It’s a hazy Saturday morning and I was in the mood to cook something. Fried potatoes sounded good, and I had some Russets on hand, but I wanted more complexity. I was in the mood to cook as well as eat. So, I hopped onto the Internet, typed fried potatoes + recipe into www.Bing.com and then started refining. I added + onions and + tomatoes.
My search came up with an interesting dish, seemingly Indian-like but with no Indian spices (it used metric measurements, maybe it was British as it had Malt vinegar and was baked in pastry.) It called for sautéed tomatoes and onions and crisp fried potatoes and sour cream wrapped in pastry pockets and baked.
The pastry part sounded a bit much, both the making and the extra carbs, but the mixture sounded good so I improvised and made a casserole.
The onion tomato mixture simmered up into the potatoes, and the sour cream tied it together. It has a creamy sweetness and would make a yummy breakfast casserole or side dish to a meat-based supper for folks who like good ole’ American food (sans the Mexican seasoning if they aren’t fond of cumin). It would be interesting to make again and experiment, replacing the Mexican seasoning with Indian spices and maybe frying some ginger with the onions and adding chopped cilantro.
My husband felt it tasted kind of like a creamy baked potato. I know my Mom and Dad and cousin Donna would have been game to try it with Mexican or Indian seasonings, but they would have loved it plain. It would have tasted like comfort food to them. Funny, there was never any thought of sauteing tomatoes with onion and certainly not adding tomatoes to fried potatoes in the foods of my growing up years. I love that I've learned about doing that from the Indian cuisine. (See cooking tip below)
Creamy Fried Potato Casserole
Ingredients:
1 large or 2 medium onions, chopped
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 14oz. can petite diced tomatoes, drained
2/3 of a 14oz. can black beans, drained
½ tablespoon Malt Vinegar
½ tablespoon brown sugar
½ teaspoon Mexican Seasoning, (if omitting this and add salt to taste or other seasonings you like.)
4 medium Russett potatoes, sliced thin with skin on (I sliced them by hand in 1/8" slices)
2 tablespoons of vegetable oil
Salt to taste
Paprika if desired
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Fry chopped onions in olive oil on medium until edges are browning.
Add tomatoes, beans, vinegar and sugar, simmer until thickened.
Remove from pan and wipe out or use an other pan.
Heat vegetable oil and add sliced potatoes (patted dry). Fry on medium high with lid on until they are getting brown and then turn to brown other side. Salt to taste.
When potatoes are done, place onion mixture in a buttered shallow casserole dish, top with potatoes and frost generously with sour cream. Top with paprika if desired.
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Bake at 400 degrees for 10 min.
Cooking Tip:
Next time you are frying up some onions to use in fried potatoes or another dish, add some diced tomatoes. Chopped onions or onions and garlic fried up with some diced tomatoes are a great base with which to do lots of things. You can then add the mixture to fried potatoes, or toss in some other parboiled vegetables or meat and any spices you like.
With easy in mind, fry up some onion, garlic and tomato and freeze for a quick base that can turn leftovers into a quick casserole or sauteed dish.
1 large onion equals about a cup, I'd say two onions to 1-14oz. can of diced tomatoes drained.
