Hash browns, fast food-style!

Since it's cold and snowy outside, I thought I might make some healthy porridge for breakfast and then blog about the rib-sticking high-fiber goodness, all the different grains we have, and what we top the bowls with... but I'll save that plan for another day.

Instead, my kids made a very specific and unusual breakfast request for cheeseburgers and "McDonald's potato patties." (Totally my fault, since I set the kids up with Netflix on my smartphone in bed in order to catch a few more zzz's and they chose an episode of SpongeBob SquarePants. That made them think about eating Krabby Patties with cheese, which of course led to the idea of cheeseburgers for breakfast.) Since it's the weekend and I just bought some ground beef yesterday, I decided to honor their non-breakfasty breakfast request and went googling for a potato patty recipe.

I found a very simple recipe that turned out just perfectly. While it's not exactly a healthy dish given the fact that it is pan fried in a bit of oil, I have no doubt that it came out healthier than if we'd gone to McD's for hash browns!

I did make some small cheeseburgers to go with them but they were eaten faster than I could whip out my phone for a picture!

Hash Browns

• 1 egg, beaten
• 4 medium potatoes, peeled 
• 1 medium onion
• salt and pepper
• vegetable oil for frying

Preparation method

1. Coarsely grate the potatoes and onion into a clean tea towel or strainer and then squeeze out the excess liquid. Place the mix in a large bowl.
   
2. Add the egg, a good couple of pinches of salt and freshly ground black pepper. Mix the ingredients well. (You need to salt the mix well otherwise the hash browns can be quite bland).
   
3. Heat a good glug of oil in a heavy based frying pan and when the oil is hot (but not smoking), add spoonfuls of the potato mixture into the pan and flatten into patties about 1cm thick. Flip over once browned and crispy - about 2-3 minutes each side.
   
4. Serve hot as a breakfast or supper side dish. Especially good with bacon and eggs. Or breakfast cheeseburgers.