2022 was a good year on the griddle. I made a lot of new stuff, plenty of my classic favorites, and some weird things.
It was hard to narrow down my Top 5 Favorite Recipes of the year, but I think I did it. Unfortunately, just like JV basketball, some people had to get cut from the team. But that’s part of life and maybe they’ll make the squad next year.
1.Tater Tot Hash Browns
This was probably my favorite griddle trick I learned all year. My buddy Tony at work does his hash browns like this every weekend on his stove.
He defrosts frozen tots, puts them in a pan on medium heat, and lets them crisp up for 7-9 minutes. There’s only one flip and they turn out amazing. I heard this and immediately had to try it on the griddle.
It turned out fantastic and was so easy! You just pop the tots in the microwave for 30 seconds, add a bunch of oil to your griddle at 375 degrees, then place the tots on there, and smash them together.
Just like shredded hash browns you don’t touch them at all. You can season them more if you’d like, but most frozen tots come pre-seasoned. After 7 to 9 minutes, you flip them and let them cook for about 5 more minutes and then they’re done! Crispy, golden brown, and delicious. You really need to give this a try.
2. Pork Chop Sandwich
This is a Chicago staple that I unfortunately had never had. So I figured I would try my hand at making my own.
First, you add a healthy amount of oil to your griddle at 400 degrees. Let the oil heat up, then fry your pork chops in it. I got thick ½” chops which were perfect. The only thing you need to remember is to season those things heavily.
After I fried the chops to 155 degrees (about 4 minutes per side), I grilled some onions right in the same spot to get the drippings.
Then I toasted some Texas Toast and assembled the sandwich. Pork chop, grilled onions and some mustard all on Texas Toast!
These things turned out great and I will definitely make them again. I might try to brine the pork chop next time for a little more flavor.
3. Chicken Philly Cheesesteak
This sandwich isn’t from Philadelphia, and it’s certainly not a cheesesteak, but I called it a Chicken Philly anyways.
This was super easy to make and tasted amazing!
I diced some chicken and marinated it in Italian dressing, grabbed some sliced peppers and onions, soft hoagie buns and some provolone cheese.
Then, I cooked the chicken, peppers, and onions on the griddle at 375 degrees. Once the chicken was done, I mixed it all together, added the cheese and threw it on the hoagie. Super easy and extremely tasty. I’ve made it multiple times this past year.
4. Breakfast Tacos
Arguably two of my favorite things in this world combined!
This is a simple recipe where you brown some breakfast sausage, then add scrambled eggs and cheese. The key is to get your tortillas nice and crispy after you add the egg mixture in as a filling.
Potatoes are also a great addition to this breakfast taco. My favorite potato is the triangle hash brown patties. I just toast those up on the griddle and add them inside the taco.
Serve these up with some hot sauce or salsa and sour cream!
5. Malcolm’s Mexican Cheesesteak
Malcolm Reed is a personal hero of mine. I love his videos, recipes and overall approach towards cooking.
I did a video where I tested out viral TikTok cooks, and his Mexican Cheesesteak was by far my favorite recipe from that video.
He basically did chorizo and shaved steak as the meat. Then, he added peppers, onions, a bunch of his grande gringo seasoning and some pepper jack cheese. I think this would also work well with ground beef.
He finished by putting it all in a hoagie bun and topped it with more cheese (processed nacho cheese) and some jalapenos.
This is exactly why Malcolm is the best. He took a classic dish and put a delicious and creative spin on it. You gotta try one of these.
Here is his video if you want to watch it:
https://youtube.com/shorts/dULhOGIJmYo?feature=share
Johnny, here’s one more for you. A breakfast burrito!… not like the ones you’ve had before- Cook up some hash browns, sausage links, scramble some eggs, onio s and peppers diced. Encase all that in a big.flour tortilla and smother it in sausage gravy… It’ll take you all day quite a meal in a big tortilla!!
Wow! that sounds amazing Bob. I am definetly going to have to give that a try. It sounds like a full meal for sure. Thanks so much for sharing I might have to put that in a video some time if that’s ok with you?
Definitely going to try the tater tot hash browns next. Thanks, Johnny!
Awesome! I hope it turns out well.