Overnight Leftover Corned Beef & Irish Cheddar Strata with Crispy Hash Browns

So I know, I know…St. Patrick’s Day hasn’t even happened and here I am talking about corned beef leftovers. But I just want you to be ready, you know…have a plan, be one step ahead…you get it. And this Corned Beef & Irish Cheddar Strata will do that for you. A strata is basically a savory bread pudding. And this one has layers of gorgeous corned beef and creamy Irish cheddar. But wait, I’m not done. If that didn’t have your mouth-watering, it is topped with crispy hash browns!

And here is the amazing thing – you do the majority of the preparation the night before you want to serve it. So after you enjoy your St. Patrick’s Day corned beef and cabbage, you take a few seconds to assemble this strata. The pop it in the fridge and get on out there to enjoy the parades or parties or whatever shenanigans your heart desires. When you get up the next morning all you have to do while you’re having your coffee and swearing that you’ll never drink again, is bake the strata. While it’s baking prepare the hash browns and voila! Your recovery brunch is ready! I’m assuming, of course, that you did partake in a few green beers…Not only will folks be thrilled by your big Corned Beef feast on St. Patrick’s, but you can wow them and cure their hangover the next morning with this yummy strata.

• Servings: 4 -6
• Difficulty: oh so easy
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Ingredients:

• 6 – 8 slices (8 oz.) challah, sliced into 1″ cubes
• 1 lb. leftover corned beef brisket, chopped or sliced
• 8 oz. Irish cheddar, grated (I used Kerry Gold Cheddar)
• 3 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups half & half
• 3/4 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. black pepper
• 10 oz. frozen mini potato hash browns (you can substitute in tater tots, or if you are feeling industrious, make a fresh batch of  hash browns from any leftover potatoes you might have from your St. Patrick’s Day feast)
• minced fresh chives for garnish

Directions:

Butter an 8X8″ square dish. Spread 1/2 of the bread cubes over the bottom. Top with 1/2 of the corned beef and then scatter 1/2 of the cheese over that. Repeat the layering, ending with the cheese.

In a large bowl, whisk the eggs. Add the half-and-half, salt and pepper. Whisk until well combined. Pour the custard mixture evenly over the strata. Cover the strata with plastic wrap and weigh it down with heavy cans, bottles or pie weights. Chill overnight.

Preheat oven to 325°F.

Remove the strata from the fridge 20 minutes before baking and let it come to room temperature.

Bake until the center is puffed and the edges have pulled away from the sides – approximately 50 – 60 minutes.

Let strata stand while preparing the hash brown topping.

Cook hash browns according to package directions. You want the hash browns to be crispy, so possibly cook a bit longer than the package recommends.

Arrange the crispy hash browns over the top of the strata. Garnish with chives.

Enjoy!

Overnight Leftover Corned Beef Strata with Crispy Hashbrown Topping brought to you by Runcible Eats (www.leaandjay.com)

Useful links for Kitchen Tools & Ingredients for Overnight Leftover Corned Beef & Irish Cheddar Strata with Crispy Hashbrowns:

Kerry Gold Cheddar

Le Creuset Square Baking Dish

 

 

Paddy’s Day Corned Beef & Cabbage Potstickers

Now here is a St. Patrick’s Day dish for you that is a bit unexpected I’ll bet – Paddy’s Day Corned Beef & Cabbage Potstickers. So I won’t try to pull the wool over your eyes and tell you that you’ll find this Asian fusion dish on every table in Ireland come St. Patrick’s Day. But I will say that if you’ve got some lovely corned beef left over from your St. Patrick’s Day celebrations here in the States, these potstickers are great for using up the leftovers in the most wonderfully tasty way.

As I’ve mentioned in previous years, you won’t really find corned beef on the menu in Ireland come St. Patrick’s Day. Well, I’d say you might now, but know that they’re serving it up specifically for the tourists. It isn’t the traditional holiday meal there. To read all about the history of corned beef and how Americans became corned beef crazed see my blog on Corned Beef Hash from a couple of years ago, which by the way, is also a great dish for using up leftovers. But believe me when I say corned beef on St. Paddy’s Day is an Irish American tradition.

