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Otik’s Skillet-Fried Spiced Potatoes
[...] the recipe featured below is widely thought to be the closest that one can come to the feeling of sitting atop the famed vallenwood tree tavern with one of his homebrewed dark ales in hand. - Heroes’ Feast, p. 20
Hashbrowns are one of my all-time favourite breakfast side dishes but usually have a large time component or an uninteresting flavour. After trying numerous recipes, I was beginning to wonder if I would ever find one that I would enjoy. Then came Otik's Skillet-Fried Spiced Potatoes! The first time making these for my house, we were all blown away by how great they were!
Seasoned to perfection with a kick of spice, these skillet fried potatoes have become a staple at our Saturday morning breakfast table. They’re amazing whether eaten the day-of or heated up later. Try the ultimate breakfast trio and eat them with the Yawning Portal Buttermilk Biscuits (p. 31) and the Feywild Eggs (p. 58).
Want to eat them but aren’t a morning person? No problem! These fried potatoes also make an amazing base for a fun lunch or dinner meal. Just add some sausage and chopped green pepper and voilà!
See below for my notes on the results and for some helpful tips and tricks when making this yourself! Get Heroes’ Feast here: https://dnd.wizards.com/heroes-feast
Prep Time: ~15 mins Cook Time: ~40 mins Overall: ~55 mins
For the ingredients:
2 tablespoons neutral-tasting oil
1 large yellow onion
1 tsp. kosher salt ( ½ tsp. for onions, ½ for spicing)
1.5 lbs. Yukon gold potatoes, scrubbed or peeled, cut into ¾-inch pieces
1 tbsp. salted butter
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 tsp. sweet paprika
1 tsp. cayenne*
½ tsp. garlic powder
2 tbsp. minced fresh chives
*See ingredients notes
I use the following conversions in my cooking:
1 lb. potatoes = 500 g
½ tsp. garlic powder = 1.5 g
1 tsp. cayenne pepper = 1.8 g
1 tsp. sweet paprika = 2 g
½ tsp. kosher salt = 3 g
Although they may seem inconsequential, I would consider the chives a necessity with this recipe. The fried potatoes are amazing on their own but pairing them with the chives really makes them shine.
I have made these fried potatoes both with and without the onion due to differing tastes in my house. I would suggest using a little more garlic powder than what’s called for if leaving out the onion.
TIP: To save yourself time in the morning, cut up the onion and the potatoes the night before. Keep fresh by submerging the cubed potatoes in cold water and covering the onions in cling wrap and storing them in the fridge.
NOTE: I would 100% recommend using a non-stick skillet for this recipe if you have access to one. I tried making these in a stainless steel pan with the recommended amount of oil: the skins stuck to the bottom instantly and the pan was a nightmare to clean.
NOTE: I would caution the amount of cayenne pepper called for in this recipe. Even for the spice junkies in my house, 1 tsp. was A LOT of cayenne pepper. I would recommend starting with a little bit less than ¼ tsp. (~0.4 g) and increase it from there each time you make them.
Above is what my onions looked like after I fried them up. I did my best to achieve the “browning with brown edges”.
Don’t skip the salt on this step, it helps the onions brown!
NOTE: With a properly heated pan, I’ve found that 4 minutes on medium-high and 4 minutes on medium were too generous for time. Once you’ve gotten the oil shimmering, they’ll need only 3 minutes on each.
Above are the potatoes after they were softened in the microwave.
Heroes’ Feast mentions this, but do make sure to drain any water the potatoes have released. Skipping this will mess with the development of the skins and cooking time.
TIP: To save time, put the potatoes in the microwave when you start cooking the onion.
Above is the progression of what the potatoes looked like as they were cooking.
Pic 1: Potatoes when just put into the pan
Pic 2: First flip after 6 minutes
Pic 3: Second flip after 6 minutes
Pic 4: Third flip after 4 minutes
Not shown: I flipped them once more after 4 minutes right before stirring in the spices and onion
Altogether, the potatoes were fried for 20 minutes.
TIP: If you don’t only have unsalted butter to combine with the oil, add a small pinch of kosher salt to the pan.
NOTE: Remember to never overcrowd the pan when cooking! However, if you find that you have, it’s fixable. Simply make sure that you’re always moving the potatoes on the outside edges in when you flip them and cook the potatoes for as long as it takes for the biggest pieces to have softened.
Above is what the potatoes looked like after stirring in the spices and the onion.
TIP: To keep the onions from cooking more when you return them to the pan, mix in the spices first then take the pan off the heat for ~30-45 seconds before adding them in. They’ll still cook a little, but there’s less risk of them burning.
Overall, I would give this recipe a 5/5. Like the Yawning Portal Buttermilk Biscuits, they’ve quickly become a weekend brunch staple in our house!
Additionally, these go great with a homemade (or store-bought!) hollandaise sauce or when eaten as a side for the Feywild Eggs. The richness and flavours combine to create an amazing taste that’s sure to liven up your morning!
