! Hashcapades

What has four thumbs and likes hash? This guy and special guest, Gina Rau! That’s right, Gina and I put the smackdown on some primo ingredients at Chez Clark for our boys. We even enrolled them, albeit briefly, in our kitchen adventure. Happily, I can report all guests and their digits were still attached when they left!

You may recall Ham Hash and Yurts, a madcap outdoor taste-bud party. As fun as cooking with frozen fingers on an outdoor grill can be, glamping it up in my kitchen was sublime – cozily warm and fully functional. The added bonus was not having water-logged ingredients from a cooler!

So, with style and flair, Gina and I hashed up Yukon Gold potatoes, sweet potatoes, parsnips, onions, red and green bell peppers in no time. Into the oven at 425°F went the taters and parnsips for 20 minutes whilst the onions and peppers sauteed in the skillet.

The boys peered into the oven and decided all that starch required more appetite enhancement, i.e. video games! So onward Gina and I slaved, slicing ham and sampling different herb combos. We quickly settled on ham & fresh sage as the right pairing after a series of double-blind taste tests on the boys…NOT! (They were still playing games)

Undeterred, we staged the cooked ingredients in bowls and pressed the boys into service to be hash mix-ologists. Dollops of créme frâiche and dijon mustard along with chopped sage, salt and pepper were folded in – voila! Time for the ultimate test: would the boys like our hash or demand Annie’s Mac N Cheese?

At approximately Oh-Don’t-Thirty, the hash assault began. Connor and Patrick, forks poised for maximum comestible damage, attacked with the fury and mayhem of whirling dervishes. Poor hash, it didn’t have a prayer…

Special thanks to Gina Rau for helping make this hashcapade delightful and fun!

Happy Hashcapades,
Clark

For Recipe, see Ham Hash for Yurts. Sub out half a potato for a parsnip. Add a tablespoon or so of chopped fresh sage.