Michael "Dog3" Lonergan wrote:
> I've got a bit of left over roast beef from yesterday. I'll be making a
> recipe called "Monday Hash." I *think* I originally got it from cooks.com
> but I'm not sure. This is a basic recipe and you can tweak it any way you
> want. I'm thinking about dicing up about 1/4 of a medium green bell pepper
> and adding it.
>
> MONDAY HASH
>
> 1 c. leftover chuck roast, shredded
> 1 c. cubed, cooked potatoes
> 1/2 c. cubed, cooked carrots
> 1 sm. diced onion
> 1 c. leftover roast beef gravy
> Salt & pepper to taste
>
> Remove all fat from roast beef. Combine all ingredients in lightly greased
> (with butter) 2 quart baking dish. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or
> until brown on top. Recipe may be stretched by adding fresh potatoes.
> Amounts need not be exact; just use whatever you have left from Sunday's
> roast. Serves 4 (yeah right).
>
That's not hash, it's just warmed up leftovers. What matters about
hash -- to my personal taste, you understand -- is the crustiness
developed on the bottom by cooking it in a cast iron skillet or on a
griddle at a fairly high heat. It's a texture thing. This can be
enhanced by judiciously adding a little cream, not beef gravy, about
2/3 of the way through the process.

That said, the roast beef hash at Pacific Dining Car in Los Angeles is
justifiably famous and popular, and it includes a very savory gravy. I
don't know how they do it.

As to adding bell pepper, that seems doubtful to me. You might end up
with something like potatoes O'Brien with added beef. Which wouldn't
be bad necessarily, but again wouldn't be hash. -aem

Michael "Dog3" Lonergan wrote:
> "aem" >
> > What matters about
> > hash -- to my personal taste, you understand -- is the crustiness
> > developed on the bottom by cooking it in a cast iron skillet or on a
> > griddle at a fairly high heat. It's a texture thing. This can be
> > enhanced by judiciously adding a little cream, not beef gravy, about
> > 2/3 of the way through the process.
>
> I agree but 86 the cream. I just doesn't sound appealing to me. [snip]

I understand, but keep it in mind if you ever have a little extra cream
on hand. It acts as an agent to enhance the crustiness but has no
effect on the taste. You can't tell it's there -- there's just that
crusty evidence that it was there. -aem

aem wrote:

>
> That's not hash, it's just warmed up leftovers.

Agree, those ingredients could be simply put on a plate and nuked for
the same result.


What matters about
> hash -- to my personal taste, you understand -- is the crustiness
> developed on the bottom by cooking it in a cast iron skillet or on a
> griddle at a fairly high heat. It's a texture thing. This can be

Thats what I left out of my post. The best thing about hash in a frying
pan is to get a nice brown layer that adds lots of flavor and
contrasting texture.



> enhanced by judiciously adding a little cream, not beef gravy, about
> 2/3 of the way through the process.
>
> That said, the roast beef hash at Pacific Dining Car in Los Angeles is
> justifiably famous and popular, and it includes a very savory gravy. I
> don't know how they do it.
>
> As to adding bell pepper, that seems doubtful to me. You might end up
> with something like potatoes O'Brien with added beef. Which wouldn't
> be bad necessarily, but again wouldn't be hash. -aem
>