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Red-Eye Ham Hash

Source of Recipe

From "Dinner for Everyone" by Mark Bittman


Recipe Introduction

"The interplay between two textures defines a successful hash, the name for which comes from the French verb hacher ('to chop'). The work toward Red-Eye Ham Hash with its quirky, old-school coffee-and-ketchup sauce is steady, well-paced, and highly rewarding."

List of Ingredients

â—¦ 1 ½ pounds sweet potatoes, peeled
â—¦ 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus more for greasing the pan
â—¦ 1 red onion, chopped
â—¦ 8 ounces smoked ham, cut into matchsticks
â—¦ Salt and pepper
â—¦ ½ cup brewed coffee
â—¦ 2 tablespoons ketchup
â—¦ ¼ cup sour cream
â—¦ 2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives, for garnish


Recipe

Heat the oven to 400° F. Use the largest holes on a box grater or the shredding attachment on a food processor to grate the sweet potatoes. Grease a large rimmed baking sheet with a little butter.

Put 2 tablespoons of the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. When the butter melts, add the onion and ham and cook, stirring frequently, until the onion is soft and the ham is crisp in places, 3 to 5 minutes. Transfer the mixture to the prepared baking sheet.

Add another tablespoon of butter to the pan and return to medium-high heat. When it's hot, add half the sweet potatoes, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and cook without disturbing until the potatoes form some crust on the bottom, 5 to 7 minutes; adjust the heat as necessary so they sizzle without burning. Turn the potatoes in pieces with a spatula, and continue to cook until the potatoes start to soften, about 3 minutes more. Transfer them to the baking sheet with the ham, stir, and put in the oven. Put the remaining tablespoon of butter and remaining sweet potatoes in the skillet and cook as you did the first batch, then add them to the potatoes and ham on the baking sheet, and return to the oven.

Add the coffee and ketchup to the empty skillet and return to medium-high heat. Cook, stirring constantly and scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan, until the coffee and ketchup are fully combined and reduced to the consistency of cream, 2 or 3 minutes. Pour over the potatoes and serve, garnished with sour cream and chives.

Makes 4 servings