Crispy Potato, Egg & Cheese Taco

Ali Slagle, a recipe developer, food stylist, and frequent contributor to The New York Times , has a new book out, I Dream of Dinner (so you don’t have to) . It’s filled with 150 low-effort, high-reward recipes, all of which call for fewer than 8 ingredients and come together in less than 45 minutes.

I have made three recipes from the book: good sauce from so-so tomatoes, skillet broccoli spaghetti , and crispy potato, cheese, and egg tacos, the recipe featured in this post, the one I think captures the spirit of the book best of all: it takes all of ten minutes to make, and it might be the most delicious thing you eat all year.

Truly, I am astounded by this little recipe and the beautiful way Ali writes it. First, before the cooking begins, Ali instructs: “Read and rehearse what’s happening next. It comes together quickly.”

It’s true. In short, you spread grated potato into a skillet in a very thin layer. Ali notes: “You want the strands touching but not clumped, like a snowflake.” Then you top the potato with a thin layer of grated cheese and an egg and cook it covered for about 3 minutes. When the egg is cooked, you slide it all onto a warmed tortilla. Ali suggests eating “with hot sauce and lime wedges or whatever toppings you like (keeping in mind that the yolk is a built-in sauce)”.

Friends, I do not know how to eat these tacos slowly — they disappear from my plate about as quickly as they emerge from the skillet. There is something magical about the combination of the crispy potato and cheese frico-like crust — “so crisp,” Ali notes, “you could even skip the tortilla” — with the runny egg and warm tortilla. The tacos don’t need anything more than fresh lime and hot sauce, but I have been dotting them with garlic scape pesto, a gift from a friend, and I love the bite it adds.

This is a weekend of cookouts and cobblers, but if you have time to slip these tacos into your cooking agenda, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

PS: Thank you Amanda for pointing me to this wonderful recipe in the book 🎉

Ali Slagle’s I Dream of Dinner

Crispy Potato, Egg & Cheese Taco, Step by Step

Gather your ingredients. You need a small potato here as you’ll only need 1/2 cup total of grated potato.

Separate the grated potato into two lightly packed 1/4 cup portions.

In a large nonstick skillet over medium heat, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil or butter, then add the grated potato in two thin piles. Season with salt.

Sprinkle two tablespoons of grated cheese over each pile of potatoes. I’ve been using Asiago.

Make an indent in the center of each cheese pile, then drop an egg into each center.

Season with salt and pepper.

Cover and cook for 3 to 4 minutes.

Uncover then …

… slide each potato-cheese-egg pile onto your warm tortillas.

Finish with hot sauce and fresh lime, if you wish.

A friend gave me a little tub of homemade garlic scape pesto, which I have been loving with these tacos.

See that crispy potato-frico layer?

It’s heavenly.

Description

From Ali Slagle’s new book: I Dream of Dinner

Notes:

• You only need 1/2 cup of grated potato, so if you are shopping, look for small potatoes. Even a 3-oz potato will give you more potato than you need for this recipe.

• The key to success here is to not use more than 1/4 cup of lightly packed grated potato per taco — it will be tempting to use more. Try to refrain.

• I’m using these red hatch chile tortillas from The Fresh Chile Company , which one of you — thanks, Larry! — introduced me to.

• The green sauce you see in the photos is a garlic scape pesto my friend Courtney gave me.

• 2 corn or flour tortillas

• 1 tablespoon olive oil or butter

• 1/2 cup grated Russet potato, see notes above

• 1/4 cup grated Cheddar or Asiago or cheese of choice

• 2 eggs

• kosher salt and pepper to taste

• hot sauce

• lime

1. Warm the tortillas however you wish: in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat or directly over the flame or in your toaster or toaster oven. Transfer to a plate.

Read and rehearse what’s happening next. It comes together quickly:

1. Heat the olive oil or butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium. Sprinkle the potato into two piles in the pan, then use a spatula or fork to spread out each pile to about the size of your tortilla. You want the strands touching but not clumped, like a snowflake. The more space between the potato, the crispier the final result.
2. Salt the potato, then evenly sprinkle the cheese over the potato. It’s OK if some cheese comes into contact with the pan—it’ll taste like the crispy edges of a grilled cheese.
3. Make an indent in the center of each pile and crack an egg right in there. Salt and pepper the eggs, then cover the skillet and cook until the cheese and potatoes are golden and the egg white is cooked through, 3 to 4 minutes.
4. Use a spatula to wiggle the potato and cheese loose from the skillet, then slide them onto your tortillas. Eat with hot sauce and lime wedges or whatever toppings you like (keeping in mind that the yolk is the built-in sauce).