I found this recipe on the Farmette blog. If you haven’t visited before, you should definitely take a peek. It is basically the diary of Imen McDonnell who moved from the US to an Irish dairy farm, where she now resides with her husband and son. You can find this recipe on her blog along with a story of how shocked she was on her first St. Patrick’s Day in Ireland when she discovered that she was actually in a corned beef free zone. This recipe can also be found in her cookbook: The Farmette Cookbook: Recipes and Adventures from My Life on an Irish Farm. Imen uses bacon in her version, which I’m sure is also quite delicious!

The Husband absolutely went wild for these potstickers, declaring them much better than any corned beef and cabbage he had ever eaten. Now I did change a couple of things from Imen’s recipe. I was feeling a bit lazy and didn’t actually make my potsticker wrappers myself. Nope. I went right out to the store and purchased some wonton wrappers, which worked very well. I also cooked them a bit differently and have included my method along with Imen’s. And although I am advocating this recipe as a way to use up leftovers, you really can’t use any leftover cabbage in these. Previously cooked cabbage will be too wet to work well in the filling. You’ll have to reserve a bit of fresh cabbage to use on the day you make these potstickers. Definitely give this recipe a whirl for a fun twist in your St. Patrick’s Day feast.

• Servings: 20 medium-sized dumplings / if you use wonton wrappers @40 potstickers
• Difficulty: easy
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recipe from: Farmette also featured in the cookbook: The Farmette Cookbook: Recipes and Adventures from My Life on an Irish Farm by Imen McDonnell

Ingredients:

For the Wrappers:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1/2 cup boiling water
• 1/2 cup cold water

*** I actually used store-bought wonton wrappers here due to my extreme slothfulness…

For the filling:

• 6 ounces cabbage, roughly chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
• 1/8 cup minced parsley
• 1/3 pound shredded corned beef, smoked ham (or smoked Irish bacon)
• 1/8 teaspoon ground white pepper (or freshly ground black pepper)
• 1/2 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1/2 tablespoon Chinese rice wine (or dry sherry)
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil

For the slurry:

• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1/2 cup water

***egg whites work great here as well

For the dipping sauce:

• 2 tbsp sesame oil
• ¼ cup brown rice vinegar
• ½ cup scallions (spring onion)
• ¼ cup soy sauce

Directions:

Make the wrappers: In a medium bowl, combine flour and salt. Gradually add the boiling water until the mixture becomes mealy. Switch to the cold water and stir until a dough is formed. Knead the dough on a floured surface until smooth. Transfer to a clean bowl, cover with a towel and let rest.

Make the filling: Put the cabbage in a food processor and pulse until finely chopped. Place in a large bowl and sprinkle with salt. Let it rest for 10 minutes. While it is resting place the ginger, parsley, corned beef, pepper soy sauce, rice wind and sesame oil in a food processor and pulse until it is mixed well. Squeeze the water out of the cabbage and place the dry cabbage into a bowl. Add the pulsed ham mixture and combine.

Make the dumplings: Roll out the dumpling dough and cut our wrappers with a 4-inch round cookie cutter. Sed aside. Mix together the cornstarch and water for the slurry. Take one dumpling wrapper and spoon 1 tablespoon of the ham mixture into the center. (If you are using wonton wrappers, you will likely only be able to spoon 1/2 tablespoon onto the wrapper). Dip one finger (or a small pastry brush) into the slurry and paint the edges of the dumpling wrapper. Fold the wrapper over the filling and press the edges together, forming a half-moon shape. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet, cover loosely with plastic wrap and repeat with the rest of the dumplings. Do not allow the dumplings to touch each other on the sheet. Once the dumpling are all assembled, you can cook immediately or refrigerate for up to several hours. When ready to cook, fill a large pot half way with water and bring to a boil. Gently slide 1/3 of the dumplings into the water. Once the water returns to a gently boil simmer for 6 – 8 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and repeat with remaining dumplings. Coat a frying pan with oil and place over medium heat. Once hot, fry the dumplings until they are golden on each side.

*** I cooked my potstickers using a different technique. I place a bit of oil in a 10″ skillet and heated it just shy of smoking. I arranged my potstickers in the pan and cooked them until the bottom of them was a golden brown. The I poured 1/2 cup of water into the skillet and covered it with a tightly fitting top. I continued cooking until all of the liquid was gone. The bottoms of the potstickers should be sufficiently browned at that point, but if not, you could leave them in the pan a bit longer.

