Whenever my grandparents visited, we would all go to Coco’s. No matter the time of day, I would order pancakes – the kind that they plate to look like Mickey Mouse – with bacon, hash browns, and scrambled eggs.

I’ve always really loved breakfast foods.

On these outings, we always joked that my dad was a human garbage disposal. Half the time he wouldn’t order anything for himself – or something small – because he knew that with three young kids all ordering their own kid’s meal, there were going to be a LOT of leftovers.

I don’t recall ever actually bringing home leftovers from restaurants until we were much older, because my dad was always there to eat up anything we didn’t want or couldn’t finish.

And that was the case at home, too. Drop something on the floor? That’s okay, it’s “fresh-ground meat!” Burn something? Yum, extra flavor!

My dad loved food – and I miss getting to feed him.

I’ve made this home fries recipe a number of times, and it never fails to be excellent.

It’s fairly straightforward to make, doesn’t take too long, and the potatoes get suuuuper crispy!

I happened to have some leftover roast pork butt from the roast pork butt sandwich recipe I posted recently, so I tossed that in to crisp up with the potatoes, and HOLY COW was that an excellent addition.

I have a feeling just about any sort of leftover meat would go great in this – bacon, sausage, pulled pork, rotisserie chicken… the possibilities are endless!

Home Fries

adapted from Serious Eats

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 pounds (575g) small new or fingerling potatoes
• 2 qt water
• 2 tbsp (30g) kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon (15ml) distilled white vinegar
• 3 tbsp vegetable oil, divided
• leftover cooked meat (bacon, sausage, roast pork butt, etc.), optional
• freshly ground black pepper

Cooking Directions

1. Place potatoes in a pot and cover with 2 quarts (2L) of cold water. Add kosher salt and vinegar. Bring to a boil over high heat and boil until potatoes are tender, about 5 minutes after they reach a boil. Drain. As soon as potatoes are cool enough to handle, split into quarters and toss with 1 tbsp vegetable oil in a bowl.
2. Heat the remaining 2 tbsp vegetable oil in a large nonstick or cast iron skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add potatoes and cook, tossing, until crisp and golden brown on all sides, about 6 minutes.
3. Add meat, season with freshly ground black pepper, and cook until everything is crisp. Serve hot.

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