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Hashed Brown Potatoes and Eggs
Answer
Dear Kim
HASHED BROWN POTATOES AND EGGS
This is my way of making hashed brown potatoes, based on the famous recipe given in the Fannie Farmer Cookbook, an American classic.
Roughly dice raw or cooked peeled potatoes into pieces similar to the kernels found in sweetcorn (some authorities suggest steaming them for 5-8 minutes and then cooling so that they are semi-cooked, then grating them). Season well with salt and a little pepper. For every large potato or per person`s serving, allow 2 tablespoons of bacon fat or butter (preferably clarified). Place the fat in a heavy ovenproof pan, I like to use an Aga cast iron dish. Heat on the Simmering Plate and then add the potatoes. Stir until they are all well-coated with the fat and then pat down into one large cake or spoon the pearls into circular cutters to make several individual cakes, pressing down with a spoon to compact the mixture. Transfer to the floor of the Aga Roasting Oven and cook for 20 further minutes if using cooked potatoes, and 30 if using raw. Turn once, two-thirds of the way through cooking.
I think a good fried egg is the best accompaniment to hashed browns, with a decent runny yolk. Cook in a little of your chosen fat a cast iron pan on the Simmering Plate. The pan can alternatively be placed on the floor of the Roasting Oven to fry the eggs. If a lot are wanted, fry in an Aga roasting tin, half or full size. To add all the eggs simultaneously so that they all cook at the same rate, crack the eggs first onto a soup plate. They will keep separate and the whole lot can easily be quickly slid into the hot tin with preheated fat before returning to the floor of the oven to fry. For a fat-free version, use a circle of Bake-O-Glide on the Simmering Plate and crack one egg onto it in the middle. Lower the lid and allow 1 1/2 - 2 minutes.
Other favourite ways to cook eggs include omelettes, see my column in the current Aga Magazine (Summer 2004), or eggs baked en cocotte using ramekins in the Roasting Oven, with cheese, seasoning and a little cheese, also often called Alpine Eggs. Poached eggs work well in a shallow non-stick pan on the Simmering Plate, with the pan half on the hotplate and the water just at a quiver. Neither salt nor vinegar are needed if you use, as you should, fresh eggs. Gently slide the eggs in and after they have formed and cooked as you prefer, lift out using a slotted spoon. The so-called "whirlpool" method, where the hot water is stirred with a circular motion, is not in my opinion of much worth. True, it sounds an appealing technique, but fails miserably when put into practice. Not using fresh eggs is the principal reason for strands of half-cooked albumen straying in the water. It is a fact universally acknowledged that the British public sadly rarely enjoys the delights of a proper poached egg at home, due for some reason to an illogical fear of cooking them in the necessary water. So often people sadly prefer to cook what are in fact steamed eggs in special saucepans holding little metal or plastic cups, the manufacturers of which incorrectly claim produce poached eggs. More maddening still, the diabolical little cups always turn out to be an absolute nightmare to wash up afterwards. A just reward for cowardice I say!
Serve your hashed brown potatoes and eggs with lots of Aga grilled bacon. While giving an Aga Demonstration and training some American Aga Specialists recently, I was asked how to get really crisp streaky bacon, much-loved by all serious Americans already reaching for their maple syrup. After extensive experimentation I am pleased to report that for the best and crispiest results, place the bacon on Bake-O-Glide on a baking tray or plain shelf and cook on the floor of the Roasting Oven for 12-18 minutes. For thin streaky bacon, especially the kind most commonly available in the States, this method is superior to grilling on a rack at the very top of the Roasting Oven.
Best Wishes
Richard Maggs
THE AGA COOKERY DOCTOR
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Dear Richard, I would like to know the best way to fry hashbrowns on a griddle and also the best way to cook eggs. Kim