Make the dipping Sauce: Heat the sesame oil in a saucepan. Add the scallions and brown rice wine vinegar and soy sauce. Mix well and then remove from heat.

Enjoy!

Paddy’s Day Corned Beef & Cabbage Potstickers brought to you by: Runcible Eats (www.leaandjay.com)

Links for helpful Kitchen Tools & Ingredients for Paddy’s Day Corned Beef & Cabbage Potsickers:

The Farmette Cookbook: Recipes and Adventures from My Life on an Irish Farm by Imen McDonnell

 

 

 

Crockpot Corned Beef & Cabbage Soup

St. Patrick’s Day is only three days away, and what would St. Patrick’s Day be without Corned Beef & Cabbage? It certainly wouldn’t do, especially for all the Irish Americans out there. I already let the cat out of the bag last year, that folks in Ireland do not actually eat Corned Beef & Cabbage. Nope. That dish evolved and came to be associated with St. Patrick’s Day here in America after the arrival of many Irish immigrants. (For more info on the history of corned beef, take a look at my Corned Beef Hash blog from last year.) So although Corned beef & Cabbage is not a traditional dish for the Irish in Ireland, St. Patrick’s Day just wouldn’t be the same for Irish Americans without it. So I figured this Crockpot Corned Beef & Cabbage Soup recipe would come in handy for some folks out there. Especially the ones that really want to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, but are a wee bit too short on time to fuss over a big St. Patrick’s Day feast. This crock-pot soup is exactly what you need. You can get the whole St. Patrick’s Day corned beef, cabbage, potato vibe in one bowl and yet spend very little time in the kitchen.

Seriously, you just toss all of these lovely ingredients in the crock pot, turn it on and walk away. You don’t even have to head back into the kitchen for 7 hours! And truth be told, I always prepare soups the day before I want to serve them. They taste so much better after resting in the fridge overnight. All the flavors really have a chance to blend together. And another big benefit of letting this soup sit over night is that corned beef is a very fatty cut, that’s part of what makes it so delicious. However, even though you will cut away the fat when you shred the meat, I find that a lot of fat remains in the soup. Yuck! No one wants a greasy soup! You can try to skim this off of the top while it is still hot. However, if you just stick the soup in the fridge over night, that fat rises to the top and solidifies, making it a breeze to remove. Serve with pints of beer and a hunk of crusty brown bread, slathered in butter of course! Feasting on St. Patrick’s Day has never been such a breeze!

• Servings: 8 - 10
• Difficulty: easy
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recipe slightly adapted from: Pipandebby.com

Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 4 cups shredded cabbage
• 1 yellow onion, chopped
• 3-4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• 3-lb. corned beef brisket (yup…just pop it into the crock pot uncooked)
• 8 baby red potatoes, cut into small chunks
• 4 carrots, sliced
• 4 stalks celery, sliced
• 1 bay leaf
• 3-4 sprigs of fresh thyme
• 14.9 oz. can of Guinness Stout
• 32-oz. container chicken broth

Directions:

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add cabbage, onion, garlic, parsley, salt and pepper. Cook for 5-7 minutes, or until cabbage is soft and onions are fragrant.

Add mixture to a large crockpot, along with corned beef brisket, potatoes, carrots, celery, bay leaf, thyme, Guinness & chicken broth. If the veggies are not completely covered by liquid, add water until they are.

Cook on Low heat for 7-8 hours. Remove corned beef from crockpot and place on a cutting board. Shred Corned Beef with two forks, removing and discarding fat. If any of the shredded meat is too long, cut into smaller bite-sized lengths. Return meat to the crockpot and cook for an additional 10 minutes.

You can serve the soup immediately if you wish, but I usually refrigerate it overnight. The next morning, the fat will have risen to the top and solidified. Remove the fat, reheat soup and serve with crusty brown bread.

Enjoy!

