Southwestern Ham Hash with Fried Eggs and Homemade Ancho Ketchup
Here’s an easy and inexpensive way to use up a bit of leftover ham..
Ham Hash, Fried Egg and Ancho Ketchup
For the Ancho Puree (makes 3/4 cup)
1 cup filtered water
3 ancho chiles, stemmed and seeded
1 Roma tomato, chopped
1/4 cup yellow onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
1/2 teaspoon Mexican oregano
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly-ground black pepper
Combine all the ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer 2 minutes. Cover, remove from heat and allow to steep 20 minutes. Transfer the mixture to a food processor and puree until smooth.
Combine 2 parts homemade ketchup with 1 part ancho puree, more-or-less to taste. Refrigerate up to 1 month.
For the Hash
1 tablespoon butter
2 slices ham, cut into 1/4 inch dice
2 small red potatoes, cut into 1/4 dice
1/2 small Spanish onion, diced
1/4 cup poblano pepper, diced
1/4 cup red bell pepper, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon sweet paprika
1/4 teaspoon dill
1/4 teaspoon thyme
1/4 teaspoon celery salt
1/4 teaspoon oregano
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
1/4 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
3 scallions, sliced
1 tablespoon parsley, chopped
Boil the potatoes in lightly-salted water until not quite tender. Drain, and shake the pan until that the potatoes take on a slightly “fuzzed” texture.
Heat butter in a heavy skillet over medium heat. Add onions and fry until lightly browned. Add potatoes, peppers, ham and garlic and continue to cook, stirring occasionally until browned and slightly crusty. Mix garlic salt and spices together in a small dish and use this mixture to season the hash to taste. Add scallions and parsley and stir to combine.
To serve, spoon hash onto a serving plate and top with a fried egg. Dress with ancho ketchup and serve hot.
This post is part of the Nourishing Gourmet’s Pennywise Platter Thursday!
Santa Fe Hot Pot
Human occupation of New Mexico stretches back at least 11,000 years to the Clovis culture of hunter-gatherers, who left evidence of their campsites and stone tools. After the invention of agriculture the land was inhabited by the Ancient Pueblo Peoples who built houses out of stone or adobe bricks. They experienced a Golden Age around AD 1000 but climate change led to migration and cultural evolution into the modern Pueblo peoples who lived primarily along the few major rivers of the region. (Wikipedia)
A contemporary New Mexican-style pork stew with dried beans, toasted chilies, onions, peppers, onions and sweet potatoes with cinnamon, cloves, green garlic, cumin and corn flour..
Santa Fe Hot Pot
Serves 2
1/3 cup mixed dried heirloom beans such as yellow Indian woman, tepary, pinquito & black
4 cups chicken stock, divided
1/2 pound braised feral hog (substitute leftover pork belly or pork shoulder roast), cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 1/2 teaspoons leaf lard (substitute bacon grease)
1/4 cup mild chili powder
2 dried New Mexico chilies, stemmed, seeded and chopped
1 tablespoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon freshly-grated cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon freshly-ground cloves
1 large tomatillo, husked, rinsed and chopped
2 red Fresno chilies, sliced
1/2 Spanish onion, chopped
1/4 cup poblano pepper, chopped
1 bulb green garlic, including leaves, chopped
1/3 cup sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
1 teaspoon smoked black pepper
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
1 tablespoon corn flour (not corn meal)
sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper
Rinse, pick over and soak a variety of dried beans overnight. Place in a pot with 2 cups chicken stock and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer until tender, about 1 hour.
Heat lard in a heavy skillet over medium heat. Add diced sweet potatoes and cook until browned along the edges and somewhat tender. Add onions, fresh and dried chilies, peppers and green garlic and sauté until softened.
Add tomatillo, pork, beans, stock, pork, chili powder, paprika, cinnamon and cloves, reduce heat and simmer 15 minutes. Add corn flour, stir and simmer until slightly thickened, about 10 minutes.
Add cilantro and season to taste with salt and pepper. Ladle into bowls and serve with wedges of lime and corn chips or cornbread.
This post is part of the Nourishing Gourmet’s Pennywise Platter Thursday!
Smoked Duck Tostadas with Guajillo Salsa, Fried Black Beans and Avocado
Thinly-sliced apple wood-smoked duck breast, toasted guajillo salsa, crèma Mexicana, pickled red onions & jalapeños, field greens with cilantro, fresh avocado, fried black beans and pumpkin-balsamic vinaigrette. If this doesn’t wake up your senses, you may need to consult a trained medical professional..
Smoked Duck Tostadas
For the Fried Beans
2 tablespoons leaf lard
1 cup cooked black beans
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon epazote
1/2 teaspoon Mexican oregano
1 teaspoon sea salt
Melt lard in a heavy skillet over medium heat and sauté cumin and garlic until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add beans with a little of their cooking liquid and mash with potato masher or the back of a spoon. Stir in epazote, oregano and salt and cook until much of the liquid has been absorbed. Cover and hold.
