Monday, April 9, 2012

Easter Ham Hash

So you bought a giant ham out of fear your guests were going to swarm it like locusts of biblical proportions...and now, you have more leftovers than you know what to do with.  

Fear not.  I have a plan.  And it just happens to be a pretty damn good one, too. 

See?  I would never lead you astray. Get your party pants on (aka your least restrictive pants you own).


Here are our ingredients: 

3 Cups Yukon Gold Potatoes, Chopped
2 Cups Diced Ham
1/4 Cup Diced Onions
1 Garlic Clove, Chopped 
1 Stick of Butter, Separated
Green Onions for Garnish
5 Eggs, Separated 
1-2 Tbs of Fresh Lemon Juice
Salt & Pepper
1 Tbs White Vinegar



You want to cook, cool, and cut the potatoes.  If you try to cook them raw on the griddle, they'll never  cook right.  Trust me...I've tried.  I love Yukon gold potatoes.  They are flavorful and creamy and just the best.  I had some extra left over from the potato salad I will post on Thursday, so this worked out great.  

Melt the butter on a large pan or griddle and saute the garlic and onion until it begins to soften. 


Once the onion cooks down a bit, add the potatoes, ham, and green onions. 
 
You want the potatoes crispy crispy CRISPAYYYY.  Spread them out evenly on the pan and let them sit for a couple of minutes.  This will allow them to form a nice, crispy crust.  If you keeping messing them and turning them around they'll never get crispy.  Soggy potatoes make me sad. :(

 
So, you can eat it like this...

...but I'm not done yet.  Oh no. 

I used to be terrified of poaching eggs.  Mostly because I don't like to do my research before I try something new, and the first couple of times I would put the egg into an aggressively boiling pot - damaging the delicate egg.  Instead, get a pot of water very hot, but not boiling.  Splash in a little vinegar and then create a whirlpool by stirring the water around and around with a spatula.  Crack the egg into a small dish and then drop it into the middle of the swirling water.  Let it cook for 2-3 minutes.  If you are cooking a bunch at a time, don't do the whirl pool.  You can check if it's done by picking it up out of the water with a slotted spoon and gently poking the egg with your finger.  If it's super jiggly, let it cook for another minute or so.  If it's firm - you over cooked it.  You want something in between. 

Now...onto the hollandaise.  Whisk 3 yolks as hard as you can until they become frothy.  Since I was just making this for my husband and I, I cut the recipe in half. 

Place the yolks over a double boiler and keep whisking until they begin to thicken.  Make sure you keep it moving - if you stop the eggs will scramble. 

Sloooowwwlllly pour in half a stick of melted butter, continually whisking as you go.  Squeeze in a little lemon juice (about 1 tablespoon) and a couple of pinches of salt.  As soon as it comes together and is the right saucy consistency, pull it off the heat. 
 
Place the poached egg in the middle of the hash and drizzle the most amazing sauce ever on top...

Yes.  This tasted as good as it looks.  Maybe even better. 

Creamy, crispy...indulgent.  I just loved this and was so overly impressed with myself.  I believe egg yolks are up there on my list of God's most thoughtful gifts to humankind. 

I had to break a lot of eggs before I mastered how to do a poached egg correctly, but once you get the hang of it - it's super easy and comes out delicious every time.  The whites are perfectly firm and the yolks are runny. 

Yeah...this happened. 

I had a hard time shoveling this into my mouth because I was too busy patting myself on the back and high fiving myself with my feet. 
 
Stay hungry! 

3 comments:

  1. Get. Out. of. Town with this. omg. I want to eat my computer screen!

    ReplyDelete
  2. That looks so amazing! My husband would die over it!

    ReplyDelete

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