Crockpot Corned Beef & Cabbage Soup brought to you by: Runcible Eats (www.leaandjay.com)

Helpful Links to Kitchen Tools & Ingredients for Crockpot Corned Beef & Cabbage Soup:

Crock-Pot Slow Cooker

 

 

 

 

 

 

Irish Pizza with Corned Beef, Leeks, Crispy Potato & Irish Cheddar

I don’t know about you, but around here, we love pizza, especially Neapolitan style thin-crust pizzas. And we have definitely gotten into making our own pies here at home. We’ve slowly collected all the gear to use on Pizza Night; the pizza stone for baking, pizza paddles for transferring it to the oven, and quite a few of the pizza specialty flours from King Arthur Flour. We love experimenting with different toppings as well as crusts. So finding myself with a bit of left over corned beef and taking some inspiration from an Irish Pizza I saw over at Lexi Bites blog, we decided to make our own version of an Irish Pizza. This Hibernian gem has a thin Guinness infused pizza crust which is topped with shredded corned beef, leeks, crispy potatoes, thyme and Irish Cheddar. Rather than a red sauce, I used leftover Horseradish Cream Sauce which I usually serve with my annual St. Patrick’s Day Corned Beef feast. What a tasty pie!

I will take this opportunity to give you a wee bit of advice on the making of a thin crust pizza though. The absolute most difficult thing we’ve encountered in all our pizza making endeavors is simply not overloading the crust. Man is that hard! I mean, you’ve got all these delicious toppings just sitting there right? If a little is good, more has to be better…Not true! Tons of toppings will quickly weigh down a thing crust pizza, making it nearly impossible to transfer from the pizza paddle onto the stone and will often make the crust soggy. So you must exercise restraint here! And if you really don’t think you’d be into making your own pizza dough, I get it. You can run out and get a store-bought crust and proceed with the Irish-y toppings. It’s a great way to use up some leftovers. Pour a few pints and get busy…bet you’ll have some fun and have a tasty meal to boot!

Irish Pizza with Corned Beef, Leeks, Crispy Potatoes & Irish Cheddar

• Servings: makes 2 - 10 inch pizzas
• Difficulty: easy
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Recipes adapted from: King Arthur Flour (for the Guinness Pizza Crust), & Lexi Bites (pizza topping inspiration)

Ingredients:

For the Ultra-Thin Guinness Pizza Crust:

• 3 Cups (372 grams) King Arthur Flour Perfect Pizza Blend flour ( or can substitute in 1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour, 1 cup semolina flour & 1/2 cup durum flour)
• 1 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon instant yeast
• 2 Tablespoons olive oil
• 1 – 1 1/4 cups warm (98° – 110° F, 37°C) Guinness Stout (you can substitute water in place of the Guinness if you wish, though I’m not sure why you would…)

For the Pizza Toppings:

• 1 – 1 1/2 cups leftover corned beef, shredded or cut into smaller pieces
• 4 leeks, thinly sliced and sautéed in butter until softened
• 1/3 cup Horseradish Cream Sauce (recipe to follow) if you don’t like horseradish, substitute plain sour cream
• 1 cup hash browns, cooked until crispy
• 3/4 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
• 3/4 cup Irish Cheddar, shredded
• 1 Tablespoon fresh thyme, leaves only, chopped
• 1 Tablespoon fresh chives, chopped

Directions:

Combine the dry ingredients, oil, and 1 cup of Guinness, mixing and kneading everything together by hand, mixer or bread machine set on the dough cycle until you’ve made a soft, smooth dough. The dough should be soft and supple; adjust with additional Guinness or flour if needed. If you’re kneading in a stand mixer, it should take 4 to 5 minutes at second speed, and the dough should barely clean the sides of the bowl, perhaps sticking a bit at the bottom.

Place the dough in a dough rising bucket, or large bowl, lightly covered with plastic wrap, and let it rise at room temperature for 60 to 90 minutes, or until it begins to look puffy. In the meantime, preheat the oven to 425°F. If you are using a baking stone to bake the pizza on, place it into the oven at this time.

While the dough is rising, prepare all of your toppings; chop the leftover corned beef, sauté the leeks and set them aside to cool, cook the hash browns until crispy and set aside to cool, grate the cheese, chop the thyme and chives, mix up the Horseradish Cream Sauce. (recipe noted below).

Once the dough has risen, divide it into two equal portions and place each on a lightly oiled 12″ pizza pan, or on parchment paper lightly spritzed with cooking spray. 

Use your fingers to press the dough outward from the center to make a very thin, flat circle about 12″ across. 

Spread the toppings over the dough, keeping in mind not to overload the thin crust. Hold the chives aside to sprinkle over the pizzas once they are out of the oven

Bake for 12 – 15 minutes, or until crust is golden brown and cheese is hot and bubbly.