• Prep Time: 5 minutes
• Cook Time: 5 minutes
• Category: Breakfast
• Method: Stovetop
• Cuisine: American, Mexican

Ali Slagle, a recipe developer, food stylist, and frequent contributor to The New York Times , has a new book out, I Dream of Dinner (so you don’t have to) . It’s filled with 150 low-effort, high-reward recipes, all of which call for fewer than 8 ingredients and come together in less than 45 minutes.

I have made three recipes from the book: good sauce from so-so tomatoes, skillet broccoli spaghetti , and crispy potato, cheese, and egg tacos, the recipe featured in this post, the one I think captures the spirit of the book best of all: it takes all of ten minutes to make, and it might be the most delicious thing you eat all year.

Truly, I am astounded by this little recipe and the beautiful way Ali writes it. First, before the cooking begins, Ali instructs: “Read and rehearse what’s happening next. It comes together quickly.”

It’s true. In short, you spread grated potato into a skillet in a very thin layer. Ali notes: “You want the strands touching but not clumped, like a snowflake.” Then you top the potato with a thin layer of grated cheese and an egg and cook it covered for about 3 minutes. When the egg is cooked, you slide it all onto a warmed tortilla. Ali suggests eating “with hot sauce and lime wedges or whatever toppings you like (keeping in mind that the yolk is a built-in sauce)”.

Friends, I do not know how to eat these tacos slowly — they disappear from my plate about as quickly as they emerge from the skillet. There is something magical about the combination of the crispy potato and cheese frico-like crust — “so crisp,” Ali notes, “you could even skip the tortilla” — with the runny egg and warm tortilla. The tacos don’t need anything more than fresh lime and hot sauce, but I have been dotting them with garlic scape pesto, a gift from a friend, and I love the bite it adds.

This is a weekend of cookouts and cobblers, but if you have time to slip these tacos into your cooking agenda, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

PS: Thank you Amanda for pointing me to this wonderful recipe in the book 🎉

Ali Slagle’s I Dream of Dinner

Crispy Potato, Egg & Cheese Taco, Step by Step

Gather your ingredients. You need a small potato here as you’ll only need 1/2 cup total of grated potato.

Separate the grated potato into two lightly packed 1/4 cup portions.

In a large nonstick skillet over medium heat, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil or butter, then add the grated potato in two thin piles. Season with salt.

Sprinkle two tablespoons of grated cheese over each pile of potatoes. I’ve been using Asiago.

Make an indent in the center of each cheese pile, then drop an egg into each center.

Season with salt and pepper.

Cover and cook for 3 to 4 minutes.

Uncover then …

… slide each potato-cheese-egg pile onto your warm tortillas.

Finish with hot sauce and fresh lime, if you wish.

A friend gave me a little tub of homemade garlic scape pesto, which I have been loving with these tacos.

See that crispy potato-frico layer?

It’s heavenly.

Description

From Ali Slagle’s new book: I Dream of Dinner

Notes:

• You only need 1/2 cup of grated potato, so if you are shopping, look for small potatoes. Even a 3-oz potato will give you more potato than you need for this recipe.

• The key to success here is to not use more than 1/4 cup of lightly packed grated potato per taco — it will be tempting to use more. Try to refrain.

• I’m using these red hatch chile tortillas from The Fresh Chile Company , which one of you — thanks, Larry! — introduced me to.

• The green sauce you see in the photos is a garlic scape pesto my friend Courtney gave me.

• 2 corn or flour tortillas

• 1 tablespoon olive oil or butter

• 1/2 cup grated Russet potato, see notes above

• 1/4 cup grated Cheddar or Asiago or cheese of choice

• 2 eggs

• kosher salt and pepper to taste

• hot sauce

• lime

1. Warm the tortillas however you wish: in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat or directly over the flame or in your toaster or toaster oven. Transfer to a plate.

