-high heat. I like avocado oil, but use your favorite. And if you’re not on a diet, use 1/4 cup of oil to get a nice fry going. Carefully place the burgers in the pan (they’re fragile!) and cook them about 3 minutes per side.
Getting a good sear on the first side before flipping them will help hold them together. You don’t want to undercook the burgers, but you don’t want to overcook shrimp, either.
Sometimes a piece will break off. That’s OK!
I make a simple remoulade using 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard to 1 tablespoon mayonnaise. Another option is to combine mayo with some Old Bay seasoning.
Home fries are a simple thing. But we’ve all been to a diner where the home fries tumbled out of a bag of frozen pre-cut potatoes, and tasted like cardboard. It’s time home fries got the respect they deserve.
Let’s get one thing out in the open from the very beginning: home fries were never meant to be low in calories! Mine are definitely not diet food! So, as you read this blog, if you’re shaking your head at the fat and calories, know that I know that you know!
3 lbs. Yukon gold or yellow potatoes, washed and cut into 1/2″ cubes 1 lb. bacon, chopped 2 Vidalia onions, finely chopped Lawry’s Seasoned Salt 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
I like my potatoes with the skin on, so I remove any blemishes on the skins, then cut the potatoes in approximately 1/2” cubes. Some can be larger, some smaller, and they don’t have to be perfect squares. The smaller pieces will cook and soften faster, while the larger pieces will retain their shape and texture.
Place the cut potatoes in a pot of clean, cold water over high heat on the stove. Add a little Kosher salt to the water. Let the potatoes cook until they are a bit al dente…a bit underdone. They will cook some more later in the pan. Drain them and set the potatoes aside.
Chop the bacon and start frying it. While the bacon is frying, finely chop the two onions. Add the onions to the pan when the bacon fat has rendered and the bacon has cooked completely to a golden brown. Now, here’s where eyebrows are often raised: Leave all the bacon fat in the pan!
Leave the bacon fat! It’s all about flavor!
Cook the onions until they are soft and translucent.
Now add the drained potatoes to the pan, mixing well, coating the potato pieces in the bacon fat.
Lightly season the potatoes with the Lawry’s Seasoned Salt. Remember: there’s a lot of salt already in the pan from the bacon.
Cook the potatoes in the pan, mixing well, and then add the butter in small pieces, scattered around the pan. Keep mixing until the potatoes brown a little.
One option that I like and started doing only recently: I add a pound or two of sweet potatoes to the mix. I keep the measurements of all the other ingredients exactly the same. I boil the sweet potatoes separately from the regular potatoes, because they cook more quickly. I drain them and set them aside and then mix them with the regular potatoes in the pan.
Either way, these home fries are delicious, and they store well in the freezer. So if you have guests coming over, you can make them a few days ahead of time and then just thaw them and re-heat them in the pan when it’s time to serve.
