Frozen hash to creamy mash ~ shortcut mashed potatoes

Mashed potatoes are great aren’t they?  But the process of making them is kind of (really) a pain.  Peel the potatoes, cut them, boil them (which takes forevveeerrrr it seems.)  Drain them, mash them, and mash them, and mash them.  Or if you’re fancy, rice them, and rice them.

I concocted this recipe basically out of necessity one week when it seemed like all my little (teething) girl would eat was mashed potatoes.  I didn’t want to spend another $6 on the fancy grocery store deli mashed potatoes and I didn’t really have the time (or patience) to make them from scratch.  So I opened my freezer to see if there was any food of the potato variety that I could soften and give to her.  I saw the hash browns.  I immediately knew this was my mashed potato shortcut.

This is great for a quickie weeknight mashed potato.

Here’s how I make them:

Recipe (makes about four servings)

• one 16 oz (1 lb) bag of frozen, shredded hash browns.  (I use the whole foods organic 365 brand.  I suppose you could also use the cubed potatoes.  I haven’t tried that yet.  I just usually always have shredded on hand.)
• 1.5 to 2 cups hot water
• 2 tbsp butter
• 1 tsp salt
• pepper to taste
• Add anything else you love in your mashed potatoes.  (cheese, cream cheese, chives, sour cream, etc.)

Melt two tablespoons of butter in a large, non-stick skillet on medium heat.  Use a pan with a large surface area.  This speeds up the cooking process a bit.  (I don’t have a very large non-stick skillet, so I used my enameled cast iron.)  You can brown the butter a bit if you like for a richer taste.

Poor the frozen hash browns into the skillet.  Add 1 1/2 to 2 cups of hot water.  Just add enough to come to the level of the potatoes.  Let it come to a soft boil then set the heat to low.  Cover and let simmer for 15 to 20 to minutes.  Stir half way through.  (If you had time to defrost the potatoes before hand, shorten the simmer time.)

After the potatoes have been simmering covered for about 15 or 20 minutes, remove the lid and continue to simmer for 5 more minutes.  This will get rid of some of the excess water.  If after five minutes they still look a little too wet for your liking, continue to simmer uncovered.  The hash browns will be fork tender at this point and you can mash them right there in the pan for a “rustic” texture.   Or you can transfer to a bowl and use your hand mixer.  Add salt and pepper to taste along with whatever  else you like.  Cheese, cream cheese, chives, etc.

Also, to sneak some green veggies into my daughter’s dinner or lunch I’ll throw in some frozen broccoli and steam them along with the potatoes.  They get fork tender as well and I mash them right in with the potatoes.

Dear Diary,

I went off my diet today because I took my blog photos on an empty stomach.  I ate my entire photo subject.  But is was sooooo worth it!

Enjoy!

Until next week,

jennifer