Whenever friends of mine from the US come to visit at some point I make Rösti. Taken by itself this is a very simple dish but it does take a bit of practice (at least for me) to get it right. I use to buy it packaged until I was shown by a neighbor how to make it. Never again will you find store bought rösti in my home!
Boil 1 kg (2ish lbs I think) of unpeeled potatoes until semi-tender the day before you make this.
The day of, peel and grate the potatoes, using a grater with fairly large holes. Heat 3 TBSP butter in a skillet and then add the potatoes and sprinkle with a teaspoon of salt. Using a spatula press the potatoes into a round loaf. Sprinkle with about 2 TBSP of milk and cover. Be sure the cover is tight fitting. Reduce the heat as soon as the potatoes begin to sizzle. Fry very slowly for another 30 minutes. DO NOT STIR! During the cooking time a brown crust will form so leave the lid on!
When done, cover the pan with a platter and flip the rösti onto it.
To vary it, chop up some lean bacon and saute it in butter then add to the potatoes. Cook the same as regular rösti. Or Cut onion into strips and add to the rösti. You can also add cheese to rösti. Just add your favorite cheese thinly sliced to the potatoes. Then there's my fav way...all three! Bacon, onions and cheese!
