Fall Hash

Ahhh, did you miss me yesterday? 

I'm here this morning, so that should make up for it right?  I'm hoping that I can at least get you guys 3 posts a week, but we'll see.  I don't want to make promises I can't keep!

Anyway, first week of culinary school was awesome!  We got our whites on Saturday - check me out!

A natural, right?!  C'mon, just entertain me for a minute.

I spent the first week basically feeling everything out.  Seeing who was similar to me.  Seeing who was not similar to me.  It's definitely a lot to take in.  But I'm jumping into it with both feet and absorbing all that is thrown at me!  Next week, we get our knife kits (they're pretty bad ass if you ask me - I can practice "packing my knives and going" as if Padma, herself, was telling me.  Okay, now I'm getting really dorky!)

Anyway, I figure since I'm posting in the morning, I might as well give you a solid breakfast dish!  This is the second hash I've posted in the past couple weeks, so can you tell it's one of my favorite things to make?  They're easy.  They're versatile.  They're darn delicious!

Ingredients:

1 medium acorn squash, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch cubes
4 slices thick-cut bacon, chopped
1 small onion, diced
salt & pepper, to taste

3 main ingredients?  How could you not make this?!

Set a salted pot of water to boil under medium heat.  Add acorn squash and boil just for a few minutes (maybe 4-5) to parboil.  Drain and set aside.

Heat a large cast iron skillet under medium high heat.  Add bacon and cook until crisp, about 5 minutes or so.  Remove bacon with a slotted spoon and transfer to a paper towel-lined plate. 

Remove all the bacon grease, except for about 1 to 2 tablespoons.  Add onions to skillet and cook under medium heat until starting to soften, about 5-7 minutes.  Add in acorn squash and cook until browned, about 5 minutes or so, and stirring occasionally.  Stir in bacon and season with salt and pepper, if needed.

You could serve this as a side dish, or you can eat a whole plateful like I did!  It's fall on a plate - I swear!

It'll probably be another day or so before I'm back, so until next time guys!

Salmon Hash

Well, I just have to get through one more work day and I'll be plummeted into stay-cation bliss. Yup, that's right, I said stay-cation. Sometimes, just a vacation off of work is good enough. We don't need to go anywhere or do anything, we just need a break from the stress. Although we do have a few mini-trips to go on, (i.e. driving up to Indianapolis on Monday to have dinner with Andy's parents and some possible sight-seeing, and Holiday World in Santa Claus, IN for some childish fun, maybe a day or two of some hiking up at the Gorge), it's mostly going to be some time to relax at home with the dogs. What could be better?

This past weekend I made this Salmon Hash and it was pretty awesome. Hearty, delicious, unique. Definitely some comfort food. And the glaze for the salmon is my new favorite topping because it's seriously out of this world.


Ingredients:
Adapted from Food & Wine's June 2010 issue - 'Salmon, Bacon, & Potato Hash'

1/4 cup Dijon mustard
1/4 cup horseradish sauce
2 tablespoons honey
2 6 oz. salmon fillets, skin on
2 tablespoons olive oil, plus additional for rubbing
salt and pepper to taste
5 medium red potatoes
4 thick slices of bacon, chopped
1 onion, diced
1 Granny Smith apple, diced
2-3 fried eggs

To prepare the salmon glaze, in a small bowl, mix together Dijon mustard, horseradish sauce, and honey until well combined.

Rub olive oil on both sides of salmon fillets and season with salt and pepper.


Light a grill under medium high heat and grill salmon, skin side down, for about 3 minutes. Turn then grill for an additional 3 minutes, until salmon is almost cooked through. Turn salmon and spread glaze on top. Let heat for about 30 seconds and turn once more. Glaze that side of salmon and grill for about 30 seconds longer. (At this point, the salmon is perfect to eat as is also!) Transfer to a plate and tent with foil.


To prepare the hash, in a large pot of salted water, bring the potatoes to a boil. Bring heat to medium high and let cook for about 15 minutes, or until they are starting to become tender. Drain the water and carefully peel the potatoes (I would use a napkin to hold the potatoes because those suckers are gonna be hot!). Cut the potatoes into a small dice and set aside.

