Beautifully bright purple potatoes fried with caramelized onions and shiitake mushrooms.
Please say hello to my dear friend, guest writer Ashley Teplin, who made me the best breakfast potatoes I’ve ever eaten in my life. You need a little more time, but it’s worth it. ~ Elise
I won’t lie; I have a little potato problem.
With my potato infatuation, I could never stick to a carb-free lifestyle.
And my favorite meal of the day, breakfast, almost always comes with a side of this delicious starchy vegetable.
It depends on my mood but I usually prefer the toasted and perfectly crispy homemade fries.
This recipe is my take on that classic breakfast accompaniment. Have you ever had purple potatoes?
These small Peruvian potatoes are gaining popularity in grocery stores for their creamy texture and bright color. Cook them like new potatoes.
Shiitake mushrooms (pronounced shee-TAH-kay) are more expensive than regular button mushrooms, but they’re so much tastier; You only need a few to make your dish sing.
Remember that patience is the key to browning your potatoes, shiitake mushrooms and caramelizing the onions. Trust me, it’s worth the wait.
Purple potatoes with caramelized onions and shiitake mushrooms
ingredients
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3 slices of thick bacon
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1/2 pound new purple potatoes, halved then cut into small wedges
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1 small yellow onion, thinly sliced lengthways
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4 medium shiitake mushrooms, thinly sliced
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Extra virgin olive oil
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Kosher salt
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Freshly ground pepper
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1 pinch red pepper flakes
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1 tablespoon chopped fresh tarragon
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1 tablespoon chopped capers
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1/2 tablespoon unsalted butter
method
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Start by caramelizing the onions:
In a small skillet, heat a tablespoon of olive oil over low heat. Add the sliced onions in an even layer, after five minutes add 1/2 tablespoon butter, stir and add a pinch of kosher salt.
As you prepare your bacon and cook your mushrooms in the next few steps, be sure to stir the onions every few minutes and remove once they’re evenly browned. This should take around 30 minutes. When done, remove from heat and set aside.
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Cook bacon:
While the onions are slowly cooking, slice the bacon into small batonets (1/8-inch horizontal strips) on your cutting board. Heat a larger skillet over medium-high and add the sliced bacon when your pan is hot.
Slowly sauté the bacon until slightly crispy, remove from the pan onto a paper towel-lined plate and save for later.
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Cooking mushrooms in rendered bacon fat:
Julienne the shiitake mushrooms, then add to the pan which now has the rendered bacon fat.
Add a pinch of salt and freshly ground pepper to the shiitake mushrooms, do not shake the pan but allow the mushrooms to brown evenly on one side.
Once the mushrooms are browned, flip them gently and remove from the pan onto a smaller plate, reserve.
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Fry the purple potatoes:
Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil to the pan and add the evenly sliced potatoes to the hot pan in a single layer; Be careful not to overfill the pan. Add a pinch of red pepper flakes and a good pinch of salt to the potatoes.
Do not move the pan, this is very important so that the potatoes can brown evenly.
After 3-5 minutes, when browned, flip potatoes and brown on other side, turn heat down to medium to cook potatoes evenly.
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Add capers, onions, mushrooms, bacon:
Once the potatoes are well cooked, add the capers and leave to crisp for a minute. Then combine the caramelized onions, mushrooms and bacon in the large skillet with the browned potatoes.
Reheat over low heat. When hot, turn off the heat and garnish with a sprinkling of freshly picked tarragon.
