Dinner Tonight: Roast Beef Hash
The glories of roast beef hash don't make a lot of sense until you've got a hunk of cooked roast beef ready to go in the fridge. This is a leftover meal, and yet it manages to change the ingredients into something crisp, aromatic, and indulgent. When topped with an egg it can make a bountiful breakfast—or a very filling dinner. I liked this better than the original roast dinner.
This is adapted from Saveur magazine, which in turn got it from James Beard. It's as good as any place to start.
Though the roast beef gets top billing, the potatoes are just as important. Leftover boiled potatoes would probably work better, but freshly boiled spuds are OK in a pinch. It's just about getting the potatoes as crisp as possible, which is why the recipe keeps the heat at medium-high most of the time. If it looks like things are moving from crunchy to burnt, just reduce the heat. It may take a little while longer, but it's worth it.
Roast Beef Hash
- serves 2 to 3 -
Ingredients
1/4 cup canola oil
2 cups Yukon gold potatoes
1/2 medium onion, finely chopped
2 cups roast beef, diced in 1/4 inch cubes
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon fresh thyme, chopped
1/8 teaspoon cayenne
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Salt and pepper
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 eggs
Procedure
1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the potatoes and cook until tender, about 15-20 minutes. A knife should easily slip into them. Remove and stash in the fridge for 15 minutes or so while you prep the rest of the ingredients. Then dice the potatoes into 1/4 inch cubes.
2. Pour the oil into a large skillet set over medium-high heat. Dump in the potatoes and cook for 10 minutes or so, stirring occasionally, until they begin to brown. Add the onion and cook for another 10 minutes, or until they are very soft.
3. Add the roast beef, garlic, thyme, cayenne, and nutmeg. Cook for 5 more minutes, stirring occasionally.
4. Pour in the heavy cream, and stir until distributed. Then press down on the has with the back of the of a spatula and cook for a final 10 minutes, stirring every 2 minutes until very crispy and browned. Season with salt and pepper. Top with a fried egg.
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11 Comments:
A couple of thoughts, I always use the carrots from the left over roast beef, and instead of heavy cream pour in a cup of leftover gravy from the roast beef. We always had this as leftovers as kids but now I'll just make the roast beef dinner (chuck roast, potatoes, carrots and onions) and not bother to eat that. Just chuck it in the fridge till the next night, chop it all up, and fry it in a pan with butter and then add gravy at the end.
smokey07 at 4:55PM on 02/23/09
This looks fantastic. Then again, what isn't good topped with a fried egg?
http://makingitwithmeleyna.wordpress.com/2009/02/01/bow-chickpea-wow-wow/
meleyna at 5:05PM on 02/23/09
This reminds me of when I lived in Minnesota. I knew a cook at one of the local upper-end restaurants, and his treat for friends and kitchen staff was taking the leftover prime rib from that night's service and making up some prime rib hash. That was flavor country.
kaszeta at 10:23PM on 02/23/09
You could use this recipe for any kind of hash right? Just sub in some other kind of meat for roast beef?
wunami at 8:51AM on 02/24/09
Kaszeta: Prime rib hash? I can't imagine there being anything wrong with that.
Wunami: I can't see why not. Corned beef would be happy in there, too...
Nick Kindelsperger at 8:55AM on 02/24/09
Looks good, it looks like the roast beef hash I had a month or so ago. I always get my roast beef and corned beef hash from a can, because I've had really nasty tasting versions of it at diners. I'll have my husband check this recipe out.
Cassaendra at 12:37PM on 02/24/09
That looks like an awesome recipe. Much better than anything out of a can. :-)
Sara
NaturallyRecommended at 1:01PM on 02/24/09
Cassaendra: I too have noticed that there are many places that go to elaborate lengths to make their own CBH, but, despite all the effort and intent, end up with something equal to or worse than the canned stuff. I can't count the times I've assumed on my blog that a place's CBH is from the can (since it was identical in flavor, texture, etc, and even had the perfect little potato cubes like the canned stuff), only to get an angry email from an owner or a frequent patron about how they make their own hash.
kaszeta at 4:29PM on 02/24/09
I love this recipe! Some hash-makers resort to using the food processor to dice the meat. I would do it by hand, if I didn't have my mother's hand-cranked meat mincer (I use the coarsest blade). The potatoes cannot, of course, be put in the meat mincer, but are easy work if made into large french fries in the mandoline (or with food processor blade) and then cut into dice. Finally, I think the reason why some people think RBH (and CBH) is mistaken for canned is that a) the dice of the ingredients is too small, b) there aren't enough onions, and c) too much salt is used in the cooking.
shaogo at 12:02PM on 02/25/09
NY Times just had a recipe for prime rib hash this past week and the author referred to it as something akin to extravegant adult baby food.
Looked really delectable.
I love the canned stuff but there's something about looking at the sodium content and the *calories from fat* proportion that puts an ouch on my peanut now that I'm no spring chicken.
Stiv61 at 7:56AM on 02/28/09
I miss Pacific Dining Car-- their roast beef hash is the best. Would love to see that recipe.
dbird at 9:48PM on 03/02/09