St. Patrick's Day and Corned Beef Hash

I'm still stuck in the breakfast mode. Today, far from the Emerald Isle, if you live in Chicago, then you are automatically Irish and thereby entitled to use all the clichés associated with it. "Top o' the Mornin' to Ya, Kiss me I'm Irish, and Erin go Bragh," just to name a few. On St. Patrick's Day we all turn into leprechaun's, chasing rainbows and looking for our pot of gold.Maybe I should buy a lottery ticket today.

In Chicago, St. Patty's Day is a really big deal. Dying the river green, and the parade are annual traditions. While most people are happy to sit in an Irish pub drinking a pint of Guinness, in Chicago it's a glass of ice cold Budweiser, Miller, Old Style, or any other domestic beer that, like our river is dyed green for this special day. I'm not sure about the long term effects on our body, or the environment. When we were younger, we would go off to the parade and march, that is until the politicians decided that they needed more room to add their floats.

We were dumped after about three years in favor of more politicians trying to expand their voter base. I thought this was suppose to be a celebration of Irish heritage. This year there's a zero tolerance for alcohol  at the parade. Leave it to the politicians to try and stop an Irishman from drinking. Now where was I?

Oh yeah, breakfast! Every year we pick up one or two Harrington's corned beef.If that's not available, Vienna is our second choice. My wife always makes a "New England Boiled Dinner," Aka. corned beef and cabbage, if you're not from the East coast.

Like a good game of chess, I'm always thing one or two moves ahead. When I see my wife making a New England Boiled Dinner, I'm already thinking about how to get more bang for my buck. For the left-overs, if any, I'm thinking about a corned beef on rye, or a Reuben sandwich on St. Patrick's Day, (see last years post) http://dumplingproject.blogspot.com/2014/03/corned-beef-reuben-sandwiches-st_13.html

 

Allocating some of the left-overs to corned beef hash is a top priority in my house. Begin my chopping the boiled onions. You want to see them in the hash so don't mince them. The next on your list should be the corned beef. Put the corned beef that you will be using for sandwiches to the side. Then work on the meat for the hash. Either chop it with a knife, or run it through a grinder. I like the texture of knife cut over using the grinder in my hash.  

You see where this is going? Next cut your boiled potatoes into cubes, or shred them on a grater. For me it depends on my mood. Cleaning a grater is no easy task, so often I'll just cut it into cubes. Finally it's the carrots. Carrots add a little sweetness to the hash. It's up to you.

Since I'm probably not getting around to making the hash until the weekend, I will bag the separated ingredients in quart size zip lock freezer bags and put them into the freezer until needed. Hash makes a great breakfast side dish for a Saturday or Sunday breakfast.

 

When you are ready to make the hash, defrost the ingredients, mix them together and season with a little salt, fresh cracked black pepper, and some parsley. Place some butter and oil on a hot skillet or pan, followed by all of the hash ingredients. Cook until the hash is crispy. Check back after the weekend and I'll post pictures of me making the hash. All of this blogging has made me hungry.

Would you like a Reuben?

Maybe just a Corned beef and Swiss on Rye?

You've got to have dessert right?

Addendum to post

As promised I made the hash over the weekend. I pulled the hash ingredients from the freezer the night before St. Patrick's Day and placed them into the refrigerator. 

Starting with a hot skillet, I put 1 tablespoon of butter and 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil into it. When the skillet was hot I added the potatoes, onions and carrots until they began to crisp up.

Add the corned beef

I put the chopped corned beef into the potatoes, onions and carrots. Once the mixture began to crisp up, I adjusted the salt and pepper to my taste. Finally added a splash of hot sauce.

Can you smell that?

This is probably a good time to get your eggs cooking. Today we were in the mood for scrambled eggs. While making the eggs we turned burner on the hash to low.

When served I just couldn't wait to take that first bite. Could you? What can I say? It was delicious. If you like ketchup on your hash, be my guest.

Would you like a bite?

From an economic standpoint, the two corned beef briskets served seven people a New England Boiled Dinner, six people Reuben sandwiches and enough has to serve four people as a side. So the next time you have left-over cooked meat, make some hash.

Prime Rib Hash and Eggs

© TMelle 2015
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