happy st. paddy’s day!

St. Patrick’s day has a special place in my heart because one of my most favorite people on the planet shares her birthday with the holiday.  I dedicate this recipe to my sister, Patrice, who also happens to be the nicest, most selfless person in my family.  She devotes all her time to her kids, husband and job, and leaves little left for herself.  Born on March 17th, we share the same, very emotional, astrology sign of Pisces.  We couldn’t be more alike and more different.  Patrice is my confidant, conspirator, advisor, look-alike, and bff.  We live almost 1800 miles apart but couldn’t be closer.   Mom always made a big, special deal of our birthdays.  Patrice got a green and white homemade “checkerboard” cake baked in her and St. Patrick’s honor.   (Someday I must get mom’s recipe along with the tools to create her checkerboard cake masterpiece.)  The nicest thing about my sister’s birthday?   No matter what day of the week it may fall upon, she’ll always be able to find a party somewhere!  Happy Birthday one day early, Sissy!  I know there’s a bloody Mary with your name on it somewhere in Big Sky!

p doing grampa batchik’s pose

Enough mushy stuff.  Let’s talk hash!  I am to the potato as The Hubs is to rice.  I looooove potatoes.  So when St. Patrick’s day comes around, I, of course, never pass up the opportunity to make a potato hash.  Rather than the usual, tired, old corned beef hash, I fancied mine up with swiss chard, roasted honeyed  garlic, bacon bits, and pine nuts in browned butter.  For the grand finale, I topped it off with a sunny-side up egg.  The honeyed garlic mixes with egg yolk for a sweet and savory melding of flavors in your mouth.  Pine nuts and crisp bacon provide a nice crunch contrast against the softness of the wilted chard.

it’s so beeeeautiful!!!

Best thing about hash?  Within good reason, there’s really no right or wrong.  What do you like to eat?  Throw it in the hash!  Mix sweet and savory, salty and sour, crunchy and soft.  Like heat?  Add red pepper flakes.  Like Mexican?  Add chorizo or jalapeño slices.  Seriously, use what makes you happy.  Today begins with roasted garlic and honey, because these ingredients make me very happy.

beautiful ingredients!

Preheat the oven (I use my toaster oven for this!) to 350 degrees.  Take the garlic heads and peel away as much of the paper as possible while leaving the heads still whole.  Chop off the tips of the garlic so the raw garlic is exposed.  This allows the honey and olive oil to well penetrate each clove.  Fashion a pocket out of thick tinfoil and drizzle one tablespoon of honey and one tablespoon of olive oil over top of the garlic.

drizzle fo’ shizzle

Fold up the foil around your garlic as airtight as possible.  Place in preheated 350 degree oven for forty-five minutes.

airtight for the win!

Dice up 1/4 cup of bacon (equal to like one piece of bacon.  I’m still cutting lardons from my frozen hunk of Wright’s bacon I keep in the freezer, y’all!)  Throw the chopped bacon in an empty nonstick pan over medium heat and cook until it’s crisp.  Set bacon aside on a paper towel to drain.  In the leftover bacon drippings, add the diced potatoes to the same pan.  Add a little salt and pepper and cook over medium to low heat until well browned.  I covered mine with a lid for part of the time to ensure even cooking, because no one likes raw potatoes!

smells so good

Remove potatoes and set aside.  Add 1 tablespoon of butter to the pan on medium heat.  Once melted, add the nuts and sauté until the pine nuts and butter are both browned.

Once the pine nuts have browned, add the chopped Swiss chard.  (NOTE: Before chopping, make sure you remove the chard’s stems, as they are inedible.  If you hold the bottom of stem at it’s fattest part with one hand and rip the leaf away, pinching gently with two fingers while pulling from the base to the tip as you go, the stems should come off pretty easily.  If this method doesn’t work for you, you can always cut out the stems with a knife.  Chop the chard into bite-sized pieces.)  Cook the chopped Swiss chard for 4-6 minutes, or until wilted and most of the liquid is absorbed.

After the garlic has roasted for forty-five minutes, drain the liquid from the foil packet into a bowl and once cooled, squeeze the garlic cloves from the head into the bowl, discarding the garlic skins.  Add the other teaspoons of honey and olive oil and stir gently, so as not to break up the whole cloves.

Drizzle the honeyed olive oil over the chard and pine nut mixture.  Gently stir in the garlic cloves, bacon and potatoes.  The hash is officially finished, now all you need to do is pick a protein.  I chose a sunny-side up egg because it’s quick and I wanted delicious yolk dribbling all over my hash.  You could just as easily add grilled chicken, salmon, or steak.  Stick the hash in a warmed oven while cooking the egg to your preference.  Finally it’s assembly time!  Place your hash on a plate and finish with the egg atop everything.  Break the yolk and let it mix in with the other ingredients.  You are very welcome!

gahhhhhhhh [drool]

Swiss Chard Hash

Prep time: 30 minutes
Cook time: 45-60 minutes
Serves: 2
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