Corned Beef Hash

Corned beef hash was one of my most favoritest childhood foods. I must have been desperate for anything smacking the least little bit of rebellion or novelty or doing things out of their appointed order. One of the prime attractions of corned beef hash was the fact that it was topped with fried eggs! For dinner!!I still like it, even though for some reason we don't have it all that much. For one thing, it requires not eating all the corned beef, which requires more discipline than my family had for a long time. When Son was at home and we ate meat, the corned beef disappeared in short order. I made the New England boiled dinner late last spring, but due to the disappearing corned beef principle, we didn't have enough corned beef left over to make the hash. This time, I had to tell my husband he was not to eat the left over corned beef because I needed it for hash.
One can use canned corned beef to make this dish, but real corned beef is better. I have taken canned corned beef on camping trips and made corned beef hash, but, like I said, real is better. So, even though I made the New England boiled dinner late last spring, we didn't have enough corned beef left over to make the hash. Last week, we had it all over again so we could make hash.
This is a perfectly straightforward recipe. Cut the potatoes up first and then cook them. You won't have to cook them nearly as long, for one thing. For another, you won't have a disintegrating potato exterior and a crunchy, undercooked potato interior to cope with. Saint Patrick's Day is coming up in another month, and there will be plenty of corned beef in the meat section, so go for hash!

Corned Beef Hash

3 cups finely diced cooked corned beef
2 cups finely diced cooked potatoes
3 tablespoons butter
3/4 cup finely chopped onions
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
peanut oil
Catchup (optional) (Optional? Hell, no! Obligatory!)

1. Combine the corned beef and potatoes in a mixing bowl.
2. Melt the butter and cook the onions in it until thoroughly wilted. Add onions to the corned beef mixture. Add the Worcestershire, salt and pepper and blend lightly.
3. Brush a skillet with oil and spoon the corned beef mixture into the skillet, pressing down to cover the bottom fully. Cook over moderate heat until well browned at the bottom.
4. Serve with catchup if desired. (Don't forget the eggs!)