Monday, March 17, 2008

Now to the Irish Side of the Family


So we are actually only like 1/8th Irish but that 1/8 comes out pretty well in the Red Hair. Actually my Swedish Grandma is where the Red hair comes from. Weird. Anyway for St. Patrick's day Mrs. Mc wanted something different instead of Corned Beef and Cabbage. So we decided to try what I teased her about it being Breakfast for Dinner. Corned Beef Hash. I don't care if it was Breakfast it was awesome. I guess she stole the recipe from Tyler Florence. So thanks Tyler. 

Here it is.

First you make some Herbed Root Vegetables.

2 Tablespoons of EVOO (Sorry couldn't resist I think its stupid too, for anyone with a brain that Extra Virgin Olive Oil)
2 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter
1 pound new potatoes, Scrubbed (we used fingerlings MMMMM)
1 pound baby carrots, trimmed, scrubbed
1 pound baby turnips, trimmed, scrubbed (we couldn't find baby ones so we just cubed regular ones)
1 pound baby parsnips, trimmed, scrubbed (we couldn't find baby ones so we just cubed regular ones)
Kosher Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Put the olive oil and butter into a large pot over medium. Once the butter is melted add the veggies and toss them to coat with the oils. Season with salt and pepper and add 1 cup of water and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer with lid and cook until the veggies are tender. About 20 minutes. (We halved this part of the recipe and it worked great)

Now to the Hash and Sauce!

Hollandaise Sauce:
2 egg yoks
1 teaspoon dry mustard
Pinch cayenne pepper
2 Tablespoons of Water
1 cup unsalted butter, melted
1/2 lemon juiced
Kosher Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Again we halved this, we didn't need a cup of butter sauce. Put the egg yokes, Mustard, cayenne and water into a blender. Blend together and then slowly and I mean slowly like a drizzle pour in the warm butter. You are going for an emulsion. Once the butter is integrated use the lemon juice and salt and pepper to flavor the sauce to your liking. It will taste like lemony spicy butter when its right. Who doesn't like butter sauces?

Keep the Sauce warm. Ours was warm enough just on the counter. Just don't put it in the fridge.

Onto the Heavenly Hash

2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
1 onion, chopped
2 cups chopped corned beef (please buy real corned beef and not the can stuff, is that even meat?)
2 cups of your Herbed root veggies chopped up
2 tablespoons chopped chives
Salt and pepper
4 Eggs for poaching and 2 Tablespoons vinegar for the same purpose

Heat the oil and cook the onion on medium until soft (about five minutes) in a non stick skillet. Add the rest of the ingredients except the eggs and vinegar. Stir around for a minute then leave unstirred and cook until the bottom gets brown and crisp about 5-10 minutes. 

While that cooks poach the eggs.


This is done by filling a large skillet with water, adding the vinegar and some salt and bringing it to a boil. Then you reduce the water to where it is barely bubbling and then using a small bowl carefully crack each egg into the bowl and introduce it into the water. I kinda let the water seep into the rim of the bowl and then gently kinda let the egg float off. Cook for 3-4 minutes until the egg is set to your liking. I like mine runny. Mrs Mc likes em stiff as cardboard. Remove them with a slotted spoon and dry briefly on a paper towel.

Now assemble the master piece. Put some hash down (I actually made 4 leaf clovers with some sauce first-it was an attempt to get the kids to eat it), then an egg and top with sauce. Amazing. Truly.


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