Homemade Potatoes O'Brien

Recently, a friend asked if I could use a few potatoes. Why would I turn away free potatoes? I said yes, and a couple days later I found a fifty pound bag of potatoes on the freezer by my door! My eyes about popped out of my head! After the initial shock of the sight of that huge bag wore off, I was so amused and still laugh about it.

I'm not one to back down to a food challenge, so I started pondering ways to add the spuds to my life before they went bad. That's how Homemade Potatoes O'Brien came to be in my life.

The process to make these potatoes is quick and easy, so I thought I would pass the process along to you- you know...in case a fifty pound bag of potatoes happens to show up at your doorstep. 😄 Just kidding! You don't have to have that many potatoes.

First, set two stockpots of water on the stove. Turn the eyes on to bring the water to a boil.

While the water is heating, prepare the potatoes by weighing out two pounds,  washing them well, and removing any eyes that may be trying to form in them.

Slice the potatoes into slices of desired thickness. Then, chop those slices into relatively similar sized cubes. I love my little chopper for this job! Make sure to add the chopped potatoes to a bowl of cold water to prevent discoloration while you are waiting on the water to boil.

My daughter helped me, and we had two batches to get us started and continually had a batch or two in process until we were done.

Once the water comes to a boil, drain the waiting potatoes and add them to the boiling water. When the water returns to a boil, time them for three minutes.

When the potatoes have boiled for three minutes, drain the potatoes ( I used a strainer over a large bowl so I could reuse my water without wasting water or the energy needed to heat new water.).

Immediately, submerge the hot potatoes into cold water to stop the cooking process. This completes the process known as blanching.

Stir the potatoes around a bit to make sure the middle cools. Once the potatoes have cooled, drain them, and spread them out to dry. I place mine on a clean towel.

You may need to pat them dry with paper towels or the dry edge of the towel, but once the potatoes are dry (not wet with soaking water), add them to a gallon sized freezer zip top bag.

To the bag of two pounds chopped potatoes, add one chopped onion and one cup of chopped bell peppers. Thankfully, I already had bags of one cup servings of chopped bell peppers in my freezer.

The bag should be sealed, removing as much air from the bag as possible, and then the bag should be placed flat in the freezer until needed.

That, my friends, is how I made Potatoes O'Brien. These are wonderful cooked in a little oil in a skillet with some spices or added to sausage, eggs, and cheese for a breakfast casserole.

Until we meet again, may you be blessed!