Recipe: Dress up those leftovers with holiday hash

Hash, from the French verb “hacher,” meaning minced, combines a bunch of diced this and that to somehow come together and create a coherent (and often delicious) dish. Granted, prime rib is not an everyday sort of dish, but with the holidays, if you happen to have some leftover, save it for this recipe.

Ideally, you would make this with whatever you might have on hand, including roast turkey, prime rib, smoked ham, potatoes, onions, and herbs. Try it as well with shrimp, our wonderful Alaska crab or cod, or the classic corned beef. The main thing is to season generously, especially since potatoes absorb a lot of flavor. With its crisp exterior and soft inside, leftovers will be something to look forward to and worth planning a meal around. Top it off with a sunny side-up fried egg and maybe some fresh grated horseradish. Perhaps a Bloody Mary as well....

Holiday Hash

(Loosely inspired by Keens Steakhouse, Manhattan)

Serves 2 to 4

Ingredients

3 to 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided

1/2 cup finely chopped white or yellow onion

3 cups diced leftover potatoes (*see note below)

16 ounces cooked prime rib or turkey or ham, cut into 1/2-inch pieces

2 cloves garlic, smashed and minced

2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley or 2 to 3 green onions

3 to 4 tablespoons ketchup

3/4 to 1 teaspoon hot sauce, such as Tabasco or Frank’s RedHot

Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1 sunny-side-up egg person, for serving

fresh grated horseradish, optional garnish

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. *Note: If not using leftover potatoes, peel and boil 2 large russet or Yukon gold potatoes in salted boiling water until tender, about 8 to 10 minutes. Drain, transfer to a bowl, and mash some of the potatoes lightly with a fork.

2. Heat 1 tablespoon of the butter in an (8-inch) ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until translucent and starting to turn golden, about 5 minutes. Add onion to the bowl with the potatoes.

3. Add beef (or turkey or ham), garlic, and parsley to the potato mixture, and stir to combine. Season with ketchup, hot sauce, salt and pepper; stir to combine. Place skillet back on stovetop and heat 1 tablespoon butter until melted. Add potato-meat mixture and, using a spatula, form a compact cake. Cook, without stirring, until browned, 2 to 3 minutes.

4. Transfer skillet to oven and cook until top is browned, 15 to 20 minutes. Invert onto a plate and garnish with one fried egg per person.

Other ways to transform holiday leftovers:

Cranberry-Orange Dutch Oven Crusty Bread by Alaska From Scratch

Turkey Banh Mi Sandwich from Martha Stewart

Cranberry Buttermilk Pancakes from The Kitchn

Turkey Enchiladas Suisas by Chef José Quintana

Sweet Potato and Toasted Pecan Grilled Cheese

Kim Sunée ate and lived in Europe for ten years before working as a food editor for Southern Living magazine and Cottage Living magazine. Her writing has appeared in Food & Wine, The Oxford American and Asian American Poetry and Writing. Sunée has appeared several times as a guest judge on the Food Network’s Iron Chef America. She is currently based in Anchorage and working on a cookbook, “A Mouthful of Stars,” to be published by Andrews McMeel in 2014. For more food and travel, visit www.kimsunee.com.