Leftover Tuesday: Beef, Potato, Cheddar Hash

What exactly is a "hash?" It is some kind of potato--usually cubed and fried. Mixed with some kind of meat. And maybe some vegetables. It is, in short, a mishmash of foods thrown into a hot oiled skillet and cooked together. Sounds like a leftover night gold mine to me.

This week we had a small portion of roast beef--not even enough for one man serving, a few leftover potatoes and carrots from the roast. We also had 2 raw potatoes, some mustard dip, some paprika lemon dip, spaghetti sauce, and ricotta cheese. I decided it could not all be combined, but that many of the meaty, potato-y things could. (If I'd wished, I'm sure I could have gone the Italian route and made something like baked spaghetti with the ricotta and sauce. We'll have to do that another day.)

This is what I did.

1. Peeled and cut the potatoes into small cubes
2. Heated some oil in a skillet.
3. Cooked the potatoes until done and crispy. I actually had to put a lid on the pan for a few minutes to get them done all the way through. I'm pretty sure this is bad potato frying technique and I apologize. Maybe my potatoes should have been smaller or my stove not so hot.
4. When they were done and browned, I threw in my leftover roast (chopped small) and my leftover vegetables. I warmed it through and tasted. I was unimpressed.
5. I added salt and the paprika lemon dip, which I'll get to soon on this blog and which is beyond amazing with potatoes. Even with the most delicious potato dip ever, I was not impressed.
6. I added some sour cream, mixed it all up and topped it with cheddar cheese and let that melt. I figured this couldn't go wrong.

The verdict: I still didn't really like it. I don't know why. I don't know how you can go wrong with potatoes, meat, sour cream, and cheese. Maybe it was my lousy potato frying method. Maybe it was the pineapple I'd eaten just before dinner had thrown my taste buds off (pineapple does that to me sometimes; does this happen to anybody else:). Maybe I should have added some bacon from the freezer. At any rate, this meal was not floating my boat. I had a small portion, a salad, and then some ricotta to fill up. Kip, however, LOVED this. He had a huge serving and then finished off what was left in the pan. The point (which is different sometimes from the verdict): Whether my version was perfect or not, a mash can be a great way to combine meat, potatoes, and vegetables. I'll be trying it again.