Happy St. Patrick’s Day! By the time you are reading this blog, you probably already have your corned beef and cabbage cooking, your green shirt pressed and maybe a pint or two in the fridge. If you are Irish, it is a day to celebrate an amazing cultural history, and if you aren’t Irish, you spend the day pretending that you are!
Given the fact that there are gathering limitations this St. Patrick’s Day there will be one thing a lot of us will have in common... leftover corned beef! If you are making corned beef at home, the standard size corned beef brisket is about 3 pounds and that is about 6-8 servings (here is a recipe from The Chopping Block if you didn’t get it started yet).
For the average American, the first two things you create with leftover corned beef is a good Reuben Sandwich and some Corned Beef Hash... but let’s not be “average.” I tried to think out of the box this past year and was inspired by a book I found in the library called “Will It Waffle” by Daniel Shumski.
Simply stated, this book is a compilation of different dishes you could make in a waffle maker including a vast array of sandwiches. It's a whimsical rediscovery of an appliance that many of us have in our homes but only use for its one intended purpose.
It is really quite simple and almost genius to use the waffle maker like a regular griddle. Essentially a griddle is a flat iron cooking surface that is used to cook food. So what if we omit the flat part of that definition? A waffle maker works the same way and you get the bonus of textural waffle holes! (And what kind of monster doesn’t like waffle holes?)
I started using my waffle maker as an easier, mindless way to griddle with the bonus of it being kind of fun.
With that in mind and thinking about St. Patrick’s Day, I started to experiment with corned beef. To begin, I bought some deli corned beef, thin sliced Swiss, a can of sauerkraut and whipped up some Russian dressing. (And when I say whipped up, I mean that I combined a couple packets of ketchup, a heaping tablespoon of mayonnaise and a giant teaspoon of horseradish.)
My goal was to see if my Reuben would waffle, which it did beautifully. You know what else waffled? My original idea for this blog on the Irish tradition of Reuben sandwiches. Tradition Spoiler Alert: A Reuben is not Irish; it is an American deli favorite.
Scroll down for a printable version of this recipe
Serves: 1 sandwich
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 5 minutes
Rye Bread (You can use large slices or do a little party rye version)
Swiss Cheese, thinly sliced
Russian Dressing (You can sub in Thousand Island if you like a sweeter sauce.)
Corned beef (I used some shaved from the deli.)
Sauerkraut
1. Heat up your waffle maker to the highest setting. Place down one piece of rye bread. (If you are making multiple sandwiches you can build them off of the waffle maker.)
3. Spread a little of your Russian Dressing.
4. Top with Corned beef
5. Top with sauerkraut.
6. Top with another piece of cheese.
7. Top with your final piece of bread.
8. Place it in your waffle maker and lower the lid. You don’t want to squish it too much or all your filling comes spilling out. Instead, let it cook a couple of minutes and rotate it…don’t flip it. Note: the picture below shows how it looked before I rotated.
This is “average” sandwich sized bread.
Serves: 2
15 ounces of thawed out tater tots
1/4 pound of corned beef
1/4 cup of shredded Swiss cheese
1. Heat up your waffle maker.
2. While it is heating up, mix the ingredients in a bowl.
3. Put about half of it on your waffle maker and don’t freak out when you hear the sizzle.
6. I served mine with a poached egg on top, a little sauerkraut and a generous spoonful of hollandaise. And yes, you can pour a little hollandaise in each little waffle divot!
But if you are yearning to get out of your own kitchen, The Chopping Block has some fun brunch classes offered in-person at Lincoln Square. Yep, in-person hands on and demo classes are back with the obvious safety precautions in mind. And, of course, virtual offerings are here to stay. Be sure to check out:
In-Person at Lincoln Square:
Virtual:
Be prepared that until you familiarize yourself with your waffle maker, you may have some missteps but have fun while you do it and remember...
“Wherever you go and whatever you do, may the luck of the Irish be there with you.”