My First Corned Beef Hash

I remember the first time I had corned beef hash.

My parents liked to entertain and when they typically did, my brother and I were typically relegated to areas away from the adults. We liked it this way too, as we could watch TV, play games or otherwise goof off without having to “be presentable”. Whenever they would plan to have a dinner party, my dad (who did none of the day-to-day cooking except for an occasional grilled item) would dig through his collection of Bon Appetit magazines and plan a menu. Often he would either do a trial run of cooking the items from the menu, or on occasion, find something that he really liked that he made for the party and make it later for the family.

One occasion my parents hosted a brunch and one of the dishes he served was a “nest” of corned beef hash with a poached egg on top. My parents liked it and several weeks later he made it again for the family. Now it seems pretty tame, but I thought it was really, really good. I fell in love with corned beef at that point and having the egg yolk flow down through the hash made it even better. To this day I prefer my eggs poached, or over medium (well set whites and the yolk thick, but still able to run).

Corned Beef Hash Potato Pancakes with Poached Eggs

Not long ago I decided to make a variation by first making corned beef potato pancakes and then placing that egg over it. It makes me hungry just looking at it.

I made this one Sunday morning when I was the only one home. The recipe below is scaled for 4.

Peel and shred the potato. Dice the onion, Chop the beef. Mix all together with the flour, beaten egg and spices.

Form into patties and fry in hot oil.

Drain on some paper towels and get ready to poach.

I decided to use Poachie to make it easy.

YUM!

Corned Beef Hash Potato Pancakes with Poached Eggs

Serves 4
Ingredients:

8 Slices of corned beef
4 large potatoes
1 yellow onion
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
ground black pepper to taste
2 cups vegetable oil for frying

4 eggs (for poaching)

Directions:

Dice corned beef, finely grate potatoes and chop onion. Mix together into a large bowl. Drain off any excess liquid.

Mix in egg, salt, and black pepper. Add enough flour to make mixture thick, about 2 to 4 tablespoons all together.

Heat 1/4 inch oil in the bottom of a heavy skillet over medium high heat. Drop two or three 1/4 cup mounds into hot oil, and flatten to make 1/2 inch thick pancakes. Fry, turning once, until golden brown. Transfer to paper towel lined plates to drain, and keep warm in low oven until serving time. Repeat until all potato mixture is used.

Poach eggs and place one egg on the top of each potato pancake. Serve.