For What It's Worth


Wednesday, June 8, 2016

Karen's Adventures in Cooking: Hash Brown Waffles

cooking


One of my goals for 2016 is to go through all my unused appliances that I just HAD to have (waffle iron, ice-cream maker, etc…) and either use it or lose it.

I saw a few hash brown waffle recipes and I LOVE crispy hash browns so I thought this would make perfect use of my - only used once - waffle iron.

Hash Brown Waffles attempt #1:

I started with this simple one from Serious Eats. It’s very basic – just potatoes and seasonings. I peeled and grated the potato then squeezed out all the liquid.


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Then I buttered the grid and heaped the potatoes on. You can add quite a bit when using a Belgian Waffle iron like I have. It presses down as it cooks. Cook on medium high heat for about 5 minutes and voila! you have a hash brown waffle.

Honestly, I wasn’t too impressed with this one. And quite a few people have felt the same. It’s not super crispy like in their pic (& believe me – I squeezed all the moisture out first…making a mess of my towel.

For me this wasn’t worth the effort.

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Hash Brown Waffles attempt #2:

Undeterred, I tried a second recipe from Damn Delicious. She uses eggs as a binder and fills the mixture with extra goodies like ham & cheese – making it more of an anytime of day meal.

Instead of grating my own potatoes, I used Simply Potato refrigerated hash browns (found in the dairy section). Alexia also makes fantastic frozen potato products but I can have the seasoned hash browns because of the onion.

I mixed the potato, eggs, ham, cheese, seasonings together and proceeded as above but with MUCH better results!

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These were perfect. Crispy on the outside, tender and flavorful on the inside. She uses a regular waffle iron in her recipe so the waffles come out thinner and more like toast. Mine were HUGE and very filling. I got 4 waffles out of the recipe instead of her 6. Don’t be afraid to really fill the grid – it squishes down. And be sure to really butter the waffle iron first to prevent sticking.

I would definitely make this version again and it’s super adaptable. Use all veggies instead of meat – change up the cheeses/spices, use bacon instead of ham.

Hash brown waffles seem to be hit or miss for a lot of people so I guess you just have to play around and find the right recipe for your waffle iron.

Verdict: The waffle iron stays. For now.

The first, plain, recipe didn’t work at all but recipe #2 looked and tasted delicious and I found it to be way more versatile.

19 comments:

  1. I have the same appliance problem, hubby and I like new toys so there are unused things laying around. Like a panini pan. Granted it's a really good pan so I'll probably keep it BUT it's been quite a while since we've used it.

    I see so many awesome waffle maker recipes but haven't pulled the trigger to get one.

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    1. Unless you really like waffles don't bother lol

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  2. lol - LOVE this feature. I gave away a lot of my appliances. I still have a waffle iron. Not sure why because every time I make waffles (rarely) I put too much batter in and it all oozes out and makes a huge mess. I kept my panini maker and did research recipes for that, but I also think it's kind of useless. The only appliances I need are my toaster oven and my electric kettle. Don't care about any of the others.
    But look forward to future installments from you!
    Jen @ YA Romantics

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    1. I don't even know why on earth I bought a waffle iron! I have never used it. I'm much better at not buying things now. I end up just giving it away.

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  3. Oh my mom just found a recipe for gluten free waffles and they were good! She is so good at finding gems like that. I suck at cooking so I never look. She might really like the second recipe and I'll have to tell her. The first is WAY too much work for me. I can't do white potatoes anyway and I wonder if I could work sweet potatoes into it? Hm... yea, I'm not a cook, can you tell? LOL

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    1. The first was easier lol You could use packaged potatoes instead and it would have been 100 x's easier.

      I don't really love cooking much either - I'm more of an eater lol

      I might try the sweet potatoes. I LOVE them!

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  4. So hash browns are potatoes and seasoning...only that?

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  5. I tried this with a waffle maker but used the frozen one. It was a disaster.

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    1. From what I read you really need to squeeze ALL the moisture out. I had my husband do it for the fresh potato recipe and it still didn't crisp up nicely.

      The Simply Potatoes were super dry. I don't know if t was that or the addition of eggs that made it work.

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  6. I don't think a waffle maker is in my future, but I do love super crispy hashbrowns... hmmm.

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    1. Yeah - don't bother. I love anything crispy!!!

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  7. Karen I appreciate your dedication. That is entirely too much work for me. And I can barely make waffles in a waffle maker soooo

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    1. I really need to test waffles in the waffle iron lol

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    2. btw - I would never attempt that first one again - that was WAY too much work for no reward.

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  8. I am desperatly trying to pare down the items in my kitchen...especially since I do not cook...but that does look good!

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    1. Same here. I'm kind of doing this as a use it or lose it thing lol

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  9. oh wow...I never really thought about doing this but man I totally want to try this out and Now!! Looks so delicious.

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  10. Yeah when I tried they were an absolute miss. I did potato and onion. It was a huge let down and a mess :/ It's so tempting to try again! Your egg one looks yummy :D

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