In a large skillet, cook the bacon until starting to crisp, about 5 minutes or so. Transfer to a napkin-lined plate with a slotted spoon and set aside.

Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil to same large skillet used for bacon. Add the diced potatoes and cook over medium high heat for about 10 minutes, or until they are starting to brown. Cover the skillet and let cook under low heat for about 10 minutes, or until tender.

Add onions and apples to potatoes. Cover and cook for about 7-10 more minutes, or until apples start to become tender. Quickly chop the salmon into decent sized pieces and stir into mixture. Cover and cook for 2 to 4 more minutes, or until salmon is warmed. Stir in bacon and remaining glaze if you have some left over. Season with salt and pepper, if needed and serve with a fried egg on top!

The key here is totally the fried egg. It just sets it off, because the yolk runs into the hash and there's nothing more pleasing to me than a runny yolk! Call me weird, but this is just damn good! Enjoy and have a great weekend everyone!

Beef Tenderloin W/ Broccoli/Cauliflower Hash

There's nothing more savory to me than a big hunk of beef (sorry vegetarians)! Especially a tenderloin, which when cut up is pretty much filet mignon! And don't worry you vegheads out there! I've got a Broccoli/Cauliflower Hash that is to die for (you could opt out the bacon of course to suit your needs).

Beef Tenderloin Ingredients:

1/2 cup parsley leaves
2 tablespoons chopped rosemary
1 tablespoon dark brown sugar
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 lb beef tenderloin in one piece
2 cups chopped broccoli
2 cups chopped cauliflower
1 lb red potatoes, cut into cubes
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
3 ounces sliced pancetta, chopped
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/4 cup beef stock
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon white truffle oil

Recipe adapted from Food & Wine May 2009 issue

In a food processor, combine parsley, rosemary, brown sugar, and 2 tablespoons of the olive oil. Process until it turns into a paste. Coat the tenderloin with the paste and wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or overnight is ideal.

In a large saucepan, bring salted water to a boil. Also, line a large bowl with paper towels and set aside. Add the broccoli and cauliflower to pot and cook until crisp and tender, about 2 minutes. With a slotted spoon, remove broccoli and cauliflower from pot and place in bowl with paper towels and pat dry. Set aside.

Put the potatoes in pot and cook until tender, about 10 minutes. Drain the pot and dry potatoes. Mash the potatoes and add them to broccoli and cauliflower bowl. Mix the vegetables together well and season with salt and pepper.

Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil in medium sized skillet and add pancetta and cook until crisp, maybe 5 minutes. Stir the pancetta and oil into hash mixture.

In a large skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil. Spread the hash mixture in the skillet in an even layer and cook until browned and crisp, about 3 minutes. Flip over hash in sections, and carefully pour remaining 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil around edges. This will make sure the edges crisp up as well! Cook for another 3 minutes or until browned and crisp. Remove from heat and set aside.

For the tenderloin, you can either cook on a grill or pan fry in a skillet. It was raining outside, so I couldn't use the grill, so I decided to pan fry. And i liked this idea better too because I could get those juicy sucs from the tenderloin to make my sauce even better!

Unwrap the tenderloin and cut into 4 even slices, about an inch and a half thick. Season with salt and pepper and sear both sides until medium high to high heat, about 8 minutes on both sides for a nice medium rare. I use the palm method to test my steak's doneness, so timing really doesn't work very well, especially when stove heat differs for each person. Just cook it how you like it though! Transfer the steaks to a cutting board and let rest for about 5 minutes.

Now it's sauce time! With those delicious sucs you've got, deglaze your pan with the beef stock. Also stir in your mustard. Season with salt and pepper and there you have it, basic sauce! In addition to all this, I added 1 tablespoon of cold unsalted butter, this gives the sauce an added sheen and another depth of flavor. You can choose to do this or not. Set the sauce aside.

Reheat the hash in skillet until sizzling. Transfer the hash to plates and drizzle with a little bit of white truffle oil (if you've got it). Place the tenderloin steaks on top of the hash and drizzle with the sauce and serve.

Yes, there may be a ton of components to this dish, but trust me, it is WELL worth it. Very good all around! Enjoy

oh, and as an added side note, these brownies were what we had for dessert! You can find the recipe here at A Dash Of Sass!