Cheesy Potatoes

© 2023 Aaron Parr. All Rights Reserved.

Ingredients

  • Olive oil
  • Russet potato (large. or 2 potatoes)
  • 3-4 garlic cloves
  • 4-6 green onions
  • 1 red bell pepper
  • Cheddar cheese
  • Cumin, ground, 2-3 table spoons
  • Black pepper, ground, 1-2 table spoons
  • Salt (optional), tea spoon
  • Rosemary, dried, table spoon
  • Dill weed, dried, table spoon
  • 6 eggs
  • Salsa, 1/2 cup
  • Parmessan cheese

Directions

  1. Spritz olive oil in a large skillet, and heat it on the range.
  2. Season the olive oil with a layer of ground black pepper. And optionally some salt.
  3. Slice the potato into thin discs - each about 1/8" thick (less than 1/3 cm).
  4. Place the potato discs in the frying pan so that none overlap.
  5. Slice the garlic cloves thinly in discs.
  6. Chop the green onions into 1/4" pieces.
  7. Check the potatoes. When they are crisped on one side, flip them all over to fry the other side.
  8. Place the garlic between the gaps of the potatoes so that the bottom of the skillet is completely covered.
  9. Turn down the heat so that you do not burn the garlic, but can still fry the potatoes.
  10. Finely grate the cheddar cheese over the potatoes to cover them completely. The goal is for just enough cheese to melt and bind the whole thing together.
  11. Cover the cheese with the green onions.
  12. Dust it all with cumin, rosemary, and dill weed.
  13. Dice the bell pepper into chunks and spread over the potatoes.
  14. In another skillet, fry the 6 eggs together, sunnyside up.
  15. When the eggs are firm enough, flip them over and fry the other side. You are making an egg pancake.
  16. When the cheese around the edges of the potatoes has crisped in the pan, turn off the heat.
  17. Using a spatula, carefully lift the potatoes without separating them and slide them all together onto a large plate. I tend to carefully pry them up while tipping the pan so that they slide on to my plate.
  18. Do the same with the eggs, covering the potatoes like a blanket.
  19. Top it with salsa and shredded parmessan.

Notes

This is one meal for me and it doesn't keep. For smaller portions to share, after step 18 cut it in portions and serve from there. Top each serving with salsa and parmessan separately.

The art to doing this well is how much you fry the potatoes. The goal is for crispy outsides and creamy centers. If you are obssessive, you could soften the discs by steaming them before frying them. I did this once and it was tasty, but I don't think this dish is worth that much effort. The real advantage to this thing is that it tastes good and can be served in 15-30 minutes. Fry things in the pan as you chop the next batch of ingredients and you should be fine.

My boys called this 'Cheesy Potatoes' the first time I made it for them. A friend of mine once laughingly called it 'Irish Nachos'.