Chicken Dinners: Chicken Hash

There hasn't been a hash I haven't liked. I'll eat anything fried up with crispy potatoes—corned beef hash, oyster hash, even a vegetarian root veggie hash. What about chicken hash? I can't say that I've ever seen it on a menu. My guess is that maybe chicken is considered too mild to sufficiently flavor this dish. I can see that, but I decided to give it a try anyway, with the challenge to make it as tasty as possible. I know most of us consider a hash to be breakfast fare, but any meat and potato dish more than fits the dinner bill in my book.

I started with uncooked chicken, but hash is a great way to use up leftovers. If you've got cooked chicken lying around, use it. And if the aroma from the rotisserie counter has got you hooked, use that as well. To reap more chicken-y flavor, I simmered Yukon Gold potatoes in chicken broth until tender and creamy before frying them up in a pan. Still, even with a toss of paprika, the hash needed more punch. To the rescue was my stash of spices that I'd just picked up from Kalustyan's. A few tablespoons of fragrant za'tar and turmeric and a dash of hot and zingy harissa paste was exactly the quasi-shakshuka flavor profile that I was looking for. Sprinkle in fresh parsley, place a fried egg on top, and dive in.