For the Salsa (adapted from a recipe by Rick Bayless)
2 tablespoons fat or oil (I’m using leaf lard)
3 guajillo chiles, stemmed
3 cloves garlic, peeled
1/2 pound tomatillos, husked, rinsed and cut in half
1 teaspoon coarse sea salt
filtered water
Heat fat in a heavy skillet over medium heat. Split the chiles and remove the seeds. Place the chiles flat in the pan and cook, turning continuously, until bright red and fragrant, about 30 seconds. Transfer to a napkin and drain.
Pour off fat, then add tomatillos and garlic. Cook until browned, about 3 minutes, then turn, sprinkle with salt and brown on the other side. Add all ingredients to the bowl of a food processor and pulse until slightly chunky. Add water as necessary to form a thick but pour-able salsa. Taste and adjust accordingly.
For the Vinaigrette
3 oz pumpkin seed oil
1 oz aged balsamic vinegar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon guajillo honey
Slowly whisk the oil into the vinegar to form an emulsion, then whisk in honey and season to taste with salt and pepper.
To Assemble
Shallow-fry pumpkin tortillas (I got these from my local tortilleria) in a little very hot leaf lard until crisp, about 30 seconds per side, then transfer to a napkin to drain. Be sure the fat is hot, otherwise the tortillas will be greasy.
Thinly slice smoked duck breast, season with pepper and heat briefly in the tortilla pan.
Spread one tostada with guajillo salsa and crèma Mexicana, then arrange duck slices on top. Dress with pickled red onions and garnish with pickled jalapeños and fresh cilantro.
Toss assorted fresh field greens (thanks, Meredith!) in vinaigrette and place on top of the other tostada. Spoon fried beans over the top and garnish with slices of fresh avocado. Drizzle a little more vinaigrette over all.
Place the tostada with the duck on top the the one with the avocado and serve immediately.
Keep Austin Weird!
This post is part of the Nourishing Gourmet’s Pennywise Thursday
Lamb Keftedes
A traditional Greek offering of local, pastured lamb, toasted spices and fresh herbs, garlic, lemon and extra-virgin olive oil..
Lamb Keftedes
Makes about 8-10 Meatballs (adapted from a recipe by Michael Symon)
1/4 cup white onion, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup day-old bread, torn into cubes
1/4 cup fresh, whole milk
1/2 pound freshly-ground lamb, 75% lean
1 pastured egg
1/4 teaspoon coriander seeds
1/4 teaspoon cumin seeds
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon nibs
1/2 teaspoon freshly-ground pepper
sprouted wheat flour for dusting
clarified butter
fresh oregano, torn
fresh mint, torn
1 fresh lemon
Toast the cinnamon, cumin and coriander in a dry skillet until fragrant, then set aside to cool. Meanwhile, sauté the onion with a pinch of salt in a little clarified butter over medium heat until softened, about 2 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until softened, about another 2 minutes. Set aside.
Soak the bread in the milk.
Grind the toasted spices and cinnamon together in a mortar, then combine with the black pepper and nutmeg.
In a mixing bowl, combine the onions, garlic and lamb. Squeeze out the bread and add to the lamb along with the spices, pepper and torn oregano. Mix everything together by hand.
Form the meat mixture into golf ball-sized balls then roll in the flour, gently shaking off any excess.
Heat clarified butter in a heavy pan over medium heat, then add the meatballs to the pan. Pan-fry until golden brown and crusty on the outside, then drain briefly on paper towels.
Arrange the meatballs on a plate, drizzle with olive oil then season with sea salt and freshly-ground pepper. Garnish with lemon zest and oregano and serve with olives and lemon wedges.
This post is part of The Nourishing Gourmet’s Pennywise Platter Thursday!
Rustic Roast Chicken with Sweet Peppers and Sausage
Pastured chicken, sweet peppers, sausage, fresh herbs and garlicky croûtons. One of my personal favorites..
Rustic Roast Chicken with Sweet Peppers and Sausage
For the Bone Broth (adapted from a recipe by Thomas Keller)
5 pounds chicken parts such as necks, bones, backs, wings and feet
1 gallon cold, filtered water
1 3/4 cups carrots cut into 1-inch cubes
2 heaping cups leeks cut into 1-inch pieces (white and light green parts only)
1 1/2 cups Spanish onions cut into 1-inch pieces
1 bay leaf
Keller writes “As with all stocks, the goal is to remove impurities while extracting as much flavor and gelatin as possible from the bones, and the maximum flavor from the vegetables and aromatics. You do this not only through gentle heat, but through gradual heat transitions as well; in other words, you don’t start with hot water, you begin with cold and bring it slowly up to heat”.
