There's a small restaurant in Chepachet, RI called, simply, The Harmony Restaurant. My husband discovered it years ago when he was teaching part-time in the area, and I remember he was very impressed with their breakfasts (though not so much with the coffee, or the heavy smoking that was allowed in the restaurant back then.) I've been there with him a number of times over the years, and I have to agree - they really do breadfast up right. Generous portions, fluffy pancakes, eggs done perfectly, and amazing corned beef hash. Corned beef hash that someone there actually made. Someone spent a bit of time and care on this dish, and it shows. Their corned beef hash has a creamy texture, as opposed to the stuff you get in a can (and at some other restaurants).
I wanted to make corned beef hash like this. Or better. And I don't know - I'm not all that good at self-promotion - but I think I make a mean corned beef hash. You could ask my husband, but he had some (too much) for breakfast this morning and he's still in a blissful coma.
Anyway, here's what I do.
First - I make corned beef a day or two before. It's kind of essential. And potatoes - cooked with the corned beef if possible. Or baked. But cooked before the morning you plan to make the hash.
Also, a green bell pepper. And an onion. Some butter. Salt (not a lot) and pepper. That's about it.
Here's how I make it:
Preheat the oven to 375.
Cut up the green pepper.
Chop up an onion.
Heat a large pan on medium high and melt some butter in it, and then toss in the pepper and onion and saute
until the onion starts to brown a little bit.
While that's happening, get out your leftover potatoes from the Corned Beef and Boiled Vegetable dinner you made a couple of nights ago and dice up the potatoes.
When the onions and peppers are looking good, add in the potatoes and sprinkle with a bit of salt and pepper.
Let that cook while you slice and shred the corned beef. Then add the shredded beef to the vegetable mixture.
When everything has been heated through, shut off the heat and remove about half of the corned beef and vegetable mixture and - in batches - run it through a food processor until it's approaching the consistency of mashed potatoes. Add that all back to the pan.
If you look at the picture below, you can see the pureed portion on the top/left...and the rough cut portion on the right/bottom.
Now work the two sections together with a wooden spoon or fork or spatula until well blended. You should see smooth areas and chunky areas.
Press all that down evenly in the pan and top with about a tablespoon of butter, broken into bits. Put the lid on the pan and place the whole thing in the oven for about 15 minutes. When the timer goes off, remove the lid and let it cook a bit more while you cook the eggs (if you're having eggs with your corned beef hash, and really, I can't imagine why you wouldn't, as they are meant to be together).
We usually have the eggs either over easy or poached. Today I went the over easy route. I also warmed up some leftover bread from the Corned Beef dinner extravaganza and served that, too.
Like so:
This is not a breakfast to have on a day you need to bustle about and accomplish a lot.
This is a breakfast for a day of leisure.
A day of reading the paper and making some more coffee or tea.
And maybe a nap, if you can get away with it.
That is exactly the type of corned beef hash recipe that I am looking for! Do you know where I can get shredded corned beef? Well, as I'm looking for information over the web I think I would have to buy beef brisket and turn it into corned beef and then shred it? Your pictures look very yummy.
Please email me your reply, I look forward to it :)
Posted by: Julia | April 24, 2009 at 02:16 AM