Red Flannel Hash

One of my favorite things about the holidays is leftovers from the big meal. Leftovers mean you are going to be enjoying the good stuff for at least a few days. I cooked a 6-pound prime rib roast yesterday and have lots of leftovers. While that is always delicious reheated, it's more fun to get creative with your leftovers.

I'm a huge fan of hash. I make hash with whatever kind of leftovers I have on hand. Prime rib hash. Turkey hash. Corned beef hash. Roasted pork hash. So I often buy more meat than I need so I have enough leftovers to make some hash. I also make quick work of the potatoes by buying Simply Potatoes Diced Potatoes.

The beauty of hash is that there are a million ways to make it. You can throw in everything but the kitchen sink. Sean, my oldest son, likes his with a healthy dollop of Sriracha. So what I am going to lay out here is a simple recipe for Red Flannel Hash (which gets it's name from the addition of beets to the dish). Just follow this for the basics and then visit your pantry to put your own creative signature on this fantastic, hearty meal. This recipe by Elise from Simply Recipes serves four. 

Ingredients

4 tablespoons butter

1 cup chopped onion

2 cups chopped meat

1 1/2 cups diced beets

1 1/2 cups diced potatoes

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce 

Kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions

1. Heat butter in a frying pan (cast iron preferred) on medium high heat. Add the onions and cook a couple minutes until translucent.
2. Add the meat, potatoes and beets. Stir in the pan to combine and spread out evenly in the pan. Reduce the heat to medium. Press down with a metal spatula to help brown the mixture. Don't stir, but just let cook until nicely browned on one side, then use a metal spatula to lift up sections of the mixture and turn over to brown the other side. If the mixture sticks to the pan too much, just add a little more butter to the pan where it's sticking.
3. When nicely browned, remove from heat. Add Worcestershire sauce. Stir in fresh chopped parsley. Add kosher salt and black pepper to taste. Serve.

Pairing: If your hash is on the mild side, I would go with a fruity red Zinfandel. If your hash is hot and spicy, I would recommend an ice-cold Pilsner.