Country Ham Hash Food

COUNTRY HAM HASH RECIPE

Steps:

• Cook ham in a large skillet over medium, turning occasionally, until golden brown, about 10 minutes. Transfer ham to a plate lined with paper towels.
• Return skillet to medium-high, and melt butter in skillet. Add potatoes, onion, and bell pepper, spreading in an even layer. Cover and cook until potatoes soften, about 8 minutes. Uncover and stir in garlic, pepper, and salt. Cook, uncovered, without stirring, 2 minutes. Stir and continue cooking in 2-minute intervals, stirring after each interval, until potatoes are golden, about 15 minutes total.
• Chop cooked ham, and stir into potato mixture. Cook, stirring occasionally, until warmed and lightly browned, 2 to 3 minutes. Sprinkle with rosemary, and serve immediately.

EASY HAM HASH

Steps:

• In a large bowl, combine ham and onion. Shred potatoes and add to ham mixture. Stir in the butter, Parmesan cheese, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, horseradish and pepper. , Spoon into a greased 11x7-in. baking dish, pressing down firmly. Combine cheeses; sprinkle over top. Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 35-40 minutes or until bubbly and cheese is melted.

COUNTRY HAM

Steps:

• Unwrap ham and scrub off any surface mold (if you hung in a sack for 6 months you'd have mold too). Carefully remove hock with hand saw. (If this idea makes you eye your first aid kit, ask your butcher to do it. But make sure you keep the hock, it's the best friend collard greens ever had.)
• Place ham in cooler and cover with clean water. (As long as it's not too dirty you can use what southerners call the "hose pipe"). Stash the cooler in the bushes. If it's summer, throw in some ice. If it's freezing out, keep the cooler inside. Change the water twice a day for two days turning the ham each time.
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
• Place ham in a large disposable turkey-roasting pan and add enough Dr. Pepper to come about halfway up the side of the ham. Add pickle juice if you've got it and tent completely with heavy-duty foil. Cook for 1/2 hour then reduce heat to 325 degrees F, and cook another 1 1/2 hours.
• Turn the ham over, insert an oven safe thermometer (probe-style is best) and cook another 1 1/2 hours, or until the deepest part of the ham hits 140 degrees F (approximately 15 to 20 minutes per pound total).
• Let rest 1/2 hour then slice paper-thin. Serve with biscuits or soft yeast rolls.
• Cooks note: Even after soaking, country ham is quite salty, so thin slicing is mandatory. If you're a bacon fan, however, cut a thicker (1/4-inch) slice and fry it up for breakfast.

COUNTRY-STYLE SAUSAGE HASH

Steps:

• In a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of oil over medium-high heat for about 30 seconds. Add Jimmy Dean sausage and cook for 8 to 10 minutes until browned, stirring frequently to break up the sausage into small pieces, then drain. Remove the sausage and set aside.
• In the same skillet, heat the remaining oil for 30 seconds. Carefully add the potatoes and fry until they begin to turn golden brown, 10 to 15 minutes. Stir occasionally so that the potatoes do not stick or burn.
• Add onions, peppers, salt, and pepper, and cook for an additional 5 minutes. Add the sausage and stir well.
• Serve with the fried eggs and avocado slices on top to get more nutrition from the meal.

COUNTRY HAM

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line a roasting pan with aluminum foil.
• Set ham into the prepared roasting pan and pierce several times with a fork.
• Stir brown sugar, peach preserves, and mustard together in a bowl; spread over the ham. Cover the ham with a sheet of aluminum foil.
• Roast ham in preheated oven, basting regularly, for 90 minutes. Remove the aluminum foil cover and continue baking until hot in the center, 30 to 45 minutes. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the center should read 140 degrees F (60 degrees C).

COUNTRY HASH

Steps:

