Country Ham Hash Recipes

COUNTRY HAM HASH RECIPE

Steps:

• Cook ham in a large skillet over medium, turning occasionally, until golden brown, about 10 minutes. Transfer ham to a plate lined with paper towels.
• Return skillet to medium-high, and melt butter in skillet. Add potatoes, onion, and bell pepper, spreading in an even layer. Cover and cook until potatoes soften, about 8 minutes. Uncover and stir in garlic, pepper, and salt. Cook, uncovered, without stirring, 2 minutes. Stir and continue cooking in 2-minute intervals, stirring after each interval, until potatoes are golden, about 15 minutes total.
• Chop cooked ham, and stir into potato mixture. Cook, stirring occasionally, until warmed and lightly browned, 2 to 3 minutes. Sprinkle with rosemary, and serve immediately.

CHEESY HAM AND HASH BROWN CASSEROLE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9x13 inch baking dish.
• In a large bowl, mix hash browns, ham, cream of potato soup, sour cream, and Cheddar cheese. Spread evenly into prepared dish. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.
• Bake 1 hour in the preheated oven, or until bubbly and lightly brown. Serve immediately.

COUNTRY HAM AND HOMINY HASH

Steps:

• Place the ham in a pot with the bay leaf and peppercorns. Cover with water and simmer for about 1 hour, until the ham is fork-tender (see Know-how, page 172). Add the potatoes and simmer for 10 minutes more, until the potatoes are just beginning to get tender. Strain the ham and potatoes from the pot, reserving about 1/4 cup of the liquid, removing and discarding the bay leaf, and set aside.
• Using two forks, shred the ham into bite-size pieces and place in a large bowl. Add the potatoes, hominy, and onion. Stir in the reserved cooking liquid and parsley and season to taste with salt and pepper. (Country ham is salty, so be sure to taste before adding any extra salt.)
• Heat the olive oil and butter in a large nonstick or cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat until hot. Add the ham-potato mixture and spread into a flat cake. Cover with a splatter screen or lid and cook until crispy, 4 to 5 minutes. Flip and re-form the cake. Cover and cook, adding a little more oil if needed, until crispy on the other side. Remove from the heat and cover.
• Fill a large skillet with water about 2 inches deep and bring to a boil. Add the vinegar and salt and reduce the heat to a simmer.
• Add the eggs one at a time and poach for 2 to 3 minutes, until the whites set and a thin, translucent film forms over the yolks (see Know-how, page 86). Use a slotted spoon to gently transfer the eggs to a paper towel-lined platter to drain.
• Divide the hash evenly between individual serving plates, place 1 or 2 eggs on top of each, and serve hot.
• For a more rustic interpretation of this dish, make a hole in the hash, crack the eggs in the hole, and cover to fry, rather than poach, to your liking. For a sweet-and-savory combination, substitute sweet potatoes for the russets, and for a crispy finish, scatter fried oysters on top. Or, make a cheesy variation by layering the hash mixture with Gruyère cheese in a skillet to form one large cake and sauté until brown and crispy. Slide the cake out of the skillet and cut into 4 to 6 wedges, then assemble the dish as for the main recipe.
• Hominy is the name for corn kernels that have been hulled to remove the bran and germ. Lye hominy is hulled by soaking the corn kernels in a weak lye solution-a very traditional, centuries-old Native American method-and pearl hominy is hulled mechanically. It is then dried and either ground to make our beloved hominy grits or boiled whole to make what New Orleansians call "big hominy." You can buy hominy canned, meaning precooked, or dried, in which case it will need to be presoaked and boiled in the same manner as dried beans.

COUNTRY HASH

Steps:

• Finely shred brisket and transfer to a bowl, then mix with mustard and Worcestershire sauce until combined well.
• Roast poblanos on their sides on racks of gas burners over medium-high heat, turning with tongs, until skins are blistered and slightly charred, 4 to 6 minutes. (Or broil on rack of a broiler pan about 2 inches from heat.) Immediately transfer to a large bowl and cover tightly, then let stand 10 minutes. Carefully rub off skins from poblanos. Cut open lengthwise and remove stems and seeds, including attached ribs. Wipe poblanos clean with a paper towel if necessary, then cut into 1/4-inch dice and transfer to a large bowl.
• Peel potato, rutabaga, and apple and cut into 1/2-inch cubes, then cook in 1/2 stick butter with 3/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper in a 12-inch heavy skillet over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until golden in spots and just tender, 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer to bowl with poblanos.
• Cook onion in 3 tablespoons butter with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 tsp pepper in same skillet, stirring occasionally, until golden, about 8 minutes. Add bell pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until just tender, 6 to 8 minutes more. Transfer to bowl with poblano mixture. Stir brisket into hash until combined.
• Preheat oven to 250°F with rack in middle.
• Heat 1 tablespoon butter in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until foam subsides. Add half of hash to skillet and cook, turning portions occasionally, until browned and crisp in spots, 12 to 14 minutes. Transfer to a large (17-by 11-inch) 4-sided sheet pan and keep warm in oven. Cook remaining hash in same manner in 1 tablespoon butter. Transfer to sheet pan in oven.
• Rinse and wipe out skillet. Fry eggs in 2 batches with 1 tablespoon butter per batch over medium heat. Serve eggs over hash.