Homemade Tater Tots

Until November, Frog Prince had never had tater tot hotdish.

Hey, cut him some slack.  He's not native to the land of the frozen tundra.

But, he did taste tater tot hotdish at a church potluck {where else, right?!} and ever since then, he's been asking me to make it.

But, with one caveat - it needed to have homemade tater tots.

Sheesh.

It's a good thing I love the boy.

Today, I'll share with you the failure(s) and success of making homemade tater tots.  Come back tomorrow, and I'll share the coveted tater tot hotdish recipes, Finding Joy in My Kitchen style (that is, completely from scratch).

First - what not to do:

1) Do not deep fry tater tots.  They will dissolve.  And, send oil splattering.  And, make strange popping sounds.

2) Do not fry tater tots in the pan. It might look like a good idea to start... but it's not.  They will flatten to pancakes.

And, absorb all the oil.  Yuck.

3) Do not beer bater tater tots.  You don't want to go there.  Trust me.  They taste great, but not like tater tots.

What can you do?  You can bake them.  And, they are mighty tasty, mind you.

Here's your tater tots, Frog Prince.

Homemade Tater Tots - Finding Joy in My Kitchen

8 medium potatoes
2 tsp. salt
1 T flour
dash of pepper
1/2 C corn flakes, crushed.

Begin by peeling and slicing the potatoes into quarters.  Place potatoes in salted water and bring them to a boil.  Boil until tender.

Drain potatoes and allow them to cool a bit (so that you can handle them without a problem).  Don't let them get too cool; it's important they are still warm.

Using a potato ricer, rice the potatoes!  {that was fun}

What, you don't have a potato ricer? Try your mom, grandma or neighbor -- they might have you one can use.  I found this old one in my mom's kitchen.  The goal of the ricer is to get the potatoes really fine (without adding milk).

Stir in the flour, 1-2 tsp. of salt (taste to make sure you've gotten them to the saltiness you like) and pepper.  Yes, you'll lose the pretty ricing, but that's okay.

Then, shape the taters into tots.  Even the kids will have fun with this step.

Set them on a cookie sheet as you go.

Next, roll them into the crushed corn flakes.  If they don't stick, you can use some milk or an egg white brushed on the potatoes.  Mine stuck just fine, but I did them while the potatoes were still warm and pliable.

Bake the tater tots at 400 for 15 minutes, until browned.

Then, remove and allow them to cool.  You can eat the right away, or freeze them.  I stuck ours in a ziplock bag and stuck them in our freezer until ready to use.

Enjoy!




This post is linked to: Show and Tell, Look What I Made, Make it Yours Day, Whatever Goes Wednesday, Recipe Swap, Cooking Thursday, Full Plate Thursday, Strut Your Stuff, Show off Your Stuff and Family Friendly Fridays, URS