Potato Haystacks

This is another incredibly easy recipe to make. All you basically need are potatoes and a little oil. However, before I give the directions, I need to make a few notes about it. The amount of oil is really up to your taste. My husband likes to joke that since he was raised in Arkansas, his mother liked to make deep fried lard. So, his tolerance of oil is extremely high. Most people don't salivate at the sheer thought of their dinner being soaked in oil, but he does. Anyhow, I recommend starting off with the amount of oil I list and then add more if you so choose. I would also use a non-stick griddle to help limit the need for oil. I list suggested time amounts for cooking, but those can be adjusted as well, depending on how hot your burners get over several minutes. For some reason, one of mine gets consistently hotter even though I don't adjust the heat upwards. So, to prevent burning, I lower the heat slightly and adjust the cooking time. I also use two griddles to speed up the cooking process and a food processor to speed up the grating time. If you find your potatoes are not sticking together, either add more oil or cook longer on the side that needs to stick together. We enjoy these with breakfast, but you can eat them whenever it pleases you. With that, here goes.



Potato Haystacks

Ingredients:

3 large baking-style russet potatoes
Canola Oil
Ketchup (optional)
Salt and Pepper (optional)

Directions:

Wash, then grate or shred the potatoes with their skin on either with a hand grater or in a food processor. Put the potato strands in a colander and rinse thoroughly under cold water, and drain. Heat two tablespoons of oil in a skillet over medium heat. When hot add a small handful of the potato to the oil. You want as much entanglement as possible, so don't try to straighten out the strands. You should end up with a pile about the size of a medium pancake. Fit four or so on your griddle and heat for 10 minutes. Don't move them while they are cooking. Take a pancake spatula and carefully flip over each pile. Cook on this side for about eight minutes, checking for browning. It is okay when you first flip if there are loose strands on top, for they haven't been cooking as much as the bottom. You do want the bottom to be sticking together, though. Add a teaspoon more oil and cook a little longer, if the potatoes aren't sticking together. As you continue cooking your haystacks, adjust time and temperature, if you are seeing them begin to burn. Add the two tablespoons of oil to the griddle for each batch of four haystacks you cook. Enjoy with ketchup and salt and pepper, if you wish. Feeds at least five hungry vegans. Kid friendly!