For best freshness results, store in a sealed container in the fridge. Keeps for up to 4 days.
NOTE: Consensus in our house: Those who enjoy onion give them a 5/5 with onion and a 4/5 without. For those who don’t, they’re a 5/5 without onion. So, overall, you really can’t lose! Just remember to adjust the spices (especially the cayenne pepper!!) if you’re making a smaller side batch for someone who doesn’t like onions. Learned that the hard way...
Yawning Portal Buttermilk Biscuits
While the inn’s undisputed main attraction is the cavernous portal that descends straight into deadly Undermountain dungeon, these famed biscuits are a close second. - Heroes’ Feast, p. 31
I’ve always wanted to make biscuits, but was never motivated enough on a Sunday morning to take the time to prep and clean my bread board to knead dough. So, it was a wonderful surprise when I saw this no-knead recipe for biscuits in Heroes’ Feast!
Crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside, these biscuits are so melt-in-your-mouth delicious that you’ll throw away any other recipe you have. Whether eaten warm, at room temperature, or a day or two later, they are an amazing on-the-go breakfast snack that pairs well with any jam.
To really spice up your morning, try them with a side of Otik’s Skillet-Fried Spiced Potatoes!
See below for my notes on the results and for some helpful tips and tricks when making these yourself! Get Heroes’ Feast here: https://dnd.wizards.com/heroes-feast
Prep Time: ~20 mins Cook Time: ~50 mins (30 bake, 20 cool) Total Time: ~1h 10min
For the ingredients:
12 tbsp. unsalted butter (2 tbsp. at room temp. 10 tbsp. chilled)
3 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 ½ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. baking soda
1.25 tsp. kosher salt
1 ½ tsp. sugar
1 2/3 cups buttermilk
I use the following conversion in my cooking:
1 cup all-purpose flour = 125 g
1 tbsp. butter = 14 g
1 tsp. sugar = 4 g
1 tsp. baking powder = 4 g
1 tsp. baking soda = 8 g
1 tsp. kosher salt = 6 g
TIP: If you don’t have unsalted butter, lower the salt content by ~1/3 tsp (2 g).
Above is what the dry ingredients looked like after I broke up the chilled cubed butter into pea-sized pieces.
TIP: Cut your butter into cubes and store it in the fridge until you add it to the dry ingredients. The colder the butter is (without freezing!), the better the pockets of buttery-goodness will turn out.
Above is what the dough looked like after adding the buttermilk. Be aware, it will be a very sticky dough.
Sometimes, you might find that there’s a little bit of flour at the bottom of the bowl that won’t mix in. This is okay! Just put in in the baking dish with the rest of the dough.
Heroes’ Feast mentions doing this, but I want to reinforce that it is very important to grease the spatula before scoring the biscuit dough. The dough is incredibly sticky and will be a nightmare to deal with if using an ungreased spatula.
I don’t have my 8 x 8 pan with me right now, but I do have a 7 x 11 x 2 glass dish. To account for both the dough being shallower and the baking dish being made of glass, I decreased the cooking time by 6 minutes.
While making these, I found that you don’t need to flour your hands and push the dough to the corners of the pan. If you have a strong enough silicone spatula, you can easily grease it and move the dough around that way. No need to get your hands dirty!
Don’t forget to rotate the baking dish halfway through cooking!
Above is what the biscuits looked like after they came out of the oven and were brushed with butter.
TIP: To remove the biscuits from the baking dish with as little hassle as possible, place a large cutting board over the baking pan and invert it onto the board. The biscuits will slide out easily and you can transfer them to the cooling rack from there.
Overall, I would give these biscuits a 5/5. They’ve quickly become a Sunday morning staple and I always have to stop my family from eating them before they cool-down!
If you’re planning on having them with jam, I’d recommend not adding any more butter. The butter content is so high that they don’t need any more of it.
For best freshness results, store them in a paper bag on your kitchen counter. They will keep for 2-3 days.
Drew my sisters DnD character, Bloop! Anyways- who brought a baby into a dungeon??
She’s precious please don’t hurt her she’s like 3
Uh so I guess it's finally done? Like what, 2 months after the release of the episode??? cool.
It's so messy and crowded aghh but I shall not waste my time any longer, it won't become any better than it is already >:j
I'm sorry I really tried to figure out how to blur the image for the tw but I'm as clueless as a 90 yo grandma when it comes to things like this >:7
Not Dyson related buuuuuttt
PATHFINDER/D&D CHARACTER WOOOAAHHHH
Finally finished this thingly with my goblin rangerouge, Gerza (she/he/they). They are one of my favorite own dnd chars
The smallest fury of the small <3
Ref commission for my Saltmarsh party member!!
What you gon' do when there's blood in the water?
Finally some proper art for my Ghosts of Saltmarsh pc, Drowned/Unnamed/Whatever.
They are water genasi magus (homebrew class from laserllama) and a shipwright, hailed from Dreadwood.
Commission for @haharuspex <3