I know I’m dating myself with the Shaun Cassidy reference. He was the Justin Timberlake…scratch that…Harry Styles of my generation. Boyishly handsome, teen actor/pop sensation of Hollywood pedigree–both his mom Shirley Jones and half-brother, heartthrob David Cassidy, co-starred on the popular 70’s musical sit-com The Partridge Family–Shaun was for a brief time our teenage obsession. He starred in the modestly successful young adult mystery series The Hardy Boys (don’t ask me which Hardy) and had a hit Top 40 single “Da Do Run Run.” My best friend Aimee and I would play the 45-single incessantly while pouring over teen fan magazine features about him.

In fact, that is what we were doing one day after school when we (I mean me since we were at my house) came up with the brilliant idea to make hash browns for a snack.

At thirteen, neither one of us were particularly skilled at cooking, save for the occasional Nestle Toll House chocolate chip cookies, grilled cheese sandwiches (aka Kraft singles on bread melted in a toaster oven), and scrambled eggs. I think we were learning how to make tuna casserole with canned tuna and cream of mushroom soup in Home Economics, so hash browns didn’t seem all that farfetched to us. Mom had russet potatoes and oil in the pantry. What else would we need?

We peeled a couple of potatoes and set about shredding it with Mom’s flat grater, which took much longer than we anticipated. By the time we finished we had a sloppy wet brownish mass in front of us. Undeterred, I gamely pulled out a large skillet. set it on the stove, added a good glug of oil and cranked up the gas. Being the novice cooks that we were, we didn’t have the foresight to squeeze out the excess liquid before adding the shredded potatoes to the hot skillet. Oil splattered everywhere, flames shot up…then the smoke detector went off. Aimee rushed to grab something to use to dissipate the smoke, eventually getting it under control after about 5 mins. of furious fanning under the sensor. Meanwhile, I turned down the heat a little and poked the potatoes around with a spatula trying to keep the whole damn thing from scorching. After about 10 mins. or so, we deemed it ready.

If you ask Aimee today, 40-plus years later, what she thought of our hash browns, she probably wouldn’t remember, though she could easily recount in vivid detail setting off the smoke detector and frantically trying to wave off the smoke…oh and the part about playing that Shaun Cassidy record over and over again. I remember eating them with tons of ketchup, which I’m sure mitigated some of the greasy, gummy texture. All in all not a horrible first attempt. Nevertheless, I would spend the next several years making progressively less mediocre hash browns, never quite achieving perfection.

What am I looking for in the perfect hash brown? First and foremost it should have a shatteringly crisp golden crust. Second, the interior must be moist and tender. I’ve tried countless times to achieve this by presoaking the shredded potatoes in cold water, then draining and squeezing out as much of the liquid as possible, usually by wringing it in a clean dish cloth. Soaking the potatoes in cold water slowed down oxidation, as well as aided in browning and crisping. However, the interior part of the potato always retained a bit of gumminess. You could patiently flip the crusty parts around continuously until you have layers of crispy bits throughout the hash browns but then you lose some of the tenderness. Or, you could form the hash browns into patties and deep fry them until golden. I’ve tried them all.

The method I hadn’t tried–and it’s silly because I’ve used it for other iterations of crispy potatoes–was parcooking the shredded potatoes. Parcooking potatoes gelatinizes surface starches which allows the exterior to get super crispy when roasted or fried while maintaining a tender, moist interior. I do this when making patatas bravas. Why wouldn’t I do this for hash browns?

Today was one of those days when I just felt unmotivated and uninspired to cook anything, much less to be creative. I wanted a simple comfort food to put me in a calmer frame of mind after hours of watching the news and reading articles online. Staring at my root vegetable basket–which contained a yellow onion, 2 russets and 1 sweet potato–the idea of hash browns seemed a good plan as any. Why not give the parcooking a method a go?

I peeled and shredded both types of potatoes and covered it in ice water to soak for about 15 mins., then drained and repeated the process. While the potatoes were soaking, I grated half of an onion, squeezing out some of the juices. I parcooked the drained potatoes in boiling water, in batches, rinsed them under cold water to cool down, then squeezed out as much of the excess liquid as I could in a dish cloth. The shreds were then combined with grated onion, rice flour, cornstarch, seasonings and some dried parsley flakes.

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In the past, I’ve simply pan fried my hash browns free form. This time I opted to pack the hash brown mix into a 1″ deep, 4″ metal tart ring to form 4 individual patties. Despite having no egg to help bind the shredded potatoes together (I wanted to keep it mostly potato), the patties held up quite well, particularly after I put them in the freezer to firm up for 10 mins. before cooking.

I debated whether to pan fry or deep fry, ultimately choosing to pan fry in a combination of olive oil and butter for better flavor. Pan frying does take longer–the hash browns went for about 10 mins. on each side, low and slow. To ensure that the potatoes would be cooked through, given the thickness of the patties, I pan fried the first side covered. In the case of hash browns, patience is definitely a virtue, so don’t rush it. I flipped them a few times to make sure the crust was a nice deep golden brown and crunchy.

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I can honestly say, these were the most perfectly crisp hash browns I have ever made–I daresay ever had. The combination of potatoes gave the hash browns a hint of sweetness that complimented the savory seasonings. The addition of rice flour and cornstarch created an even crunchier crust, which crackled when I broke into the hash brown with the side of my fork. Without a doubt parcooking the shredded potatoes was the key to making the Perfect Hash Browns. It only took 40 plus years for me to figure it out! Aimee would be impressed.

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Perfect Hash Browns

Yield: 4 pieces

• 2 medium russet potatoes, peeled
• 1 medium sweet potato, peeled
• 1/2 small yellow onion, peeled
• 1 t. garlic powder
• 1 1/4 t. sea salt
• 1/2 t. black pepper
• 1 t. smoked paprika
• 1/4 t. cayenne (optional)
• 2 t. dried parsley flakes
• 1/2 c. rice flour
• 2 T. cornstarch

1. Shred the potatoes and immediately cover in ice water and soak for 15 mins. Drain off the water and repeat the process.
2. Bring a medium pot of water to a boil. Working in batches parcook the shredded potato for about 90 seconds. Run some cold water over the par cooked potatoes in a colander.
3. Dump the potatoes onto a clean dish towel, gather up the sides and squeeze out as much as of the liquid as possible by wringing tightly.
4. Grate the onion and squeeze out about 1/2 the juices. Combine onion with potato and the rest of the ingredients. Toss to thoroughly mix.
5. Tightly pack the potato mix into a greased ring mold to form 4 individual patties. Place in the freezer for 10-15 mins. to firm up.
6. Heat a large heavy bottom skillet on medium heat; Add enough olive oil to really coat the surface and 3 T. unsalted butter.
7. Once the butter in completely melted and bubbling, place the hash brown patties in the skillet. Turn down the heat to medium low and cover the skillet.
8. Cook the first side for about 8-10 mins., checking periodically for browning. Flip the patties and continue cooking for another 8-10 mins. with the lid off.
9. Turn the patties a couple more times to get a nice deep golden crunchy crust.