Sweet Potato Hash

It's St. Patrick's Day and that means two things.

First, that the smell of lite beer is running strong across college campuses around the country.

Second, that many people have a big piece of leftover corned beef from that traditional dinner. While there's nothing wrong with a classic corned beef sandwich smothered in mustard and melted swiss cheese, the palate craves something new and different.

Since one of the most common ways to prepare corned beef is in the form of a hash. I channeled this classic breakfast accompaniment when I made my leftover meal. I replaced the standard white potato with a sweet potato and topped the whole hash with a spicy/sweet whole grain honey mustard, which brought together the hash and classic corned beef sandwich into one delicious meal.

The following recipe made dinner for one, so adapt as necessary!

Ingredients
1 small onion, diced
2 stalks of celery, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 sweet potato, diced
1/2 tsp. red chile flakes
1 1/2 tsp. brown sugar
leftover corned beef, diced. (I used a few slices, but use as much or as little as you'd like!)
salt & pepper to taste

1 tablespoon whole grain dijon mustard
1 - 2 teaspoons honey

1. Saute onion, celery and garlic until soft.
2. Add sweet potatoes to the pan and cook for a few minutes. Add chile flakes and brown sugar and allow the sugar to caramelize on the potatoes.
3. When the potatoes are almost cooked through, add the corned beef and heat through.
4. Mix together the mustard and honey to create a very grainy honey-mustard.
5. Just before eating, pour the honey mustard on top of the hash.

I swear, you'll love it.

So eat up and drink down. Sláinte to you on this St. Patrick's day!

Balsamic Tomato Sauce

I started this blog so that I could share thoughts on food as well as how I feel about certain political issues. So without further ado, here is the recipe for my favorite tomato sauce:

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
1 large white onion, diced
1 large red onion, diced
6 portabello mushroom caps, finely chopped
4 large cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/2 pound ground beef or turkey
1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 - 1/2 tsp. dried basil
1/4 - 1/2 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 cup red wine
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
1 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes
1 14 oz. can diced tomatoes
2-3 tablespoons tomato paste
2-3 tablspoons fresh parsley, chopped
salt & pepper to taste


1. In a large saucepan, melt butter with olive oil. Add onions, garlic and mushrooms and cook until tender.
2. Add meat and spices. Cook meat through.
3. Deglaze the pan with wine. Add vinegar and bring to a simmer.
4. Add canned tomatos and heat through. Stir in tomato paste and allow sauce to thicken.
5. Just before serving, stir in chopped parsley. Serve over pasta with parmesean cheese!

This sauce has a unique color due to the vinegar and wine but with that brings a fantastic flavor. If you have leftovers, reheat in a pan with a splash more of both vinegar and wine.

Hope you enjoy this sauce as much as I do!

More food and fun soon,

Liam

I'm pretty bad at this...

Apparently, blogging is much harder when you're not living in a foreign country and experiencing something new everyday. Until I post later this week, I'll leave a few unedited thoughts here:

1. I subconsciously miss New Zealand more than I ever would have imagined.

2. I am going back there. When? I don't know. But I am.

3. I miss Natalie Paterson heaps.

More soon!