Thursday, March 10, 2011

Breakfast Potato Skillet

Years ago, there was a Sacramento restaurant that G and I went to for breakfast. SR was just a baby and toddler at the time, so she just nibbled off our plates. But, I loved to order their potato skillet. It was a big plate of home fries covered with veggies, ham, cheese and a fried egg on top. By the time I had them leave off the ham, cheese and fried egg, I was left with home fries and veggies. I still loved it, though, because we could actually go out to breakfast on a Saturday morning, a rare treat for a vegan! But, then my frugal mind started adding up the money that I was still paying for the invisible ham, cheese and fried egg, and I began to wonder if I could duplicate this at home, but even more awesome than theirs. And what do you think I did next? You got it - experiment in the kitchen! Yay for my guinea pig family! So, the trick was to get that secret, elusive home fry flavor down: you know what I'm talking about - crispy potato square on the outside with a fluffy center. Just frying potatoes wasn't cutting it. I had to haul out my Big Daddy deep fryer. I deep fry about once or twice a year, so I'm not ashamed, I tell ya! Anyways, the potatoes were perfect, and by adding veggie hot dogs, vegan cheese and just the right veggies, it did the trick. I now have my scrumptious version of the Breakfast Potato Skillet! (Imagine that name echoing a few times.) Mine ends up being baked, and I don't think the restaurant did that; hence their "skillet" name, but I've kept that moniker for some good memories. That restaurant is now out of business, but we're still in the business of chowing down in the Blessed Vegan Life home. Come share in our food!

Breakfast Potato Skillet out of the oven

A steaming serving of this delight

The serving bowl after being attacked by hungry vegans!


Breakfast Potato Skillet

Ingredients:

9 russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2" cubes
Enough canola oil for deep frying
Salt to taste
1 and 1/2 cups of broccoli florets, coarsely chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
4 - 6 mushrooms, sliced
1 pkg. of your favorite vegan hot dogs (use eight of them)
2 tomatoes, diced
1/2 pkg. of Follow Your Heart Vegan Gourmet cheese, cheddar style, finely shredded, divided
Salt and Pepper to taste
Hot sauce or ketchup, optional

Directions:

Prepare the deep fryer. Gently put in three of the potatoes, diced, in the deep fryer. Cook for 12 to 14 minutes, until golden. Drain on paper towels and salt according to your taste. Repeat two more times with the remaining potatoes. I will do this step often the night before so as to save time in the morning. Put potatoes in a large baking dish. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Meanwhile, put the broccoli, bell pepper and mushrooms in a medium pot with about an inch of water and a steamer basket. Steam for about ten minutes, just until the broccoli is fork-tender. You do not want to overcook them. When ready, put them in a medium bowl, along with the tomatoes. While the veggies are steaming, prepare the hot dogs according to package directions - I bring water to a boil, turn the heat off, add the hot dogs and let sit for two minutes. Slice the hot dogs into 1/2" rounds. Add the hot dogs and half of the cheese to the bowl with the veggies. Add salt and pepper to taste, and stir the whole thing very well. Pour on top of the potatoes in the baking dish, and sprinkle the rest of the cheese all over the top. Cover with a lid and bake for 30 minutes. Remove lid and turn on the top broiler, and broil for 3 to five minutes to melt the cheese. Serve with hot sauce and/or ketchup. Mm-mm goo-ood! Feeds five hungry vegans with leftovers for lunch...maybe.

21 comments:

  1. I'm too chicken to deep fry anything myself, but I'd sure come eat breakfast skillet at your house if you invite me. I mean, it has broccoli, it's got to be good for you, right? Lucky guinea pigs.

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  2. oh my...what a treat...I love cheesy recipes and this one sure looks delicioso. It has everything a hungry vegan wants and enjoys.

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  3. This looks amazing! I love skillets too, and your story of how the dish came about is wonderful :) I'm the same when it comes to adding up how much we pay in restaurants compared to making it at home. Your family must be excited and giddy when they see you making this recipe! hehe :D

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  4. Of course, Andrea, broccoli makes everything healthy!

