Corned Beef Hash

I wanted to cook a meal that George would really like and decided on corned beef hash. I had never cooked the dish before. In fact, I thought this was not the kind of dish I would enjoy. Still, I love preparing new dishes and threw myself wholeheartedly into this one. The recipe calls for boiling the potatoes in oil. It seemed odd, but I assumed there was a reason.

Menu

Corned Beef Hash
Cole Slaw
Wine: Réserve Perrin Côtes du Rhône
Dessert: Chocolate Yogurt

Recipe

1 lb. medium-size Yukon Gold potatoes, washed and dried
Vegetable oil to cover (in my case 2 cups)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
1 shallot, peeled and chopped
2 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley
¼ lb corned beef (or pastrami), cut into bite-size pieces
Salt and pepper
Opt. 2 poached eggs

Put the potatoes in a pot large enough for a single layer. Cover with the oil. Turn the heat to medium, bring to a simmer, and cook 25 to 30 minutes, until the potatoes are cooked. Remove the potatoes and set aside to cool. (The oil can be reused.)

When ready to serve, peel the potatoes and cut into dice. Heat a nonstick skillet to medium high. Heat olive oil, add potatoes and distribute evenly in pan. Cook for 8 to 10 minutes until browned
on both sides. Stir in the butter, shallots, garlic, parsley and corned beef. Cook until the corned beef is heated through and the shallots are soft. Season to taste.

I skipped the poached eggs because it seemed like a protein blow-out. But we agreed the hash could have used the eggs as a binder. George used ketchup instead.

I was sure we would have left-over. But we finished every bit of it.