A few weeks ago, I featured a dish near and dear to many hearts (and stomachs), the New England Boiled Dinner, also known as Corned Beef and Cabbage. Ideally, when you cook that delicacy, you’ve made far more than the folks assembled at your table can eat. That leaves leftovers which are the main ingredients for a hearty frugal supper. Of course here in New England, this dish isn’t just a supper. Hash is a featured breakfast delicacy on many diner-style restaurant menus.

Hash does not enjoy the good reputation that many fine frugal recipes do. Some people consider it to be something for dogs to eat. Some folks run screaming from the room at just the mention of the possibility that it will be served. I have a cousin who burst into tears when he was told that Red Flannel Hash was today’s dinner at our Gramma’s house. But Gramma never wasted anything so he should have known this dish was coming. Hopefully you will try this recipe and your hash-consciousness will be raised.

Ingredients:

1 to 2 pounds leftover corned beef

4 or 5 boiled potatoes

1 15-ounce can beets (whole or sliced doesn’t matter)

1 small raw onion

1 to 2 eggs per person

Oil and butter for frying

Salt and pepper

Ketchup (optional)

Special equipment:

Meat grinder (I prefer the Kitchen Aid meat grinder attachment, but any grinder will work)

Large cast iron skillet

Apron or a shirt you don’t care about

Assemble all the ingredients. Put the ketchup on the table. Remove any large pieces of fat from the meat and discard them. Cut the meat and potatoes into chunks small enough to fit in the hopper of the grinder. Make sure there’s a large bowl in place to catch all the yummies. Put the corned beef through a larger setting on the meat grinder. You don’t want it liquefied, and one grinding is enough. Repeat with the potatoes.

Put on your apron or the shirt you don’t care about. Put the raw onion through the grinder and follow with the beets. The beet juice will splatter. That’s why you’re wearing an apron. You’ll see that the meat and potatoes in the bowl are now accompanied by a beautiful magenta color from the beets. Hence the name, “Red Flannel.” Stir everything together lightly so that you have a uniform mixture. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.

Put the cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Add about a tablespoon each of oil and butter to the pan. Once the butter is melted, swirl the pan (be careful, the handle is hot) to distribute the oils. Add the ground mixture to the pan, pressing down slightly, until it’s at an approximate depth of 1 inch. Let it fry just until there’s a good crust on much of the bottom. Check for this by gently lifting up sections with a spatula. You don’t want the whole thing to be blackened. Turn by spatula sections.

Once turned, make holes in the meat mixture large enough to accommodate an egg. Crack the eggs and slip them one by into each of the holes. If someone at your table doesn’t want an egg, don’t cook one. If someone else wants three (a truly prodigious appetite), then make three holes and cook three. While the bottom cooks, the eggs will “poach.”

When the eggs are set, carefully use the spatula to serve. Your hash goes directly on the plate with the egg sitting on top. At the table, poke the yolk so that it adds its runny self to the whole experience, kind of like a gravy. Pass ketchup and salt and pepper. Whether this is a supper or a breakfast, toast made of homemade bread is a fine accompaniment.

Enjoy!

If you think this recipe looks yummy,
please“rate” it and make it.

Text and Photos Copyright © 2009  CoyoteOldStyle
All Rights Reserved.