It’s the morning after St. Patrick’s Day and a perfect time to use up the left over corned beef and whip up some hearty hash for breakfast, brunch or even dinner, depending on the time one awakens on this fine Sunday!
I’m not talking about the glop you get in a can that looks like dog food (actually I‘m fairly certain that canned dog food looks better than canned corned beef hash these days). No, I’m talking about taking russet potatoes with fresh vegetables of your choosing and frying them up in a cast iron pan with the left-over corned beef to create a hearty skillet dish full of fresh flavors that sticks to your ribs!
I always use russet potatoes but you could also use sweet potatoes for an interesting twist. For the veggies, I use what I have on-hand, which is typically sweet peppers, onions and mushrooms, with garlic and sometimes I’ll add Brussel sprouts or carrots.
For me, cast iron is the pan of choice for this dish to get the potatoes to a lovely golden brown with extra crispy edges, but you could use any pan to your liking. First I do a quick stir-fry on the peppers, onions, garlic and mushrooms, just to slightly soften them. Remove the mixture from the pan and fry up the potatoes in a combination of butter and bacon fat—I said this dish is hearty, not healthy! The secret to getting the potatoes to the perfect stage of golden crispiness is to let the pan do it’s job! Don’t constantly stir them around the pan, but rather let them crisp up on their own, then turn once to crisp on the other side. When you turn the potatoes, add chopped up pieces of corned beef. When both sides are crisp, add the other veggies back to the pan and combine. Remove from heat and allow everything to keep warm in the cast iron, while you fry up some crispy-bottom sunny-side up eggs!
