Anything Hash & Perfectly Poached Eggs
Ingredients:
- 2 cups of vegetables cut into small cubes (today I used a leftover baked potato, some carrot, some swede(rutabaga), broccoli stems and a small onion)
- 1/2 TBS butter
- 1/2 TBS oil
- salt and black pepper
- 2 large free range eggs
Instructions:
How to cook Anything Hash & Perfectly Poached Eggs
- Prepare your vegetables. Peel the carrots and swede, trim any fibrous bits from the broccoli stems, saving any leaves. Chop them all into a uniform size along with the potato and onion.
- Heat the butter and oil in a heavy based skillet. (I used my cast iron.) Once the butter begins to foam, add the vegetables. Turn them to coat in the fat then turn the heat down low, cover and allow to cook over low heat for about 10 minutes until everything is tender. Remove the lid, turn up the heat, season to taste with salt and black pepper and cook, turning over occasionally until golden brown in places. Keep warm while you poach your eggs.
- Have all your eggs at room temperature and break each into a small bowl before you start. Bring a pot of water, to which you have added 1 tsp of vinegar, to a slow simmer over gentle heat. Once you can see tiny bubbles on the bottom of the pan, carefully add the eggs, one at a time.
- Simmer, without covering for exactly 1 minute. Remove the pan from the heat and let the eggs sit in the hot water for exactly ten minutes. (a timer is incredibly useful here) At the end of the time you should have a perfect poached egg, with a beautifully translucent and pefectly set white and a soft and creamy yolk. Remove the eggs with a slotted spoon, one at a time onto some paper kitchen toweling to drain.
- Divide the hash and spoon it onto heated serving dishes. Top each serving with a poached egg and serve immediately.
One of my favourite things to get when we are eating out is a Chicken Sandwich or Burger. Yes, I know . . . we eat chicken all the time at home, and dollars to donuts I eat it again when we are out and about. I am just a boring person I guess! Chicken Sandwiches or Burgers can often be very high in fat and calories however and so today I created one which is delicious and a little bit healthier than normal, well certainly healthier than those breaded deep fried ones you get in the restaurants . . . and not only that, but it is pretty economical as well.
Well, here we are. It's the end of the week and I find myself looking through the refrigerator to find all of the bits and pieces and trying to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.
Not that I mind really . . . I quite like the challenge of looking in the refrigerator and seeing what I can come up with. It makes things more exciting.
I suppose my experience in years and years of cooking helps me a lot in that way . . . that and my love of all things culinary, because it means that I have a natural aptitude for knowing just what flavours go with what.
That is one of the things about cooking which really excites me. Being able to look at a bunch of ingredients and then turn them into something delicious!
Today I found a package of 3 pork loin chops, some rashers of streaky smoked bacon, half a cabbage, half a small bottle of apple juice, half a jar of apple sauce, and a tired looking carrot. I always have onions and potatoes in the larder.
Although there were only three loin chops in the pack, but they were rather thick and so I figured I could feed four people (two adults and two children) with this, adding some mash on the side.
I cooked the bacon and then crumbled it, setting it aside.
I could have browned the chops in the drippings, but there weren't many and so I added a tsp each of butter and olive oil, seasoned my chops really well with salt and pepper and thyme and then browned them off.
I then added an onion and the carrot (cut into half moons each) to the pan drippings and started softening them.
Once I got them really started I began to add the cabbage in handfuls along with a bit of apple juice, letting it wilt down a bit before I added more.
The cabbage was thinly shredded by hand, not too thin, but not too thick either.
Once I had all the cabbage in, I stirred in the apple sauce, apple juice, half of the crumbled bacon and gave it a good stir.
Apples and pork have a wonderful affinity for each other. They just go together like peas and carots. Did you know that quite often in the weeks just prior to slaughter time many farmers fatten their pigs up with apples? It is true. Apparently it sweetens the meat or some such.
Some apple cider vinegar was also added to counteract the sweetness of the applesauce. I nestled the partially cooked chops down into the mixture, covered it tightly and then let them simmer for a bit.
The end result being some really tender and juicy chops, in a flavourful vegetable sauce mixture that went down a real treat with a pile of mash on the side.
I love it when that happens. They do say waste not want not! And when you can make the bits left in the refrigerator taste as special as this did, you just know you have done a great job!
I think I could have added a bay leaf for even more flavours, but will save that now for next time. We both really enjoyed! My husband does love his chops!
Melt the butter together with the olive oil in a large skillet which has a lid. Season the chops all over with salt and pepper and sprinkle with thyme. Brown them well on all sides in the butter/olive oil mixture. Remove to a plate and keep warm.
Add the onions and carrots to the pan. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion softens. Add the Cabbage a handful at a time, along with a bit of the apple juice, adding more cabbage as it wilts down. Add the remaining apple juice, the apple sauce and the vinegar.
Tuck the chops in amongst the cabbage mixture. Cover tightly and cook for about 15 to 20 minutes, until the pork is cooked through and the flavours have nicely melded.
Sprinkle
with the crumbled bacon. Serve each chop with some of the cabbage
mixture. I served this with creamy mashed potatoes.
This was a really delicious way to eat some simple basic ingredients. I really hope you will be inspired to want to try it for yourself. I highly recommend!
This content (written and photography) is the sole property of The English Kitchen. Any reposting or misuse is not permitted. If you are reading this elsewhere, please know that it is stolen content and you may report it to me at: mariealicejoan at aol dot com Thanks so much for visiting. Do come again!
There is no doubt about it . . . there is a real connection between what we eat, what we long to eat and how we feel when we eat. Food and emotion are very closely connected. Just try messing with a woman's chocolate stash and you will find out just how closely connected the two are!
It's the end of the week and time to get rid of a few bits in the refrigerator before I do my grocery shop for the next week. The bits I have leftover that are not large enough to be or make a meal on their own, but put together with other things can make a really tasty meal indeed!
I was going to make a shepherd's pie with the leftovers from the roasted lamb the other day but instead I decided to make a hash, but not just any kind of hash . . . a Lamb Samosa Hash! Lamb is a common filling used to make Samosa's and so I thought why not make a hash which incorporates the flavours which go into a Samosa and all I can say is . . . GREAT CALL on my part, because it was fabulous!
My mom always said that I could take an old boot and make it taste delicious. I am not sure if that is true or not, but I do have a knack for creating something delicious to eat using whatever I have to hand. Today I had leftover potatoes and roast pork from dinner the other day that I needed to use up pronto and this is what I came up with. It was fabulously delicious!
Social Icons