Friday, March 1, 2013

Using Dehydrated Potatoes



Some of the most popular posts that I have published through the years have been on dehydrating potatoes. Yes I do can some in jars also. I like to can my new potatoes and any damaged potatoes that are hit by the spade or chewed on by the mice or voles get dehydrated. Whether it be hash brown or potato slices the most asked question is how to use them. I wanted to publish a post on rehydrating hash browns.  Dehydrating potatoes is one of the easiest ways in my opinion to store potatoes and requires the least amount of storage space.  I put mine in quart jars and add oxygen absorbers to seal the jars. Mine keep for years in my pantry this way. 


Today I am going to make a hash brown casserole with ham and cheese. First I put a pot of water on the stove. Just plain water and bring it almost to a boil but not quite.


I want enough hash brown to fill a 9 X 13 casserole or the equivalent of a large bag of commercial frozen hash browns. That takes for me about 1/2 a quart jar of loosely packed dried potatoes.  Pour the potatoes in the hot water.


I also added a hand full of dehydrated green onions to the water. 


Then I turned the fire off and covered the pot. 


25 minutes later my potatoes again look like hash brown potatoes with green onions in them


Remember those muslin dish towels I made last week. Drop a clean one in a colander and pour your potatoes and onions in the towel and let the water drain out of the potatoes. 


Now gather that dish towel and squeeze the remaining water out of the potatoes.


And there you have it a half pot of hash brown potatoes ready for your casserole or to make hash brown patties : ) 


Normally my casserole would call for 2 cans of mushroom soup. I make my own by substituting a white sauce. I like to use 1/4 cup butter to 1/4 cup flour and a cup of milk to substitute for a can of cream soup. So for this recipe I will melt 1/2 cup butter in a small sauce pan.


Then add 1/2 cup flour and stir for a couple minutes to let it cook a little.


Now I am going to add 2 cups milk and stir constantly to let it simmer and thicken.


Once it reaches a thick consistency I will turn off the stove and let it cool. Remember as it cools it continues to thicken. I could add mushrooms or celery to this for mushroom or celery soup. 


Now I add about 2 tablespoons of butter to a black skillet and let it melt. 


Then I add a hand full of chopped mushrooms to the skillet


And a cup or so of frozen onions to the skillet


And 2 cups of smoked ham chunks to the skillet and saute it all down in that butter.


Now to that pot of potatoes and onions we are going to add a block of softened cream cheese.


Now we are going to add the white sauce that has cooled to the pot of potatoes, throw in 2 cups of shredded cheese of your choice and a cup of sour cream. Now add those sauteed mushrooms, onions and ham to the pot and stir. Add salt and cracked pepper to taste.


Now pour the pot into a buttered 9 X 13 casserole. To the top you can add cheese or buttered corn flake or cracker crumbs. I just sprinkled shredded cheese over the top and covered mine and put it in the fridge until supper that night. . 



About an hour before dinner I butter my foil to keep the cheese from sticking and put it covered in a 350 oven to bake for 35 to 45 minutes or until hot and bubbly and the cheese has melted.



And there you go! Hot, bubbly and oozing with cheese, green onions, onions, mushrooms, ham and potatoes.  I served this with green beans and carrots on the side and a small salad. Comfort food homegrown and home canned. 



This is super heavy on the dairy and not for the faint of heart. You could lighten it up with light cream cheese and light sour cream or Greek yogurt.  


Blessings from The Holler



The Canned Quilter


16 comments:

  1. Oh yum. Thanks for the recipe. Is there a place on the blog where you have put directions for dehydrating the potatoes? The ones I've tried turned brown and look pretty yucky in the jar (I did little cubes of potatoes not shredded). I've had great success with drying carrots but not potatoes. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You can find a tutorial to the recipe I use here

      http://tpass.org/forums/index.php?topic=892.0

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  2. YUM!!!! This looks so good CQ!

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  3. We have been given a wealth of potatoes. I'll be saving some for seed potatoes, canning some, making some into mashed potatoes for the freezer, and thought I might try my hand at dehydrating some.

    Thanks for posting the tutorial link. I found your post on dehydrating sliced potatoes but wasn't sure if the hash browns would be the same.

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    Replies
    1. Want instant mashed potatoes? Take these dehydrated hash browns and run them through the food processor. Voila instant mashed potatoes without the freezer or canning : )

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    2. Great idea! I have slices in the dehydrator right now. Next up will be hash browns.

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  4. Yum.. that casserole looks like a little bit of heaven to me.. Im afraid to try to plug it in my Weight Watchers points calculator though.. haha.. Oh well. I have no ham (other than canned), so I guess Im safe for today. ;)
    I make my own gluten free cream of soups with brown rice flour.. it works just as well as wheat and I dont get severe arthritis symptoms.

    Last year I dehydrated shredded potatoes for hashbrowns but when they dehydrated they were tiny tiny.. Im thinking I may need to get a larger grating disk for my food processor.

    Thanks for sharing how you re-hydrate the potatoes. Im always curious how people use what they've dehydrated. Last year I started dehydrating everything under the sun, which was fun, but now its time to use them. :)

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    Replies
    1. Your tiny shreds make great instant mashed potatoes!!

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  5. I am coming for dinner...sometime. It is obvious you are a great cook and I'm gonna try some one of these days.

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  6. This looks absolutely yummy. I plan on dehydrating a lot of things from the garden this year.

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  7. That looks wonderful. I've really got to put my dehydrator to better use.

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  8. I'm right behind Gail. I will even clean up after dinner. Love your recipes, thanks for sharing.
    blessings, jill

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  9. Just stopping by to say hello.....Love your potatoes.....Melissa

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  10. Thanks for the pics and info. It makes a differenc rather than just some impersonal instructions on ehow or similar site.
    Your sharing makes a difference. At least to me.
    Pam

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  11. Man that looks good and it's been too long. Making a batch right now. Thx for the reminder.

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