All those holiday roasts that we painstakingly prepare and from which we covet each luscious bite sometimes seem destined to be the prize at the end of the road: the leftovers.
The Christmas menu was roast prime rib, thrice baked potatoes and carrot souffle
In my kitchen, the remains of the Thanksgiving turkey are destined for the proverbial pot pie. I make a poultry pie at other times of the year when I have meat leftover from a large chicken. My other leftover dish is to stuff tortillas with mixture of chicken cloaked in a red or green chili sauce, topped with cheese and baked for a dinner of enchiladas. .
Then there’s the great big world of hash made from all those wonderful trimmings from the holiday roast. And this year I developed a full-proof method of making the crustiest beef hash so simply put together.
The trick here is to roast the hash in a hot oven until the top gets all crunchy while the bottom of the hash is crisped up after being initially sautéed in a cast-iron skillet. At this go around I served it with wedges of leftover carrot soufflé that had accompanied the roast. Add a poached egg and ketchup or chutney if you must and it’s a meal as fine as the original roast.
Ingredients
- About 2 cups peeled and diced russet potatoes ( 2 medium potatoes)
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 medium large onion, peeled and diced
- 3/4 cup diced celery (2 stalks)
- 1 sprig rosemary, leaves snipped
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 12 to 16 ounces leftover beef, cut into 3/4-inch cubes
- 1/2 cup ketchup
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- Dash Tabasco
- Canola or light olive oil
- 2 poached eggs
- Snipped green onions, to garnish
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
- Bring a medium pot of salted water to the boil and add the cubed potatoes and boil until just tender, about 10 to 15 minutes; do not overcook—you want them to be softened but still slightly firm. Drain and set aside
- Meanwhile, in a 9-inch cast-iron skillet sauté the onions and celery in the butter. Add the rosemary and season generously with salt and pepper . Take half of the boiled potato cubes and add to the onion-celery mixture, giving it a few turns in the butter just to coat.
- Mash the other half of the potatoes and put into a large mixing bowl. Add the onion-potato-celery mixture, the meat, ketchup, Worcestershire and Tabasco. Mix with your hands or a wooden spoon until well combined.
- Heat the same skillet over medium high heat and add a thin coat of the oil; add the hash mixture. Press down firmly with a spatula and cook over medium high heat so that the bottom gets slightly crisp.
- Put the pan in the oven and bake for about 15 minutes or until the top gets all crusty and brown. Serve with a poached egg on top.
