Poorly Dressed Chef: Bobkes

A cross between latkes and twice baked potatoes. Is it an appetizer or a side dish? Heck, why not both?

This one took some trial and error. I wanted to make something easy--no peeling or shredding potatoes. The solution seemed obvious: frozen hash browns. The first time I made this I discovered there was so much moisture in the hashbrowns that they steamed in the oven rather than bake. The bottoms never did get brown and they didn't crisp up. I had to replace the potato's natural water content with something else (the water did make it easy to "mold" the hashbrowns into Tater Discs...I needed to find another binder.

I could have put the potatoes in a kitchen towel and squeezed out as much water as possible but all my kitchen towels were in the laundry hamper. A salad spinner worked just as well. Once the excess water was extracted the Bobkes crisped up nicely.

I used a package for frozen hashbrowns (thawed), one large egg, a couple of tablespoons of half and half, some bacon (cooked and crumbled) and some sour cream and cream cheese to top 'em off.

First I emptied the hashbrowns into a salad spinner and gave a good whirl for a full minute.

You can see how much water the salad spinner collected

place the now dry potatoes into a mixing bowl. Add the egg and Half & Half and stir to combine.

I used a 1/3 Cup measure cup to put equaly amounts of potato goop onto my silicone baking mat. Parchment paper or a non-stick pan would work just as well. Pat the mounds down until they are between 1/4 and 1/2 inch thick and pop 'em into a 350 degree oven for 20 minutes.