    Thank you, Millie. :-)

    Oh, I am a cheapie, er, I mean, money-saver, Maggie! They love this dish almost as much as I do.

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  5. I can hear the echo after Breakfast (fast-fast-fast) Potato (ato-ato-ato) Skillet (illet-illet-illet)! You only have to look at the photo to see that it must be delicious: cheezy, broccoli, potatoey, yummy. This will make a great Sunday morning treat, thought I don't have a deep fryer, I"ll have to improvise.

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  6. This sounds right down my alley. I must try this! I have so many of your recipes that I want to try that I think I am going to have to dedicate one of my days to you....call it BlessedMama day. :o) I can't wait to try this out.

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  7. Rose-ose-ose-ose, I love this dish. It's so warm and filling for a really hearty breakfast. If you kind find a healthy alternative to deep frying and still get those crunch/soft potato pillows, let me know, please!

    Michelle, I am so happy that you like so many of my recipes. When you have Blessed Mama Day, can I ride in the back of a convertible and wave at an adoring crowd? :-)

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  8. Lol (-ol-ol-ol), I'm having fun with the echo thing. I'll just fry them in a pan with lots of oil, which I guess is pretty much the same as a deep fryer.

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  9. Sounds similar to deep frying, Rose, just flatter, not deeper, right? ight, ight?

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  10. ohhh i used to love skillets like that!! why did you have to do this!! lol and i know what you mean baout the price, its hard to still pay full price when you take eveything off except for potatoes and veggies:) i love that its baked, it looks SOOOO good!!i have been eating raw for about five days now and this is really tempting me darn it!

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  11. The skillet looks great, I like the variety of veggie that you can use, and if broccoli are included I am in!

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  12. Hot Diggity Dogs for breakfast!!! You're the best Mom ever!

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  13. Whoops, sorry, Michelle! Didn't mean to derail your raw thoughts! This dish will be waiting for you when you're done. :-)

    Thanks, Alessandra.

    S.V., I'll tell my kids you said so. Believe it or not, they can be pretty picky eaters and don't always "appreciate" Mom's efforts. Harrumph.

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  15. Sorry I managed to delete the post above!!! Silly me! Anyway, I have commented on the Vegan blog to in regard to pesto. Every Italian will tell you not to use a knife with basil, at least with the home made pesto. Even when putting basil in pasta sauces you should break it with your fingers and not cut it with a knife. Of course if you are making 'industrial' quantities of pesto it may be a different matter, but a mortar and pestle set is quite efficient, it takes me a long time because I have a small mortar and need to add the ingredients little by little. The kids can do it :-).

    ciao
    A.

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  16. Thank you, Alessandra - I've learned something new! :-)

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  17. NICE! I love diners dive ins and dives and this reminds me of the breakfast skillets they show on there!!! I love potatoes!

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  18. I'm going to make this as soon as I get hold of some hotdog sausages! So good! Anything with the word 'potato' in the title makes John and me salivate and this looks so good I'm trying not to dribble on the keyboard. (No kidding! But TMI? Sorry!)
    Thanks for yet another wonderful recipe! (Rushes for cloth to clean up the keyboard! Sorry! More TMI?)
    Penny (Scottish Vegan Homemaker)

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  19. Thanks, Brandi. Sometimes I get a lot of inspiration from trying different foods at restaurants. I just had an Asian salad the other day with a subtle dressing that I'm thinking of trying to recreate.

    Penny, I'll send you a box of napkins, quick! Oh, and probably a new keyboard! Poor thing.

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  20. Yum-o! Except veggie hot dogs sort of freak me out so I can't eat them (too life life) - but I could use Tofurky kielbasas. mmmm. We go to this place - Silver Dollar City in Branson (ever heard of it?) - all old-timey, and they always have these gigantic skillets with something like this, and it always looks sooo good to me.

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  21. Kielbasas would work great, Jenny! Home town cooking does always look good.

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