This Joint is Hashed

The only thing better than corned beef is corned beef hash.That has as much to do with our preferred method of serving [consisting of putting a fried egg on top] as anything else, because otherwise corned beef hash is centrally just a downscaled reprise of corned beef, cabbage and boiled potatoes. Which, don't get me wrong, is simply delicious as is.

But what isn't better with a fried egg on top? [That was rhetorical dearies. Don't feel the need to answer aloud.]

The Eggle has landed. 

I don't use so much a recipe as a sense of proportions when I make hash. I like to have equal amounts of meat, potato, with any and everything else I might be adding comprising a third portion of a similar size.

Rule of three 

This go round I had the leftover corned beef (after I took the cloves out) finely chopped, the rest of the cabbage onion mixture chopped, and some boiled potatoes, finely diced. Each of the three legs of this contraption equalled about 3 cups apiece. I typically brown the mixture in around 3 tablespoons of unsalted butter, so you could characterize this hash as the result of following a rule of three.

For those of you who'd prefer a full on recipe, Elise from Simply Recipes has you covered, here. I'd originally used her oven baked corned beef technique a few days ago. Simply Recipes is always a great starting point, I've found. Elise just won't steer you wrong. But back to hashing out our dinner last night.

I was pleased with myself come dinnertime this evening because I had not only planned ahead, I had worked ahead, and chopped up my corned beef, cabbage/onion mixture, and my boiled potatoes all ahead of time.

That meant the only part of our dinner I had to put together from scratch was the beer batter muffins.

10 jumbos or a dozen smaller size.

Those muffins being a good enough reason to have a box of biscuit mix around all the time. I went wildly far afield this go-round and gilded the lily, using Guinness for the beer, adding a 1/4 teaspoon of hot paprika and adding a cup of shredded sharp cheddar cheese stirred in to the usual mix before baking.

To follow is the basic recipe as given me by my Mother-in-Law decades ago.

Gilding the lily

2 cups biscuit mix
3/4 cup warm beer (may use microwave to warm beer)
1 tablespoon of sugar

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease bottoms and sides of muffin cups with shortening (or spray). Mix ingredients until well blended. Fill cups about 2/3 full for a dozen, or divide equally among 10 cups for larger muffins. Bake until golden brown - about 15 minutes for 12 muffins and about 18-20 minutes for ten muffins. After cooling in pan 10 minutes remove and keep warm until serving. Makes a very light muffin with a large crumb.Next time I try adding cheese I want to use teensy cubes for a more pronounced presence. We thought the flavor of the Guinness was a bit heavy handed, actually. It left a slightly bitter edge that didn't work as well as I'd hoped. Next time I will stick to Shiner Bock or regular beer.

And now for the hash portion of the evening's entertainment. It was delicious. The flavor was somewhat shifted by my use of the leftover cabbage, but not at all in a bad way.Hashes, done well, are layered with wonderful flavors and textures and when they are topped with a runny fried egg, hit the spot, especially when there is a chilly, damp March evening to combat. After this hash went hand-to-hand with the weather last night the Hub and I both agreed on the results. 

Hash 1 : Chilly weather 0.

I realize I am a bit early but will go ahead and be among the first to wish you and yours a Happy St. Patrick's Day this coming Tuesday.  Faith, tis true, you will want to be wearin (or drinkin) yourself somethin green, kissin yourself a Leprechaun, eatin some corned beef and havin yourself a most lovely day, me darlins!