Top O’ The Morning To Ya

Hopefully you are all recovering from waking up early to start the celebration of wonderful St. Patty’s Day!  I also hope you all ate a lot of corned beef and cabbage, but wait, you might want to put that fork down and read this before you continue eating.  Believe it or not corned beef was not the original food the Irish ate as their yearly tradition!

Corned beef gets its name from the way they cook it and its salty flavor.  The term corned comes from “corns” of salt added to the beef while it’s cooked slowly.  In Ireland meats and salt were expensive in those days and this meal was considered more of a costly delicacy.  So the meat that was actually used was bacon or more like a ham cut.  It is believed that it changed when Irish immigrants came to America and Canada, where salt was cheaper.  We at least got the cabbage right, which never changed over the years as the meats did. So there you have it, the truth behind corned beef and cabbage!

I decided to change it up even more for my St. Patty’s Day meal…corned beef hash!  It ‘s more a breakfast food, but I made it for dinner.  It’s a one-dish wonder composed of potatoes, onions, red pepper, and an egg on top! So dig in and cheers to good o’ St. Patrick!

Serves 4 (Easy to divide for 2)

Ingredients

2 tbsp olive oil

2 baking potatoes, (about 1 pound), peeled and cut into ½ inch cubes (about 3 cups)

1 onion, chopped

Salt and pepper

1 red bell pepper, ribs and seeds removed, chopped

2 tbs prepared horseradish

1 tbs Worcestershire sauce

8 ounces ¼ inch wide strips, cut into cubs

¼ cup heavy cream

4 eggs (1 egg per person)

Directions

1. Heat oil in a large (make sure its big all of the ingredients go into just this pan) nonstick skillet over medium heat.  Add potatoes; cook, turning often, until golden, 10 to 12 minutes.
2. Add onion; season with 1 ½ teaspoons salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper.  Cook stirring often, until potatoes and onions are browned, 5 minutes
3. Add bell pepper, horseradish, and Worcestershire sauce.  Cook until peppers are tender, about 5 minutes.  Stir in corned beef and cream until warmed through, about 2 minutes.
4. Fry egg, yolk still runny, and place on top of hash. Serve immediately