How to win friends and impress lovers (with hashbrowns)

** UPDATE: My aunt, who works for a very reputable potato company, suggested placing the potatos in the fridge overnight before beginning this process.  She says it increases the natural sugars in the potato which allows them to brown better.  Thanks Heather! **

I made shredded hashbrowns from scratch for the second time in my life... However, it was the first time I actually did a little research first.  Mui delicioso!

Here's what I did...

Ingredients:

• 4 Medium (preferably yellow or gold) potatoes (or one per serving intended)
• 1/4 diced onion
• 1 tbps sea or kosher salt
• 1 tbps ground black pepper
• 2 1/2 Tbsp vegetable oil
• Skillet with good fitting lid (I prefer non-stick)

Instructions:

1. Shred potatoes using a food processor or cheese grater.
2. Immediately rinse off shredded potatoes very well under cold water.
3. On a cutting board with a lint free dish cloth, press the excess water out of the shredded potatoes.  If you have a salad spinner, you can use it if you're not afraid your shreds will get stuck.
4. Place oil in skillet and put on medium.
5. Mix in salt, pepper and onions and stir well into potatoes with hands.
6. Place shreds in pre-heated oil in skillet and distribute evenly.
7. At this point, I like to sprinkle seasoned salt evenly across the top.
8. Place lid on skillet and set a timer for about 10 minutes.
9. Pay attention to the potatoes here.  They shouldn't burn within these 10 minutes.  After about 7 or 8 minutes, you should be able to slide the hashbrowns around in the pan and they should hold together.  If they are cooking too fast, reduce the heat.  If they are cooking too slow, maintain the heat and go longer than 10 minutes.
10. Remove the lid of the skillet and set it aside, you won't need it for the remainder of the process.
11. After the skillet lid has been off for a minute or so, it's time to flip the hash browns.  If you're comfortable flipping things the _real_ way, just swirl the hashbrowns around in the pan to make sure they will hold through the flip and go for it.  If you're worried you'll get hashbrowns everywhere except the pan, use a heat-safe spatula that won't damage your pan and divide the hashbrowns up into 2 or 4 even pieces.  Then you should be able to manually flip each piece easily with a spatula.
12. Once again, I add some seasoned salt to the newly exposed side here
13. Allow the hashbrowns to finish cooking for 10 more minutes without any lid.
14. Serve and be worshipped.

So what happens here?

First of all, rinsing the potatoes off removes any excess starch and other natural bi-products that would cause the newly shredded taters to turn red with air exposure.

Next, pressing out the excess water ensures that your hashbrowns will become crispy lovable hashbrowns  and not mashed potatoes with black crispies on the outside.

Finally, cooking the first 10 minutes with the lid on allows the hashbrowns to cook in the middle.  The extra heat also sets up for a little extra crisp on the side that will eventually be the face side.

The rest of the recipe is just flavor.  You might consider adding diced green peppers and you'll have potatoes o'brien.   Whatever you add, make sure it can be cooked for 20 minutes over hot oil.

Enjoy!