• Finely shred brisket and transfer to a bowl, then mix with mustard and Worcestershire sauce until combined well.
• Roast poblanos on their sides on racks of gas burners over medium-high heat, turning with tongs, until skins are blistered and slightly charred, 4 to 6 minutes. (Or broil on rack of a broiler pan about 2 inches from heat.) Immediately transfer to a large bowl and cover tightly, then let stand 10 minutes. Carefully rub off skins from poblanos. Cut open lengthwise and remove stems and seeds, including attached ribs. Wipe poblanos clean with a paper towel if necessary, then cut into 1/4-inch dice and transfer to a large bowl.
• Peel potato, rutabaga, and apple and cut into 1/2-inch cubes, then cook in 1/2 stick butter with 3/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper in a 12-inch heavy skillet over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until golden in spots and just tender, 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer to bowl with poblanos.
• Cook onion in 3 tablespoons butter with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 tsp pepper in same skillet, stirring occasionally, until golden, about 8 minutes. Add bell pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until just tender, 6 to 8 minutes more. Transfer to bowl with poblano mixture. Stir brisket into hash until combined.
• Preheat oven to 250°F with rack in middle.
• Heat 1 tablespoon butter in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until foam subsides. Add half of hash to skillet and cook, turning portions occasionally, until browned and crisp in spots, 12 to 14 minutes. Transfer to a large (17-by 11-inch) 4-sided sheet pan and keep warm in oven. Cook remaining hash in same manner in 1 tablespoon butter. Transfer to sheet pan in oven.
• Rinse and wipe out skillet. Fry eggs in 2 batches with 1 tablespoon butter per batch over medium heat. Serve eggs over hash.

COUNTRY HAM AND POTATOES

Steps:

• In a large heavy skillet, brown ham over medium-high heat in butter on both sides until heated through. Move ham to 1 side of the skillet; brown potatoes in drippings until tender. Sprinkle potatoes with parsley.

COUNTRY HASHED BROWNS

Steps:

• Melt the butter in a large (10 to 12-inch) saute pan. Add the potatoes, onions, salt, and pepper and cook over medium-low heat for 15 to 20 minutes, turning occasionally with a flat spatula, until the potatoes are evenly browned and cooked through. (Allow the potatoes to cook for 5 minutes before turning.) Turn off the heat and add the parsley, scallions and ham. Reheat on top of the stove or over a hot charcoal grill.
• Cook's Note: Use any leftover potatoes in Potato Basil Frittata (see recipe) for lunch.
• You can peel and dice the potatoes early and keep them in the refrigerator in a bowl of cold water. Drain them and dry them well with paper towels before frying.

COUNTRY HAM AND HOMINY HASH

Steps:

• Place the ham in a pot with the bay leaf and peppercorns. Cover with water and simmer for about 1 hour, until the ham is fork-tender (see Know-how, page 172). Add the potatoes and simmer for 10 minutes more, until the potatoes are just beginning to get tender. Strain the ham and potatoes from the pot, reserving about 1/4 cup of the liquid, removing and discarding the bay leaf, and set aside.
• Using two forks, shred the ham into bite-size pieces and place in a large bowl. Add the potatoes, hominy, and onion. Stir in the reserved cooking liquid and parsley and season to taste with salt and pepper. (Country ham is salty, so be sure to taste before adding any extra salt.)
• Heat the olive oil and butter in a large nonstick or cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat until hot. Add the ham-potato mixture and spread into a flat cake. Cover with a splatter screen or lid and cook until crispy, 4 to 5 minutes. Flip and re-form the cake. Cover and cook, adding a little more oil if needed, until crispy on the other side. Remove from the heat and cover.
• Fill a large skillet with water about 2 inches deep and bring to a boil. Add the vinegar and salt and reduce the heat to a simmer.
• Add the eggs one at a time and poach for 2 to 3 minutes, until the whites set and a thin, translucent film forms over the yolks (see Know-how, page 86). Use a slotted spoon to gently transfer the eggs to a paper towel-lined platter to drain.
• Divide the hash evenly between individual serving plates, place 1 or 2 eggs on top of each, and serve hot.
• For a more rustic interpretation of this dish, make a hole in the hash, crack the eggs in the hole, and cover to fry, rather than poach, to your liking. For a sweet-and-savory combination, substitute sweet potatoes for the russets, and for a crispy finish, scatter fried oysters on top. Or, make a cheesy variation by layering the hash mixture with Gruyère cheese in a skillet to form one large cake and sauté until brown and crispy. Slide the cake out of the skillet and cut into 4 to 6 wedges, then assemble the dish as for the main recipe.
• Hominy is the name for corn kernels that have been hulled to remove the bran and germ. Lye hominy is hulled by soaking the corn kernels in a weak lye solution-a very traditional, centuries-old Native American method-and pearl hominy is hulled mechanically. It is then dried and either ground to make our beloved hominy grits or boiled whole to make what New Orleansians call "big hominy." You can buy hominy canned, meaning precooked, or dried, in which case it will need to be presoaked and boiled in the same manner as dried beans.

COUNTRY HAM QUICHE

Steps:

• In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs and half-and-half.
• Stir in ham, cheeses, pepper and red pepper.
• Pour mixture into the prepared pastry shell.
• Bake in a 350 oven for 45 to 50 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean.
• Let stand 15 minutes before serving.
• Garnish as desired.