I love Hashbrown Potatoes. It’s true. I especially like them with Bacon or Sausage and eggs for breakfast or brunch. My favourite hash browns are  the finely shredded style most often served in restaurants. The little cubed ones or the smashed ones (at the White Spot) or the thicker shoestring style are not for me. The best restaurant hashbrowns I’ve had recently were at Ricki’s All Day Grill in Parksville. Finely shredded, spread out and fried on both sides. Excellent. 

My Friend Mike, an excellent chef,  recommends making your own from scratch. That’s probably the best way to go. Shred a potato on a cheese grater, soak in water, squeeze out the moisture in cheesecloth. Seems like a lot of work. I may try it one Sunday morning when I’m ambitious and want to impress my favourite girl. But in the meantime it’s going to be frozen. 

In recent months the food stores I visit regularly have not had the finely shredded hash browns which is very disappointing. What’s the matter with McCains and Cavendish? There is a market for them. At least a market of me.

I saw these in Costco and decided to try them. Apparently they are dehydrated so you add hot water to the carton, let it sit for 12 minutes, drain and cook. I tried them. Pretty good but even though they claim to be real potatoes the fact that they are dehydrated seems kind of Fake to me. Maybe I should get over it since I think the 33 sailors in the Vendée Globe Solo Sailing Race have probably been eating dehydrated food for the last two months. So I may give them another go. 

But yesterday I saw several brands of hash brown patties in the freezer section and decide to give them a try. I hesitated at first since this product reminded me of the ‘Sunshine Breakfast’ on BC Ferries. 

Last night was the test. I cooked some beautiful asparagus, topped it with perfectly poached eggs drowning in Hollandaise, accompanied with two of the hash brown patties. About 15 minutes in the oven at 450. Easy as can be. To my delight I loved them. 

So if you want easy to cook hash browns, I suggest you try these.

Just saying…