Waffle maker heart-shaped hashbrowns

Long day, of study, laundry, exercise...the usual weekend stuff. Nearly midnight, suddenly got hungry, and remembered there was a bit of leftover waffle batter in the fridge. I love waffles. Any time of day. Or night. But, after sitting in the fridge for all day, even after adding a bit more baking powder, sifted flour, sugar, flour and one more egg, it just didn´t exactly help. The waffles were extremely crispy and soft chewy perfect texture, but the taste was more like hashbrowns, not quite. It got me to thinking: hmmm can I make hashbrowns in the waffle maker?

So I did, and much better. Really cute too as our thin waffle maker is heart shaped, if you put 4 hearts together in a circle. Once a waffle is made you can tear it up into four large hearts. And, when you make hashbrowns, if you are careful enough, same thing. I was thinking a great idea for a Valentine´s, Mother´s/Father´s Day or birthday breakfast.

RECIPE:

Shred cold peeled and washed large potatoes. It´s easier and better imho if the potatoes are cold. Once shredded, squeeze out as much of the liquid as you can. Then season as you like. I usually add salt, pepper, maybe some tabasco, and a bit more salt as I like hashbrowns crispy and a bit salty. Chill in fridge for 10 or so minutes.

Meanwhile, heat up the waffle iron. I use double sided (top lid closes on a bottom lid) waffle iron, either for the fire or the plug in kind. This time I used the plug in kind. Set for 4 (whatever that means, it´s a higher setting, but not the highest) but checked during cooking til I got the right golden brown color I wanted. Eventually I used a 5 setting, a bit higher, but not the highest setting.

Oil both the top and the bottom, then oil the top again, as that side is more difficult to keep the oil from dripping back to the bottom. To oil, I pour in some oil into the bottom waffle iron, then use a wooden paint brush if you do not have the usual oil brush. Use the oil brush, to first spread the oil around the bottom waffle iron, then keep oiling the brush from the bottom to oil the top.

Carefully take out enough "shreddies" to make a thin hashbrown, covering all the heart shapes to the edges. Lower the lid, and check the setting you like. The first one keep an eye to see if your setting is too high or too low, or just right. Adjust as needed.

Don´t put too much shreddies in, but also adjust the amount to what you like the texture to end up as. I like thin crispy outside with soft chewy on the inside, so put a thin layer of the shredded potato. If you like thicker, or less crispy, adjust as needed.

When still hot, put on a plate for serving, and if necessary sprinkle with a bit more sea salt or flaked salt. Optional, but as I said, hashbrowns are one of the few things I like a bit salty.

These are really great, and much easier quicker than using a pan, as both sides are cooking at once, and that also helps keep it crispy chewy perfect. To keep the hashbrowns warm, you can:

-cover plate with a tea towel
-put all hashbrowns when done on a baking tray (you can do this with cooked bacon too, pancakes, scrambled eggs, French toast...too) in a warm oven til breakfast is ready to be served.

After making these, I checked online, and lots of others have done this too. It´s a great idea, can´t believe never thought of it before.

black bean and black-eyed pea chili

Blogtime laxing to organise a bit better. It´s already Pinsedagene, the weekend holiday here after May 17th. Studying lots. Quickly:

BLACK BEAN and BLACK-EYED PEA CHILI

1. Into a large pot, put a few cups, total, of both dried black beans and dried black-eyed peas. Season with fresh ground peppercorns, flaked salt, coriander seeds, black cumin seeds, chopped celery stalks and leaves, fresh herbs (thyme, basil, chervil, oregano), cumin, tabasco.

Cover this with boiling water. Not hot water, but boiling. Top up with boiling water atleast half way up pot. Turn on burner, to about medium to keep the boil, cover, then once at a boil again, turn down a bit, to keep a simmer. Simmer til beans are soft, but not mushy.

At the end, add what you have to hand in the larder, and whatever you like. OR, at this point, cool and put into portioned containers and freeze for quick soup/stew starters. Today, I´m using a thawed out portion adding:

shredded chicken from a roast chicken, some more fresh herbs and dried herbs, a little more salt and pepper to taste, a can of crushed Italian tomatoes, okra, and a little beef summer sausage. Simmered all together just enough to cook through but not turn mushy, and not turn the okra slimey. In the end, if you like, just put the entire pot into the oven on warm to simmer for a more even heat, not just from the bottom.

Serve over pasta such as spinach fettucine, or brown jasmine rice, or blue corn chips. Top with a dollop of rømme (full fat traditional Norwegian sour cream).
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maybe Smores for dessert. Digestives, marshmallows, dark baking chocolate, warmed over the fire. It´s summery temperatures, cooling at night. Gorgeous! Winter has finally gone, skipped spring mostly, and gone full on for summer today. yay. finally:). That deserves a smile!