Hashed browns, one way.

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I looked around online, searching the various recipes.  Some wanted egg whites, others suggested this or that.  I was looking for simple.  No flour, no egg whites, not excessive handling or care.  Time wasn't as much of an issue.  While I have flour, it is old.  More, I really don't want to use flour if I don't know how fresh it is.  While it won't go bad in three days, from grinding, as one woman suggested, it will in three months, quicker if handled.  Now, when I say bad, I mean it will become nutrient neutered.  One can still eat it, it's just that anything in it that would make eating it useful, will have leeched out.  My flour, even kept in the freezer, is simply too old.

The simplest idea, and easy enough to try, was quite simple.  Peel potatoes, the standard type if I can't pull the name out from the tip of my tongue.  Grate those, then pat them dry with paper towels.  In my case, as in the example given, it took two bunches of paper towels to remove enough moisture.  Then simply put in a pan on medium high, with a little oil, and let cook for about 15 minutes.  Flip and repeat.  I used clarified butter from the other day.  Now, in my opinion, that was a bit raw still.  However, since I had eggs to fry, and wondering about that from the start, plus wanting the browns to stay warm, I had set the oven to 200F, and used an oven able china plate as the medium for the browns.  In the time it took me to cook the eggs, the browns had finished to my liking.  Still just a bit raw, but perfectly crisped.  I still think, perhaps, parboiling or some such, then grating... maybe even soaking to leach some of the starch?  I'll begin experimenting.  Still, very simply, this worked well enough in a pinch.  Eggs, these, and a few of the remaining slices of bread but toasted and buttered, with tea on the side.  Should have had a glass of milk for a change.  I might just have one in a bit.

Next?  Boxes, I believe.  Then hitting the laundry.  It's all done, it just needs tended.  I really doubt I will get much beyond those.  Not even sure I will get to, or completely through, those.  Though, perhaps.  If so, I will begin in on the kitchen.  I'm getting excited to cook again.

Just a word on ingredients.  I was looking for ingredients, as the chef/cook suggested.  Some beans are not like other beans.  At $25 for a couple of pounds, I do believe I will find other beans.  A bit of research will find beans which hold up better under intense cooking but at a much more reasonable price.  If this were a yearly feast, a tradition, for a family... I could see it.  But not a daily driver.  Further, the sausage suggested was... at the cheapest... $33 for eight, plus double and more for shipping.  No, I think I'll source locally.  Not sure there are any sausage makers anymore, of the craft variety.  I'll take mass manufactured to that.  Something funny?  The French ate what they did because it was all they had, often, at least initially.  Eventually they became snobs about it.  Before that, however, it was just what was available.  As you notice, that dish actually, when you think about it, is a way of taking leftovers that would not serve many on their own and turning them into something better.  Cook with both the spirit, and at times if available for even peasant wallets the original or traditional ingredients, and enjoy.  Don't spend a fortune on a meal.  That is... for the pigs.

It's chilly out there.  The sidewalk and driveway seem to have cleared, unless it has snowed again.  Two, three, days of snowing?  Crazy.  It's pretty.  It's nearing the last of the snow.  I didn't have to shovel.  I just wish there was someone to go out and play in it.  The last snow fort, a snowball fight... do they do those things anymore, or has the tyrannical safety nannies of the world shut down all the fun boys used to have?  Anyway...  On with the show.  Later.