Ever since Al got Dave and I hooked on Hobee’s when he took us to the Cupertino location about a year ago, we’ve been there more than any other restaurant here and we’ve got half the Hobee’s breakfast menu on reviewsby.us to prove it. We now know that there are locations all over the bay area, including one within walking distance of our apartment. Because we moved into our place about a week before the moving truck arrived, we had nothing in our kitchen for cooking. Therefore, we’d walk down to Hobee’s every morning and I would usually try some variation of their hashbrowns, which are really more like American fries or just simply fried potatoes.

One morning I woke up with a craving for some Hobee’s browns and realized that not only would they be easy to prepare myself, but that I already had all the ingredients I would need. So here’s what I did:

Hobee’s Style Browns

Essentially, I just cut up baby red potatoes (personal preference) into small chunks and fried them up with onions in olive oil. Now, you have to fry them for quite a while in order to soften them up so don’t be impatient. I left the skins on because I’ve heard that’s where most of the nutrients in potatoes are and I really have no reason to take them off especially since it’s a lot easier to just wash and cook rather than having to peel them all. Remember to salt and pepper to taste.

After frying the potatoes until they were almost soft (about 20-25 minutes??) I started adding complimentary leftovers that we had in our fridge. I found some pico de gallo, cheese, and cilantro that were all left over from taco night so I added the pico de gallo and cilantro first so the potatoes could soak up some of the flavor. Then, added the cheese and left it on the heat just long enough for it to melt. Once the cheese was melted I scooped it all into a bowl and topped it with fresh cilantro.

Then, keeping the pan on medium heat I used the leftover olive oil and pico de gallo/onion/cilantro juice to fry up an egg topper. Since the pan and oil was already heated up, the egg cooked fairly quickly so the potatoes didn’t get cold by the time it was done. I salted and peppered the egg to taste as well, cooked it over-easy leaving the yolk runny just like I like it, placed it on top of the potatoes and had myself some tasty Hobee’s style browns with an egg topper!

You can try it with any variety of leftovers such as: bacon, turkey bacon, ground turkey, leftover taco meat, salsa, spinach, mushrooms, green onions, tomatoes, black beans, guacamole, or sour cream. It’s a great way to use up leftover ingredients, especially since it’s really easy to just rummage through your fridge and toss stuff in the pan and it’s a versatile breakfast because you can change it up by going with a different theme each time based on what you had for dinner last night.

Note: next time I may try boiling the potatoes for 5-10 minutes first so I don’t have to fry them for so long. Cutting them into bite sized pieces is also essential not only for ease of eating, but also to help them cook faster.

Have fun!