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Potato O'Brien
6 medium-sized potatoes Salt Chopped pimientos Onion-juice Wash, pare and cut potatoes into half-inch dice. Dry between towels. Fry in hot fat until a delicate brown. Drain on soft paper, sprinkle with salt, then saute them in just enough fat to keep them from burning, adding finely chopped pimientos and a few drops of onion-juice. These should be tossed frequently during cooking, and not pressed close to the pan.
A two-stage potato: deep-fried first, then finished in a little fat with pimiento and onion juice. The success of it rests on the potatoes being genuinely dry before they meet the fat.
- Dry the dice thoroughlySurface water is what makes the fat spit and the cubes steam rather than brown. Towel them well; if you have rinsed off the starch, dry them twice.
- Frying temperature"Hot fat" is not specified; for a delicate brown a modern cook would work in the usual deep-frying range, roughly 350-375F. Cooler than that and the potatoes absorb fat and slump; much hotter and the outsides colour before the centres soften.
- Fry in batchesSix potatoes' worth of half-inch dice will drop the temperature of a domestic pan of oil sharply. Two or three batches keeps the fat hot and the cubes separate.
- PimientosJarred pimientos are still sold under that name; jarred whole roasted sweet red peppers are the nearest substitute. Drain and blot them before chopping, or they will wet the finished potatoes.
- Onion-juiceGrate a peeled onion on a fine grater and press the pulp in a sieve or a corner of a towel; a few drops of the liquid gives the flavour without browned onion pieces. Grated onion itself will scorch in the second pan.
- Do not press them downThe instruction to toss frequently and keep the dice loose is the point of the second stage. Crowding and pressing turns the dish into a cake of hash browns, which is a different thing entirely.
- FatAny neutral oil with a high smoke point works for the deep frying; bacon fat, butter or a mixture is worth using for the short saute, where the flavour registers.
- YieldSix medium potatoes serve four to six as a side dish. Serve at once -- the crispness lasts minutes, not longer.