Oven Roasted Potato Hash

When I grill steak, my favorite side is a generous helping of buttery hash browns. But I also am quite partial to hash browns' bigger, stronger brother...hash. Hash browns are typically made with shredded potatoes while hash is made from diced potatoes. And while you are certainly welcome to dice your own potatoes, I like to cheat.

If you slide over to the refrigerated section of your grocery store (same place you find Dairy), you'll find Simply Potatoes. They've taken all the trouble out of it and pre-diced them for you. Grab two bags and 90% of the labor in this recipe just disappeared.

I love hash because it's big and hearty and it has a lot of really different flavors. I was ecstatic to find this new hash recipe in last Sunday's New York Times. This Sam Sifton recipe looked so good, I made a special trip to the store to get all of the ingredients. Bacon, butter, taters, onion, bell pepper, cheddar cheese and scallions.

And the recipe had something I had never come across when cooking hash. Sam created an awesome sauce to finish the dish with. It was a delightful blend of sour cream, lime juice and chipotles en adobo. It was the best tasting hash I have ever had! This recipe serves 4 to 6 people.


INGREDIENTS

For the Hash
4 slices of thick sliced, smoked bacon
1 tablespoon butter
2 pounds of Russet or Yukon Gold potatoes, or 2 bags "Simply Potatoes Diced Potatoes"
1 medium yellow onion, diced
1 medium red bell pepper, diced
1 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
3 scallions, sliced thin, green parts only

For the Sauce
1/2 cup sour cream
Juice of 1 lime
2 tablespoons chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, minced


DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 400º.
2. Put the bacon on a rimmed baking sheet.  Place in the oven and cook the bacon through — until it is chewy and going to crisp — approximately 15 minutes. Remove the bacon from the pan and set aside. There should be a couple of tablespoons of bacon fat in the pan. If there is more, discard it.
3. Add the butter to the bacon fat, then put the potatoes, onions and red peppers onto the pan and stir to coat. Spread the potatoes, onions and red peppers out evenly across the pan and return it to the oven for 20 minutes.  Then take it out again and use a spatula to turn everything over. Cook for another 20 minutes or until the potatoes are beginning to crisp, then turn them once more and cook for an additional 15 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk together the sour cream, lime juice and minced chipotles en adobo, to taste. Season with salt and pepper.
5. When the potatoes are well crisped, take the pan out of the oven. Increase oven temp to 450º and turn on "Convection Roast" if your oven has that function.
6. Season the hash with salt and pepper. Dice the reserved bacon and scatter it on top of the potatoes, then top with the shredded cheese. Stir to combine, and return the pan to the oven until the cheese has melted, about 3-5 minutes. Tip into a mound on a serving tray, drizzle with the sauce, garnish with the scallions and serve.

Pairing: Given that I am serving this hash with a steak, I'd reach for a big, bold Malbec.