Top with chives and serve immediately.

Enjoy!

Horseradish Cream Sauce

This recipe will make far more sauce than you need for your pizza’s. However, it is delicious to have on hand to eat with any leftover corned beef and/or potatoes. It is also great on the Colcannon Skillet Cakes.

Recipe adapted from: Bon Appetit

Yield: 1 1/2 cups

Ingredients:

• 1 cup sour cream
• 6 tablespoons prepared white horseradish (about 4 ounces)
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh chives or green onion tops

Directions:

Whisk all ingredients in small bowl to blend. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours. DO AHEAD: Can be made 2 days ahead. Keep refrigerated.

Irish Pizza brought to you by: Runcible Eats (www.leaandjay.com)

Helpful Links to Kitchen Tools & Ingredients for Irish Pizza:

Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer

Thermoworks Super-Fast Thermapen Cooking Thermometer

6 Quart Dough Rising Bucket

SAF Instant Yeast

Emile Henry Flame Top Pizza Stone

King Arthur Flour Perfect Pizza Blend Flour

 

 

 

Corned Beef & Irish Cheddar Potato Nests with Spicy Horseradish Cream & Guinness Mustard

Alright, alright, alright….I told you all about that Corned Beef Hash leftover recipe yesterday, as well as burst your “Corned Beef is an oh so Irish dish” balloon. Today I’d like to let you in on another recipe you can turn to after your big Corned Beef and Cabbage St. Patrick’s Day Feast or as a bit of a teaser appetizer before hand. Are you ready? Corned Beef & Irish Cheddar Potato Nests with Spicy Horseradish and Guinness Mustard.

These little devils are delicious. Kind of like that big St. Patrick’s Day feast all compacted into a tiny little appetizer. The “potato nests” used here are amazing. I mean, who doesn’t love hash browns? And that is basically what you’ve got here except they’re better. Yup…I’m just going to go ahead and declare it…These nests are better than hash browns. Why you might ask. Well, let me tell you, these nest have the crisp factor over regular hash browns. Hash browns are really difficult to do well. Often they turn out way too soggy and greasy. But these little potato nests cooked in muffin tins have a lot of crispy crunchiness going for them. Literally all the edges are sporting it, yet they are still tender on the inside of the cup, which makes for a wonderfully satisfying bite. And once you’ve got those potato nests ready to go, it’s pretty easy to stuff them with some leftover corned beef, shredded Irish Cheddar, chives and the choice of two wonderful sauces; Spicy Horseradish or Guinness Mustard. I must say, these condiments steal the show. You probably should have them on hand for your big Corned Beef Feast as well, because they really enhance the flavor of that meat.

This dish comes together pretty quickly, especially if you use the Simply Potatoes Shredded Hash browns which can be found in the refrigerated section of your local grocery store. If you are going old school and grating your own potatoes, make sure you wring them out well to get rid of that extra moisture so that they will cook up nice and crispy. But if you can take the shortcut of pre-made hash browns, you should definitely go there. Don’t feel guilty, it is so worth it. Your time is valuable. And if you take advantage of this timesaver, you’ll be tucking in to these adorable tasty Corned Beef & Irish Cheddar Potato Cups before you know it. And I think that is a great thing!

• Servings: 12 Potato Nests
• Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients:

For the potato nests:

• 1 – 20 ounce bag of Simply Potatoes Shredded Hash Browns (if you can’t find these you can substitute in 3 1/2 cups shredded Russet potato which has been rinsed, and squeezed dry in a towel.)
• 1 cup Irish cheddar, shredded
• 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (if you like a little kick!)

For the filling:

• 1 1/2 – 2 cups diced or sliced corn beef
• 1 cup Irish Cheddar, shredded
• chives, to sprinkle over the top

Serve with Horseradish Cream and Guinness Mustard (recipes listed below)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350° F and thoroughly spray a 12 cup cupcake tin with baking spray or grease with butter or oil.

Place shredded Hash Browns and cheddar cheese in medium-sized mixing bowl. Add spices and mix. Drizzle with 2 tablespoons of oil and then toss until mixture is coated.

Using 1/4 cup ice cream scoop, fill each well of the cupcake tin with the hash brown mixture.

Using the back of a spoon and your fingers press the hash brown mixture into the sides and bottom of the pan. I actually used a 1/4 cup measuring cup with tapered sides to assist me in making the correct shape for these nests.