Read and rehearse what’s happening next. It comes together quickly:

1. Heat the olive oil or butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium. Sprinkle the potato into two piles in the pan, then use a spatula or fork to spread out each pile to about the size of your tortilla. You want the strands touching but not clumped, like a snowflake. The more space between the potato, the crispier the final result.
2. Salt the potato, then evenly sprinkle the cheese over the potato. It’s OK if some cheese comes into contact with the pan—it’ll taste like the crispy edges of a grilled cheese.
3. Make an indent in the center of each pile and crack an egg right in there. Salt and pepper the eggs, then cover the skillet and cook until the cheese and potatoes are golden and the egg white is cooked through, 3 to 4 minutes.
4. Use a spatula to wiggle the potato and cheese loose from the skillet, then slide them onto your tortillas. Eat with hot sauce and lime wedges or whatever toppings you like (keeping in mind that the yolk is the built-in sauce).

• Prep Time: 5 minutes
• Cook Time: 5 minutes
• Category: Breakfast
• Method: Stovetop
• Cuisine: American, Mexican

Description

From Ali Slagle’s new book: I Dream of Dinner

Notes:

• You only need 1/2 cup of grated potato, so if you are shopping, look for small potatoes. Even a 3-oz potato will give you more potato than you need for this recipe.

• The key to success here is to not use more than 1/4 cup of lightly packed grated potato per taco — it will be tempting to use more. Try to refrain.

• I’m using these red hatch chile tortillas from The Fresh Chile Company , which one of you — thanks, Larry! — introduced me to.

• The green sauce you see in the photos is a garlic scape pesto my friend Courtney gave me.

• 2 corn or flour tortillas

• 1 tablespoon olive oil or butter

• 1/2 cup grated Russet potato, see notes above

• 1/4 cup grated Cheddar or Asiago or cheese of choice

• 2 eggs

• kosher salt and pepper to taste

• hot sauce

• lime

1. Warm the tortillas however you wish: in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat or directly over the flame or in your toaster or toaster oven. Transfer to a plate.

Read and rehearse what’s happening next. It comes together quickly:

1. Heat the olive oil or butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium. Sprinkle the potato into two piles in the pan, then use a spatula or fork to spread out each pile to about the size of your tortilla. You want the strands touching but not clumped, like a snowflake. The more space between the potato, the crispier the final result.
2. Salt the potato, then evenly sprinkle the cheese over the potato. It’s OK if some cheese comes into contact with the pan—it’ll taste like the crispy edges of a grilled cheese.
3. Make an indent in the center of each pile and crack an egg right in there. Salt and pepper the eggs, then cover the skillet and cook until the cheese and potatoes are golden and the egg white is cooked through, 3 to 4 minutes.
4. Use a spatula to wiggle the potato and cheese loose from the skillet, then slide them onto your tortillas. Eat with hot sauce and lime wedges or whatever toppings you like (keeping in mind that the yolk is the built-in sauce).

• Prep Time: 5 minutes
• Cook Time: 5 minutes
• Category: Breakfast
• Method: Stovetop
• Cuisine: American, Mexican

Find it online : https://alexandracooks.com/2022/07/02/crispy-potato-egg-cheese-taco-the-most-delicious-thing-ive-eaten-all-year/

Tossed with a delicious peanut-ginger dressing, these noodles are irresistible freshly made but pack well for the week ahead, too. Crisp, cool, herby, and bright, this is the summer meal to beat the heat!

This week, the stars aligned for peanut noodle salad, a refreshing meal that would make great use of a heap of cucumbers and scallions from my farm share, and one that, moreover, would not require turning on the oven.

I use the same peanut-ginger dressing here as I use in this chopped salad , and I use frozen udon noodles, whose thick texture I love, though you could use any noodle you have on hand.

Two Tips for Success

1. Use thinly sliced vegetables, ideally with a mandoline or spiralizer. I have this old turning slices , which I love for its simplicity, but it’s very expensive. I also have this one , which is more reasonably priced, and which works beautifully.
2. The peanut-ginger dressing , which is so tasty, and which I’ve made with all varieties of peanut butter from Jif to Maranatha, but know that you can use almond butter or other nut butters if peanuts are a problem. I’ve doubled the original recipe and added a splash more lime juice as well as a few teaspoons of chili-garlic sauce (Sambal Oelek), the addition of which is optional. You can make a half recipe, of course, but if you’re going through the effort, I highly recommend the larger quantity — it will keep for at least two weeks in the fridge and can be used for many a salad, noodle or otherwise.

