Chicken Sausage and Mushroom Hash

If there's one thing I have to try on any breakfast menu, it's the corned beef hash.  It varies from place to place and the good places serve it homemade with little stringy pieces of salty corned beef meshed with crispy fried potatoes and sweet onions.  My favorite place to go for hash is The Neighborhood in Somerville.  I used to frequent this place when living in Porter Square.  Now that I'm car less in Beacon Hill it's a little more difficult.  I've been singing the restaurants praises to Daum so we'll see if he catches on. 

Some places use the canned stuff that most people probably associate with corned beef hash:  mushy and salty with tiny, square potato pieces:

A la Hormel:



Image Corned Beef

I'm not going to lie, I will eat this just as quickly as I will the homemade kind.  I'll only be 85% happy instead of 100%. 

Everyone has their hangover food and this is it for me.  This or fountain Coke.  (Yah I admitted it!)

The morning of Labor Day I was faced with a mountain of leftovers and being slightly hungover the idea of a hash crept into my mind.  The result was a steak tip potato hash topped with deliciously runny eggs.  It was crispy and greasy and comforting all at the same time.  A real stick to the ribs (and unfortunately hips) meal.  So much so that I did not eat again until much later that evening.

Last night I was cooking for one on a dreary, cold, wet night here in Boston and again I wanted to see if I could create a more healthy dish that would be like a hash.

First I was wondering if I was abusing the word "hash".  Did it mean something specific?  Was I misusing the word, prostituting it for my own purposes.  A quick search (nerd) told me I was fine.

A "hash" for all intents and purposes, by dictionary definition, is as follows:

                          "A dish of chopped meat, potatoes, and sometimes vegetables, usually browned.
                                       a. A jumble; a hodgepodge
                                       b. Informal A mess"

So I set out to create a more healthy version of hash and to avoid definition b.  What came out of my attempt was a filling yet healthy:

Chicken Sausage and Mushroom Hash with Fried Egg.

Recipe- serves 1 (can obviously be tailored for a larger group)

 Ingredients

1 teaspoon Olive Oil or cooking spray

1 link chicken sausage diced (I think any flavor would do.  I only had spinach and feta on hand and it worked perfectly)
1/2 cup red onion, diced 
1/2 cup red and yellow bell pepper, diced
1 cup white mushrooms, sliced
2 teaspoon rosemary
salt and pepper to taste
1 medium sized red potato par cooked and cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 Egg

Directions

Scrub the potato and pierce all over with a fork.  Microwave for 3 minutes or until partially cooked.  Dice when it is cool enough to handle.  Or if you're impatient like me: burn your fingers.

Heat olive oil or cooking spray in a non-stick pan over medium high heat.

Brown chicken sausage.

Add red onion and saute until softened. 

When softened add red and yellow bell pepper, mushrooms, rosemary, salt and pepper and saute over medium heat until all are soften and have released their moisture, about 10 minutes.

Add potato and stir to combine.  Cook until the potatoes have cooked completely.  They should be very soft.

While hash is cooking, heat cooking spray in a separate skillet over medium high heat.  Crack one egg and fry until desired doneness.  I prefer a very runny egg!  For a more heartier version fry two eggs.

Serve hash with the fried egg on top

My best suggestion is to break the yolk right away to allow the the silky goodness to seep into the crispy hash.  I"m just upset the I missed the runny egg money shot.

One note:  when cooking for just myself, I've found one of the best ways to save time and money is to utilize my grocery store's salad bar.  I was able to get the onions, peppers and mushrooms there for only $3.80 and I only have to take as much as I need.

Hangover food in the time it would take you to get your hungover butt to any local greasy spoon, and you don't have to change out of your sweats!