Rinse the chicken parts thoroughly under cold water to remove any remaining blood. This helps to ensure that the resulting stock is clear, not cloudy.
Put all the bones into a large stock pot and add a gallon of cold water, just enough to cover the bones. Slowly bring the liquid to a simmer and begin to skim as soon as the impurities rise to the top. Continue to simmer and skim until as much of the impurities have been removed as possible.
Add the vegetables and bay leaf and continue to simmer and skim for 45 minutes. This recipes produces a lightly-flavored, gelatinous stock suitable for soups and braising. For a stronger stock, simply continue to simmer and skim until the liquid has been reduced by 1/3 in volume.
Turn off the heat and let the stock rest 10 minutes to allow any particles left in the stock to settle to the bottom.
Ladle the finished stock through a strainer lined with a tea towel into a suitably large container, then transfer into quart jars set in a pan of ice water. Allow to cool to room temperature before transferring to the refrigerator to keep for up to 3 days.
For the Vegetables
Split a number of sweet peppers, Spanish onion and plum tomatoes in half lengthwise and place cut side down in a skillet or on a parchment paper-lined tray. Roast in a 375 degree oven until blistered but not blackened, about 30 minutes. Set aside and allow to cool enough to handle, then pull the skins off the peppers and tomatoes.
Coarsely chop the vegetables with fresh basil and oregano and set aside.
For the Chicken
Split large breasts and thighs into 2-3 pieces each and season lightly with sea salt and freshly-ground pepper. Melt a couple of tablespoonfuls of chicken fat in a heavy skillet. Add the chicken as soon as the fat is shimmering but not smoking, and brown well on all sides. Transfer chicken to a plate.
Cut 1-2 pieces of Italian sausage on a deep bias so that there is a lot of exposed surface area. Brown the sausage in the same pan that you used for the chicken.
Arrange chicken and sausage in a Dutch oven containing 1 cup of bone broth as shown below. Scatter roasted vegetables over the top, and drizzle lightly with olive oil. Season with salt and pepper and place uncovered in a 375 oven until the chicken has finished cooking, about 15 minutes.
For the Croûtons
Steep a clove of garlic in pastured butter for a few minutes, then toss in roughly-torn pieces of bread and fry until golden brown. Add chopped parsley and give the croûtons one more toss before setting aside.
To assemble, arrange alternating pieces of chicken and sausage on a plate and top with vegetables. Tuck in some croûtons here and there, then drizzle all with some of the roasting juices. Garnish with additional chopped herbs and serve immediately.
This post is part of The Nourishing Gourmet’s Pennywise Platter Thursday
Traditional Maryland Fried Chicken, Cream Gravy
While the exact origin of Maryland Fried Chicken isn’t known for certain, a dish by this name did show up on the menu of New York’s Grand Union Hotel as early as 1878..
Traditional Maryland Fried Chicken
Serves 2-4 depending on appetite and accompaniments
1 whole pastured frying chicken, cut up
3 cups fresh whole milk plus the juice of 1 fresh lemon
2 cups sprouted wheat flour
1 tablespoon freshly-ground pepper
1 tablespoon sea salt
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon each dried thyme, oregano and basil
4 oz ghee or clarified, pastured butter
1/2 small white onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 cup fresh cream
1 cup chicken stock
fresh parsley, chopped
Wash chicken and place in a non-reactive bowl. Pour in enough milk to cover then refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight.
Combine flour, pepper, salt, paprika and dried herbs in a bowl. Lift a piece of chicken with one hand, let the milk run off, then place into the flour mixture. Use the other hand to coat the chicken and place onto a plate. Repeat until all the chicken has been lightly but thoroughly dredged.
Heat the butter in a high-walled iron skillet over medium heat to about 325-330 degrees (this is why you need a fat such as clarified butter with a high smoke-point), then carefully place the chicken in the pan, working in batches if necessary. Don’t crowd the pan too much. Turning as little as possible, cook until well browned on all sides. Transfer chicken to a heat-proof dish and finish in a 275 degree oven while you make the gravy (assuming another 15 minutes or so).
Add the onion and garlic to the pan that the chicken was cooked in and fry until golden. Scrape up the brown bits with the side of a wooden spoon, then whisk in enough of the remaining seasoned flour to form a thick paste (roux). Stirring continuously, cook until the flour is no longer raw, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat.
Meanwhile, heat cream and chicken stock just to the boiling point. Whisk in roux and cook until gravy has thickened. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
The chicken may be served with the gravy over the top or on the side, as you prefer.
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- Traditional Maryland Fried Chicken
This post is part of The Nourishing Gourmet’s Pennywise Thursday