Bake potato nests in lower third of the oven for about 60 minutes, or until the bottoms are golden brown. The inside of the potato cup will not appear as dark as the bottom, so actually check the bottoms from time to time.

Remove nests from the oven and let cool for a minute or two. At this point you will probably need to reshape your “nest” a bit. Gently do so with the back of a spoon and then let them cool for 20 minutes on a wire rack.

Once cool, run a knife around the edges of the nests and very carefully remove them from the cupcake tin.

Reheat the leftover diced corned beef  in the microwave. Spoon it into the waiting potato nests. Sprinkle with a bit more shredded cheddar and top with chives.

Serve the Corned Beef & Cheddar Potato Nests with Horseradish Cream and Guinness Mustard on the side.

Horseradish Cream Sauce

Recipe from: Bon Appetit

Yield: 1 1/2 cups

Ingredients:

• 1 cup sour cream
• 6 tablespoons prepared white horseradish (about 4 ounces)
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped dill pickle
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh chives or green onion tops

Directions:

Whisk all ingredients in small bowl to blend. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours. DO AHEAD: Can be made 2 days ahead. Keep refrigerated.

Guinness Mustard

Recipe from: Bon Appetit

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup coarse-grained Dijon mustard
• 2 tablespoons regular Dijon mustard
• 2 tablespoons Guinness stout or other stout or porter
• 1 tablespoon minced shallot
• 1 teaspoon golden brown sugar

Directions:

Whisk all ingredients in small bowl to blend. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours. DO AHEAD: Can be made 2 days ahead. Keep refrigerated.

Enjoy!

Corned Beef & Irish Cheddar Potato Nests with  Spicy Horseradish Cream Sauce & Guinness Mustard brought to you by: Runcible Eats (www.leaandjay.com)

Corned Beef Hash

Corned Beef and cabbage! What would St. Patrick’s Day be without it? The quintessential Irish dish, or is it? Well, I’m sure all of my Irish friends (the ones that actually live in Ireland, not the Irish American ones to be specific) are saying…”What would it be without it? What would it be with it is a better question!” That’s right folks…Corned Beef and Cabbage is not considered “Irish” by the Irish themselves. They don’t really eat it there on St. Patrick’s Day or likely any other day of the year. “Hey….”I can just hear some of you saying…”I visited there last St. Patrick’s Day and I was served up a big old plate of the stuff”. I don’t doubt that you were. The Irish, being as accommodating as they are, made it up just because they knew hoards of Irish American tourists were going to turn up and be expecting it. It is not traditional for them whatsoever! But, that being said…it IS traditional St. Patrick’s Day fare for all the Irish Americans out there, who are the ones that really got that St. Patrick’s Day party going. And the recipe for today, Corned Beef Hash, doesn’t have so much to do with how to cook that big old hunk of corned beef and vegetables (hint….you boil the bejesus out of it….Just kidding 🙂 You simmer it all day, ever so gently… ), but what you do with the leftovers. I love recipes for leftovers. So much so that I’m giving you the one today and another one tomorrow. (bit of a spoiler, but it is for a corned beef appetizer, so stay tuned!). The husband swears that this Corned Beef Hash is fantastic. Indeed he preferred it to the original Corned Beef Feast we’d had the night before.

