I just wish this looked as good as it tastes
You
have just landed on the most popular post ever on Chewing the Fat. It's
cook it, you might want to have a look at another hash recipe that celebrates
the Fifth Birthday of Chewing the Fat. You'll find it here:
http://www.chewingthefat.us.com/2014/10/sheila-lukins-roast-beef-and-vegetable.html. But me, I am sticking with the original recipe, because I know what's good for me.
Joe Beef's Veal PojarskiThis
week, the New York Times’ Dining Section featured a front-page article entitled
“Lucky to Be a Leftover”. In it were
some remarkable ideas from people all over who made meatballs from holiday hams
(no recipe on that one and boy, did I want it!), to Veal Pojarski, made from
diced roasted veal, pork or beef and a specialty of those two Montreal
Chefs-of-the-Moment, Joe Beef’s own Dave McMillan and Frederic Morin. The Montrealers go all the way to sticking a
roasted bone in the resultant meatball.
The thing looks phenomenally good.
But to me, the best thing to do with the gorgeous centerpiece from our
Christmas Day table, our standing Rib Roast of Beef, is to make Roast Beef
Hash.
Bobby Van's in beautiful downtown Bridgehampton
Now
I love hash. Especially when there’s
plenty of meat and the roast used hasn’t been trimmed to death. There’s a really good hash at Bobby Van’s
Restaurant in Bridgehampton (2393 Main Street, Tel: (631) 537-0590 ). It’s full
of flavor and crispy hash browns. Occasionally I note a distinctly lower beef
content. I always put this down to how much Prime Rib the place has left over
from the night before. When I make
our own Roast Beef Hash, I can go slightly crazy with the beef. The original recipe for today’s post called
for just 2 cups of Cold roast beef and an identical volume of Yukon Gold
Potatoes. I kept the potatoes at 2 cups
and upped the beef to about 4. And this
is no diet dish. Not with a half cup of
cream added into it. I am quite sure you
could substitute an equal amount of beef stock in its place but it wouldn’t be
something James Beard would advise.
James Beard 1903-1985
James
Beard was one of the seminal cooks in truly changing the way Americans
ate. He introduced the joys of French
cooking to a generation raised on meat and potatoes. He was a giant of a man, well over 6 feet tall
and of ample girth. He was also an
amazingly prolific writer managing to compose some 20 books and countless
magazine articles. This output is
particularly astonishing since Beard didn’t get his culinary calling until
rather late in life. Born in 1903, he
moved to New York from his native Portland Oregon in 1937. For years he pursued an acting career without
much luck. He and a friend named Bill
Rhodes started a catering company called Hors d’Oeuvres, Inc. which capitalized
on the Cocktail Party craze of that moment. He wrote his first book on Hors
d’Oeuvres in 1940. Wartime rationing did
his business in. But he was well on his way to becoming a culinary force to
reckon with and in 1946, he appeared on a new television show called “I Love to Eat”. And there was probably no more apt a show
title for anything in which James Beard would appear.
The man was the consummate eater
and teacher. Travelling the country, he introduced it to good food made with
fresh, wholesome American ingredients.
He was one of the first chefs to become ‘a brand’ and became “the name,
face and belly of American gastronomy” according the writer David Kamp in his
wonderful book “The United States of Arugula: The Sun
Dried, Cold-pressed, Dark-Roasted, Extra Virgin Story of the American Food
Revolution. New York:
Broadway Books, 2006. James Beard had a career that only ended with
his death at age 81 in 1985.
Fortunately, he lives on in his eponymous foundation: The James Beard
Foundation was set up in his honor and continues to operate out of his former
town house in Greenwich Village. The
place is open for private parties and we’ve been fortunate to be invited to
several. The kitchen remains pretty much
the way he left it. And every May, the coveted James Beard Foundation Awards
are given out to an amazingly diverse group of food industry professionals
ranging from chefs to restaurant designers.
James Beard, front and center
on David Kamp's
great book
But
back to the hash. Beard was a true hash
aficionado. He loved the stuff and made
some startling variations. Not content
with just corned beef hash or chicken hash, his recipes included one for clam
hash. But for today, we’ll stick with
this recipe which first appeared in James Beard's American Cookery (Little, Brown, 1972). It’s a wonderful
savory hash that, with the addition of a poached egg would make a wonderful
breakfast. Ours however, we ate at
dinner.
Recipe
potatoes and cook, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned, 8–10 minutes.
Add onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, about 10 minutes.
Add
beef, garlic, thyme, cayenne, and nutmeg; cook, stirring occasionally, until
beef browns, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
2. Add heavy cream, stir to combine, and press hash down into the
skillet with a metal spatula. Turn hash in parts every 2 minutes, loosening any browned bits, until the cream has
reduced and hash forms a crust, about 10 minutes. Garnish with parsley and
serve hot with fried or poached eggs, if you like.
Serves 4.
