Daddy's German Potatoes

 Potatoes and onions...Such a simple dish and yet one with powerful memories for me.  You see my daddy was very proud of his Irish heritage and mighty fond of potatoes.  He told Mama that as far as he was concerned potatoes should be on the table at every meal and Mama did serve them with most meals, including spaghetti dinners.  We were the only folks I knew who had pasta with meat sauce and a side of French fries to go with our salad!  Remember those frozen chicken pot pies.  French fries and salad went with those, too.

One of Daddy's favorite methods of cooking potatoes was German potatoes.  I've no idea why he called it German Potatoes but he did and that is what I called it for many years myself.

 He'd slice several potatoes thin, slice an onion and  heat oil in a heavy skillet.  In would go the potatoes and onion and these he'd let crisp on the bottom then turn them and then turn them again and again, allowing the potatoes to crisp and the onion to mellow.  He'd pop on a lid just long enough to let the heat steam the potatoes to tenderness.  Then he'd salt and pepper. 

The aroma of browning potatoes and caramelizing onions was tantalizing to us kids.  We might have been outdoors playing, or so often in my case, in my room reading a book, but the moment we smelled potatoes and onions cooking we had to go see what was for dinner...or lunch or breakfast, as the case might be.

I carried that simple dish to my first married home.  My ex-husband enjoyed it as much as we'd enjoyed it.  One summer we took a camping vacation to the mountains where we ended up at a primitive campsite.  No running water, no electric hookups and the nearest restrooms and showers were a mile drive down the side of the mountain.  We didn't even go equipped with a flashlight or wood for a fire.  But we did have a pup tent, wool blankets and a portable grill with a cast iron cooktop, food and charcoal.

I had brought along a bag of potatoes and onions and some meats to grill.  I had a single cast iron skillet and into that skillet for breakfast, lunch and dinner, went potatoes and onions.  We were in a lonely place on that side of the mountain, but do you know people literally walked out of the woods to our campsite to ask what I was cooking at every meal.  When I'd reply "Potatoes and onions," they generally said "Is that all?  It smells so good!"  Apparently, as basic and common as I thought the dish was, it was a revelation to nearly everyone who approached us that two humble ingredients could create such a delicious aroma.

All these years later and I must confess that German potatoes is still one of my favorite dishes.  It is comfort food at it's best, requiring nothing more than the most basic of pantry items: oil, salt and pepper, onion and potato.  It's cheap and filling, yet so delicious it never seems like a budget dish.  It is a great accompaniment to breakfast eggs and bacon or ham, or served alongside chops, steaks and burgers or hot dogs.  It is equally at home on a plate with any of them.

And it was to that dish I turned one day this week, when the weather outdoors was rainy and stormy and I was just longing for something comforting and filling but easy.  Two potatoes, one onion, salt and pepper and oil.  John came out of the music room as soon as he smelled the browning potatoes and onion.  "What's for supper?"  Nostalgia on a plate.