Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Who Hash

I've been hosting Thanksgiving for the last four years. It's my holiday- my personal marathon. Plus, it's the easiest way to have all of my favorite dishes and I get to keep all the leftovers! Score!

Our usual Turkey Day gang consists of 21 of the nearest and dearest. Really, it's the immediate family, aunts, uncles, cousins, and one family friend.

I should mention that our house is somewhere near 975 sq. ft., which is approximately the same size as a postage stamp, give or take a few inches.

We somehow manage to squeeze everyone in, complete with a nosebleed section, I cook two turkeys, a mess of side dishes, other relatives bring appetizers, booze, and desserts. Then, we chow down.

The aftermath of all this cooking is a whole lot of leftovers. The Husband insists of having his fill of gobblers (the classic Thanksgiving sandwich), but once we get tired of those it's time to get creative.

This recipe is the embodiment of creativity.

Start by baking four small sweet potatoes at 400 degrees for 30 minutes. Use those thirty minutes to go for a mile run. Or some such nonsense.


When you make two turkeys, you get 4 turkey legs. Only Aunt Linda eats a turkey leg at dinner. The other three languish in a Ziploc, until now! Slice baked sweet potatoes and let cool. Slice the meat off of the turkey legs and dice into a 1/2 inch.


Add turkey to a medium-sized bowl.


Toss in your seasonings. Stir.


Add one small sweet potato and really mash it in.


Dice up one small onion.


Add it to your turkey taters.


Stir it up. Dice the remaining three cooled sweet potatoes and add them to the mixture. Fold them in gently.

Put the mixture in the fridge for 30 minutes. Use this time to take the dog for a walk and listen to This American Life


Heat up one tablespoon of olive oil in a stainless steel pan over medium heat. Add the shredded cabbage.


Heat up one tablespoon of butter in a nonstick pan.


This is the shredded cabbage.


Cook the hash until it's as crispy as you like it. If you're at my house, you're getting it well done.


Cook cabbage until it browns a bit and then throw in some water. Get the steam flowing.



See those brown bits? Solid gold, baby.



The husband described this as, "insanely fun to eat!" I concur.



Who Hash- Serves 2, generously

4 small sweet potatoes
2 roasted turkey legs, approximately two cups turkey diced
1 small onion, diced
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp cinnamon
3/4 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp unsalted butter

1/4 a savoy cabbage, shredded
1 tbsp olive oil
1/3 cup water

2 eggs

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Bake sweet potatoes for 30 minutes or until fork tender. Set aside to cool.

In a medium bowl, add diced turkey, cumin, cinnamon, salt, pepper, and olive oil. Mix well to combine. Peel one small sweet potato and add to the turkey mixture. Stir until sweet potato is incorporated. Add diced onion and stir again.

Once the sweet potatoes have cooled, carefully peel them and dice into small 1/2 inch cubes. Add them to the bowl and stir gently to combine.

In a nonstick pan, heat up one tablespoon of butter over medium heat. Add a heaping cup of the hash and mash down into the pan. Cook until browned on one side and then flip - it will fall apart. Continue cooking until it gets as crispy as you like it. 10 minutes per cup should be enough.

While the hash is browning, heat one tablespoon of olive oil in a stainless steel pan. Add the cabbage and cook until browned, 3-4 minutes. Add 1/3 cup of water and stir to get the steam going. Cook until tender, approximately 5 more minutes.

Split the cabbage between two plates. Top with one cup browned hash. In the hash pan, fry an egg for each serving. Top hash with fried egg.

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