But I’m sure some of you folks are still reeling from me letting the old “Corned Beef isn’t really Irish” cat out of the bag. So let me explain a little bit. Corned Beef, as I’m sure ya’ll know, has nothing to do with corn. The “corn” part of the title refers to the fact that large grain rock salt (salt kind of the same size as a grain of corn) was traditionally used to cure it. Back in the day, before reliable refrigeration, this “corning” was done to preserve meat. That vibrant pink color that corned beef is sporting is due to the pink salt that was used to cure it. Now this isn’t the fancy pants pink Himalayan salt that you may have read about, nope this is salt with good old sodium nitrate mixed in, which has been dyed a bright pink so that it is easily distinguishable from regular salt. It is the same reason why hot dogs have that rosy pink hue. Saltpetre, or potassium nitrate has also been used to preserve meat since the Middle Ages. Interestingly enough, it is also one of the main ingredients in gun powder. Saltpetre inhibits the germination of C. botulinum endospores as well as softens tough meat. Seventeenth century Ireland was the largest supplier of corned beef  in the world. That was because beef was very plentiful in the country and the salt tax in Ireland was 1/ 10 of what is was in England which meant the Anglo-Irish could import high quality salt at a lower price, cure that plentiful beef that they had in abundance and ready it for export. Which they did so much so that Irish Corned Beef was regarded as the best on the market from the 1600’s until about 1825.  However, although the Irish were exporting a lot of beef, they were not eating it. The Irish traditionally ate pork and beef was too expensive. After the potato famine in the mid 1800’s, many Irish immigrated to the United States. Once they arrived, many settling in New York, and living next to the many other immigrants of that time, they found that pork was very expensive, but that beef , which had previously been unaffordable, was plentiful. Their fellow immigrant Jewish butcher neighbors often sold an inexpensive cut of cured or corned beef brisket, which had started out quite tough but had been transformed by the curing process into a tender flavourful cut of beef. The Irish, being very adaptable, substituted this Jewish Corned Beef for the more expensive joint of bacon in their familiar boiled cabbage and potato recipe, thereby transforming and reinterpreting  the dish.

So there you have it, not an Irish dish per se, but an exceedingly Irish American dish. I hope this recipe will inspire you to cast your eye not only to the big St. Patrick’s Day feast, but also to the days after. The leftovers days. St. Patrick’s Day is only four days away, so plan ahead! Buy that bigger cut of brisket and cook up a bit extra, so that you’ll have plenty of leftovers to work with. I promise you, you won’t regret it. This Corned Beef Hash is phenomenal. Just what the doctor called for to perk you up the day after the many St. Patrick’s Day parades, festivities and undoubtedly excessive green beer guzzling.

• Servings: 4
• Difficulty: easy
• Print

recipe slightly adapted from: BonAppetit

Ingredients:

• 2 cups leftover shredded Corned Beef
• 1 medium onion, left over from Corned Beef feast
• 1 large russet potato, left over from Corned Beef feast
• ¼ cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, plus more for serving
• 1 cup Irish Cheddar cheese, shredded
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 teaspoon distilled white vinegar
• 4 large eggs
• Chopped fresh chives (for serving)

Directions:

This recipe assumes that you’ve already made your St. Patrick’s Day Corned Beef Feast and have managed to set aside a few leftovers, namely 2 cups of shredded corned beef, 1 medium onion and one large russet potato. I had used baby red potatoes when I made my corned beef dinner, so I just used a big handful of those.

Preheat oven to 200° F. Thinly slice cooked onion and potato into 1/2″ pieces; toss in a large bowl with corned beef, 1/4 cup parsley, and 1 cup Irish Cheddar. Moisten with some reserved cooking liquid if mixture seems dry. If you don’t have cooking liquid, just use a splash or two of Guinness; season with salt and pepper.

Heat 2 tablespoons butter in medium nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add 1/2 of the corned beef mixture and press down to form a pancake. Cook undisturbed until the underside is golden brown and crisp, about 6 – 8 minutes. Set a plate over the pan and carefully invert the pancake onto it; then slide it back into the pan, uncooked side down. Press it back into pancake shape again and then once again…do not touch it! Let it cook for 6 – 8 minutes again. Then carefully transfer it to a baking sheet, tent with foil and pace in the oven to keep warm until you are ready to serve. Repeat with the remaining butter and corned beef mixture.

Meanwhile, bring 2″ of water to boil in a large saucepan or frying pan. Reduce the heat to a gentle simmer and add vinegar.

Crack an egg into a small bowl and once the water has reached a temperature of 190°F, slide the egg into the water. Repeat with the remaining eggs, waiting until the egg whites are opaque before adding the next egg. Poach for about 4 minutes to 4 1/2 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer eggs to a paper towel. Trim away any whispy egg whites if you desire. Eggs can be poached 2 hours ahead of time; place in a bowl of ice water and chill. If you are planning on doing eggs ahead and will need to reheat, you may want to reduce initial cooking time to 3 – 3 1/2 minutes so that they are not overdone after reheating. Reheat in simmering water for 1 minute prior to serving.

Serve eggs over hash, seasoned with salt and pepper and topped with chives, more cheddar and more parsley.

Enjoy!

Corned Beef Hash brought to you by: Runcible Eats (www.leaandjay.com)