The Christmas tree is down, the nativity packed away. The gifts have been put in their new homes, one thing I can still count on is the Legos taking over the dining room table. The cozy, intimate setting I created for Christmas is gone. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t go stark until March. There are greens and lights, and I haven’t switched out my angels for the winter birds yet. Part of it is wanting to hold onto the comfort a little more, part of it is just laziness, what can I say.
January is such an odd month for me. It’s the beginning, and the crash and burn. I’m just coming off the high of December with all the special events, and parties, and celebrations. I have a desire to reset, or set new goals, but I am tapped out, and it can take me a little longer to jump start certain things. As much I want a month to just quit, and cozy up, drink coffee and read, maybe sled a few days, we are still in the thick of it – of life with two boys, of life at the restaurant where we transition from holiday, to restaurant weeks, to Valentine’s Day. At the end of if all, I want to come home to comfort, so for the next few weeks, I wanted to share some of my comfort foods with you.
Home Fries
This isn’t just great in January, it’s great anytime, and can be served at breakfast, lunch or dinner.
This is incredibly versatile. I love these along side eggs prepared any style, and sausage. I love them with a burger, grilled chicken, steak. They reheat beautifully too, so if you have leftovers from dinner, throw them in the same pan as the eggs in the morning.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 12 minutes
- Total Time: 22 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
Ingredients
1.5 lbs potatoes*, peeled and rough cut into bite size pieces
2 T oil – use what you have, in my case it was sunflower oil
1 T butter
1 red pepper, small diced
1 small onion, or half a large onion (yellow or white), peeled, small diced
2 gloves of garlic, minced
salt, pepper
1 tsp paprika
Instructions
In a large pot, cover the potatoes with water and big pinch of salt and bring to a boil. Boil for 5-7 minutes, until fork tender, but not mush. Drain the potatoes and set aside.
In a large skillet, over medium high heat, bring the heat the butter and oil together. Add the pepper and onion, along with salt and pepper. Start with a teaspoon of salt and half teaspoon of pepper. Sauté the peppers and onions for three to five minutes stirring occasionally, so not to burn. You are just softening them. Add the garlic and stir. After thirty seconds, add the potatoes, and paprika to the pan, and mix it all together. Taste to see if you need to add more salt and/or pepper.
Notes
*For the potatoes, you can use any kind you like, I prefer baby red bliss because they don’t need to be peeled and they can be easily cut until eighths in no time flat. The potatoes can be cooked ahead of time, and kept in the fridge upt o three days before using.
**I like to use a more smokey paprika like Spanish pimenton.