Home Fries

The fourth best Texas recipe is...

Home Fries!

If Texans ever needed another recipe for bacon drippings and onions, that recipe has to be home fries.

My sister taught me how to peel potatoes at a very early age, probably because she got tired of that chore long before I grew up enough to be able to use a knife without cutting my fingers off. We had home fries often. They were a favorite of my Irish dad. I guess there is a potato craving in their genetic code.

Here's how we did it. First find a child capable of using a potato peeler or a small paring knife to peel three or four or ten Idaho potatoes. You can use Texas potatoes, but the Idahoans seem to grow the best taters around. After peeling them, an expert potato cutter must slice the washed potatoes into "fries". I think food processors are used now that cut beautiful squared up fries, but irregular pieces work great too. For variety, you can use slices instead of the typical "sticks", but I like the regular cut the best.

Heat the bacon drippings up in the cast iron skillet. You have to have two of these - one to make the cornbread in and one to do frying duty. Use bacon grease generously as the more you use, the better the flavor. When the bacon grease is hot, add the potatoes (don't use wet ones or the grease will splatter everywhere!). Add a whole chopped up onion too. Stir everything around and add salt and pepper. Keep a close eye on the taters and stir them around until they are done. Some people use a lid and steam the potatoes, but that method is not as tasty. You will end up with crusty potatoes and onions that will rock your world.

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