4 American Classics, 1 machine

So it’s pretty clear by now that I’ve made more than enough attempts at difficult recipes, things that aren’t exactly realistic for a person who has a serious job, or someone who has a family, kids to pick up from soccer practice, or for a typical twenty-thirty something that works 9-7 and then goes out every night for happy hour. For me, these recipes are difficult, and there is so much research I have to do to find out about molecular gastronomy. But honestly, it is much harder to be creative when there are severe constraints on one’s time and space. I do realize that for most 20 somethings living in urban areas, one tends to deal with limited spaces in kitchens with little access to machines. It may not even be due to economic scarcity, one can still have money and not have the space to keep all these tools, but you understand what I’m getting at. Time and space, always two things we struggle with.

First things first, grocery shopping.

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No shopping at Balduccis, Eataly, OR Citarella. You can tell, no?

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At this moment I confronted my Waffle machine, lots of questions..but no answers.. My thinking is always applied in a backwards fashion: Always acting childishly at crucial moments when adult-like thinking is required..and acting like an adult (jaded, cynical) when I should be thinking childishly. But this time I forced myself to think childishly about this machine, no preconceptions. Waffle machines have to produce waffles exclusively? Nonsense! With this machine, I’m going to take a spin on 4 American classics. Ticking clock + American classics + 1 machine. These were the stipulations, musn’t ignore them.

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American Classic #1 will be Corn beef hash. Oh but this time I switched it up with Prosciutto. It would be too difficult put prosciutto directly into this waffle machine and expect it to create a strong shape. I had to scheme like an adult now, no more childish thinking. I made a paste of sorts, Prosciutto and egg whites along with some crackled pepper and a touch of flour.

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Place the prosciutto in the pan first, then layer with mash potatoes..You could even use slices of potato..whatever you want. It’s going to sit in between so it doesn’t matter what style of potato it is, but we still want to keep things classic. What would corn beef hash be without potatoes?

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Steaming..

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You will get a super crisp crust. Prosciutto, the reason why I used it… It tends to crisp up much more than corned beef.

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You’ll want to trim your edges, give those to your dog or something, but I just ate them. Yum. Sorry, dog. I’ve recently made you an Adidas tracksuit, enough is enough.

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I served this on a bed of bruised kale, and topped it off with an over easy egg. The only way I like my eggs when corn beef hash is involved.

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Where is my tabasco??

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Okay, breakfast cleared. Now it’s time for lunch. American Classic #2. Pizza. So maybe it is not SO american, but please let this one slide… we can just say American – Italian. Instead of Pepperoni I am using Soppressata.

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Almost, but not there yet..

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Almost, not yet.

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Now we are ready to slice and pull apart. You can tell it’s very crusty, just the way I like it.

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Next American Classic: Philly Cheesesteaks. Waffle machine is still here of course.

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Again with execution. No room for a thick piece of crusty bread, but one could use some flaky phyllo dough instead. You cannot go wrong, it’s like eating buttery paper.

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Make sure to salt all layers of your ingredients. The meat and onions when you are cooking these separately… Adding salt later will do nothing. No need to salt the cheese of course.

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Caramelized onions, sharp cheddar, and some rib eye (thinly sliced) cooked medium rare. You don’t want to over cook this meat because it will continue to cook in the machine. Be careful.

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..Dinner..

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Last American classic: Oreos.  I’ve had a 20 year love affair with Oreos. I start here with finely grated cookies. The whole time this mixture was messing with my eyes, kept thinking it was coffee but no coffee smell..You don’t need the food processor, or the cold cut slicer, obviously there are non machine methods to get your oreos to break up. I folded this into some pancake/waffle mix.

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By now I hope you understand the general concept. This time I cooked a classic oreo waffle but I sliced it in half and placed some vanilla ice cream in between. Hot and cold desserts..

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Breakfast lunch dinner dessert. Prosciutto hash, pizza, Philly cheesesteak, and oreos. 1 execution method. Thanks for reading, more soon.

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Never too late to get a waffle machine…