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Parmesan Hash Brown Potatoes

One item I love having for breakfast when I can is Hash Brown Potatoes. It is very popular with most of the people I know.

The problem with the way many cooks are used to making Hash Browns is they often become a gray gooey mess because of the starches and liquid in the potatoes. There is a method to making crispy flavorful Hash Browns every time. The secret is after you shred the potatoes to rinse them thoroughly with fresh cool water, allow them to drain completely in a colander, then add in other ingredients to serve as binders for the Hash Brown patties.

Here is my recipe for seasoned Parmesan Hash Brown Potatoes that I think you will like.

PARMESAN HASH BROWN POTATOES

Ingredients
3 Potatoes, Russet medium

2 T Flour
½ c Parmesan cheese
1/8 t Cayenne (Red) pepper
¼ t Paprika
¼ t Salt, Kosher
¼ t Pepper, freshly ground

1 clove Garlic, minced

½ c Oil (for frying)

Instructions
Peel and grate the raw potatoes. Rinse grated potatoes and place in colander to drain.

Mix flour Parmesan cheese and seasonings together and combine with drained shredded potatoes.

Add oil to pan and heat on medium until a shred of potato placed in the hot oil begins to sizzle.

Form seasoned grated potatoes into patties and place in pan with hot oil. Cook five minutes per side, or until golden brown.

After cooking, place patties on plate to drain and sprinkle with salt if preferred.

Fantastic Breakfast Casserole

Sometimes breakfast is a rushed time of day. When this is the case it can present a number of challenges to the cook especially if they are preparing breakfast in someone else’s kitchen.

I had promised to prepare breakfast for a special occasion at someone else’s home, and wanted to have it ready when I arrived. The challenge was to make a breakfast that would taste great, be hearty, satisfying, and portable, yet not take a lot of time to get ready. So, my idea was to make a one dish recipe that could be made in advance, baked, transported, and ready to serve on arrival.

The following is the result of a dish prepared in the LukewarmLegumes Test Kitchen that is not only easy to make, but your guests will all be clamoring for seconds. With the holidays upon us and all the visiting, visitors, and meal preparation that goes along with it, this dish just might be what you need. I promise your guests won’t be disappointed.

FANTASTIC BREAKFAST CASSEROLE

Ingredients
1 c Rice, cooked (3 cups)

3 Eggs
½ t Salt
¼ t Pepper
¼ c Cream

2 T Flour
2 T Bacon drippings or butter
1 c Milk

Bunch Green onions, chopped
½ Red Bell pepper, chopped

12 oz. Bacon, cooked and chopped *

3 c Cheddar cheese, grated

Instructions
The base of this dish is a bed of rice. So the first task in preparing it is to cook the rice by taking one cup of rice, adding it to two cups of boiling water, and simmering for 30 minutes.

Place the cooked rice in the bottom of a 9 x 13 casserole dish. Mix together the eggs, salt, pepper and cream and pour over the rice. Prepare gravy with the flour, bacon drippings (or butter), and milk and pour over the rice/egg layer.

For the next layer sprinkle the chopped green onion and red bell pepper. Then comes the chopped bacon layer.

Spread the grated cheddar cheese over all.

Then prepare the biscuit dough (see recipe below) and spoon over the top.

Baked in an oven preheated to 375 degrees for 30 minutes or until the top is a golden brown and the filling is bubbling.

Here is a list of the layers in order:
• Rice
• Egg mixture
• Gravy
• Veggies
• Bacon
• Grated Cheese
• Biscuits

BISCUITS

Ingredients
2 c Flour
1 T Baking powder
½ t Baking soda
1 t Salt
½ t Garlic powder
1 t Parsley
½ t Pepper

12 T Butter

1 c Buttermilk

1 c Cheddar cheese

Instructions
Combine dry ingredients. Cut in butter. Stir in buttermilk. Mix in cheese. Work the dough only until it is blended.

* After cooking the bacon, in order to conserve the bacon drippings for use in your recipe, I recommend using a metal colander and draining over a dish to capture the drippings rather than using paper towels because the paper towels will absorb the juices and make then unusable.

How to make big muffins

Have you ever baked muffins using your traditional 12 cup muffin pan, pulled one out when it was nice and hot, and placed a pad of butter on it to only have the first muffin gone in a few bites? Then, you go back for a second one, thinking you needed just a little more, and before you know it, you feel like you ate too many and think “If the muffin was just a little bit bigger, I wouldn’t have just eaten all of these.”

Well, now you can make the large muffins you see at Starbucks, Dunkin’ Donuts, or your local bakery in your own kitchen. The best thing is you don’t even have to buy a special baking pan to make them. In fact, you probably already have these in your kitchen, or something similar that would work. A simple trick that I learned when I was younger, from my Dad, was to use custard cups. Yes, custard cups.

You simply make your regular muffin recipe, nothing fancy, and place them into greased custard cups. I tend to grease mine using a butter flavored cooking spray. I think it does a nice job of making them non-stick as well as adding a nice buttery flavor and not adding calories.

Using the custard cup as your baking vessel, usually yields half the amount of muffins as your regular recipe. For example, if your recipe normally produces 24 muffins, you will get 12 large muffins. So, if you really wanted 24 large muffins, you will need to double your recipe.

The baking temperature should be the same for your recipe as it normally is, but it will take a little longer to cook. I leave them at the same temperature because I like mine to have a little crisp on the edges of the tops and have a nice golden brown colo r. I usually bake the muffins 15-20 minutes and I check on them. When you insert a cake tester or toothpick in the center and it comes out clean, then you know they are done. Enjoy your big muffins!

Another tip: I like to place my custard cups on a cookie sheet when I place them in the oven. It makes it easier to put them in and take them out.

Fluffy Whole Wheat Happy Face Waffles

There is nothing like seeing the smile on your child’s face. Always popular for breakfast in our home, on the weekends when we’re not so rushed, are waffles and pancakes. What makes them even better is when they are decorated with fruit sauces, whipped cream, chocolate chips, and *Nutella. To top it off, something that makes them happy every time, is adding a smiley face.

Last weekend I received a request for waffles AND pancakes, topped with a Nutella Happy Face. To make this creation I used my Fluffy Whole Wheat Waffle recipe (it can also be used to make pancakes.) Then decorated them with designs made with Nutella. (As you can see, you don’t have to be a great artist to make them happy.)

Here is my recipe which is designed to produce pancakes and waffles that are very light and fluffy. I hope you and your family enjoy them as much as we do.

Fluffy Whole Wheat Happy Face Waffles

Ingredients
1 c Flour, Whole wheat
1 c Flour, All purpose
2 t Baking powder
½ t Baking soda
1 t Salt, Kosher
3 T Sugar

3 Eggs, separated
1 c Buttermilk

6 T Butter, unsalted, melted
½ to 1 c Buttermilk

Nutella

Instructions
Mix together dry ingredients. Combine egg yolks and 1 cup buttermilk.

Add egg mixture to dry ingredients. Stir just to combine.

Add melted butter (allow to come to room temperature first) and ½ cup buttermilk (up to 1 cup as necessary to get the batter to the proper consistency).

Beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Fold gently into batter.

Scoop batter onto greased waffle iron and cook until it stops steaming and the waffles are golden brown.

Draw Happy Face on Waffles using Nutella.

* Just in case you are not familiar with it, Nutella is a versatile sweet spread made from hazelnuts and cocoa.

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