Cold Peanut Noodle Salad, Step by Step

The magic of this salad starts here, with the dressing: Whisk together peanut butter, fresh lime juice, soy sauce, sesame oil, maple syrup, water, chili-garlic sauce (optional), and a pinch of sea salt.

Grate in some fresh garlic and ginger. Taste and adjust to taste as needed.

Store dressing in the fridge for as long as two weeks. It’s so nice having this dressing on hand.

Gather your salad ingredients: cucumbers, scallions, peanuts, noodles of choice, and cilantro, if you wish.

Spiralize or thinly slice your cucumbers.

Boil your noodles:

I love these frozen udon noodles. I get them at the Asian Supermarket in Albany.

Drain the noodles and rinse under cold water to stop the cooking and cool them down.

Gather your salad components: chopped peanuts, sliced scallions, picked cilantro leaves, spiralized cucumbers, cooked noodles, and peanut-ginger dressing.

Toss the noodles with some of the dressing first.

Then add the remaining ingredients and toss to combine. Add more dressing to taste.

Serve immediately or …

… pack into quart containers for later.

Description

Dressing recipe adapted from this Chopped Thai Satay Salad recipe.

Notes:

• Peanut Butter: I’ve used more natural brands such as Maranatha and Trader Joe’s to Jif and Skippy, and the dressing tastes great regardless. If using a natural brand, be sure to stir it prior to measuring to ensure the oil is emulsified.
• Cucumbers: You can use any variety you like. I’ve been using my farm share cucumbers, and after I spiralize them, they’ve been weighing about 8 ounces, which is a nice amount for this amount of noodles.
• Peanuts: I’ve been using Trader Joe’s roasted peanuts, 50% less salty. It’s nice not having to toast peanuts, so look for roasted peanuts if you are shopping.
• Spiralizer options: I have this old one , which I love for its simplicity, but it’s very expensive. I also have this one , which is more reasonably priced, and which works beautifully. One of you — thanks, Kathleen! — introduced me to this one , which arrived yesterday, and which I have yet to give a go… stay tuned!

For the dressing:

• 1/2 cup peanut butter or other nut butter

• 1/3 cup fresh lime juice

• 1/4 cup soy sauce or tamari

• 2 tablespoon sesame oil

• 2 tablespoon maple syrup

• 1/4 cup water plus more as needed

• 2 garlic cloves, finely minced or grated

• 2 teaspoons grated or finely minced fresh ginger

• 2 to 3 teaspoons chili garlic sauce, such as Sambal Oelek, optional

• Flaky sea salt such as Maldon

• 1 lb. frozen udon noodles or 8 oz . dried noodle of choice

• 1 to 2 large cucumbers, about 12 to 14 oz pre-sliced, see notes

• 2 to 4 scallions, thinly sliced to yield a scant cup

• 1/2 cup cilantro leaves, optional

• 1/2 cup roasted peanuts, roughly chopped

• 1/4 cup peanut-ginger dressing plus more to taste

1. Make the dressing. In a medium bowl, whisk together the peanut butter, lime juice, soy sauce, sesame oil, maple syrup, water, ginger, garlic, and chili-garlic sauce, if using. Season with a pinch of sea salt. Taste. Adjust with more lime or salt to taste. As the dressing sits, it may thicken. If it does, thin with a tablespoon of water until it reaches the right consistency.
2. Boil the noodles: Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Boil the udon or noodles of choice according to package instructions. My frozen udon noodles have been taking roughly 5 minutes to cook through. Drain and rinse under cold water.
3. Prep the cucumbers: I’ve been loving using my spiralizer for this one. You could use a mandoline, too, or you could simply slice your cucumbers as thinly as possible. To spiralize, cut off the very ends of each cucumber, then fit the cucumber into the spiralizer and turn until the cucumber has been transformed into thin whisps. I’ve been using about 8 ounces of spiralized cucumbers for this recipe.
4. Make the salad: Place the noodles into a large bowl. Pat dry with a towel if still wet. Toss with 1/4 cup of the dressing. Noodles should be nicely sauced. Add the cucumbers, scallions, cilantro, if using, and peanuts. Toss again. Taste. Add more dressing to taste if the salad seems underdressed — I usually add a splash more — or a pinch of sea salt if it tastes underseasoned. Serve immediately or transfer to quart containers and stash in the fridge. Store extra dressing in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.

• Prep Time: 25 minutes
• Cook Time: 5 minutes
• Category: Dinner
• Method: Stovetop
• Cuisine: Asian, American