My family has developed a healthy addiction to sweet potatoes. We’ve had sweet potato fries, sweet potato mash, sweet potato soup, sweet potato chips. Since we are trying to get more potassium in, and since sweet potatoes are an average source; I’m going with it and am always on the lookout for new recipes.
This hash was, of course, a completely unplanned dish that ended up being a huge hit. My son declared that he would “happily eat this for every meal, forever”. I have not yet challenged that declaration, but we have eaten some form of this dish at least four times in the last week. The ingredients are such that one could substitute any form of meat in, or leave it out altogether. It would be delicious with or without the egg (although the runny yolk of a fried egg is some deliciousness that I wouldn’t leave out). Guacamole and hot sauce would also be welcome additions to the stack. Since we are off of nightshades for the time being, I left them out. So without further ado, I give you my favorite kind of recipe; the kind that does not need to be closely followed to work.
Ingredients:
*1-2 large sweet potatoes (Orange sweet potatoes might be labeled as yams at the store. More than likely, they are not yams. Yams are very starchy and white in color with scaly skin. They are imported from the Caribbean. Orange sweet potatoes were named “nyami” by English shippers. Nyami became yams. Yams are not sweet potatoes. Sweet potatoes are not yams. Although it is required to call sweet potatoes, sweet potatoes; sometimes they are labeled as yams. This is your history lesson for the day. You are welcome.)
*Meat of some kind (shredded beef is pictured, but we’ve also used ham or bacon).
* 1 egg per person plus 4 yolks for the hollandaise sauce
* ½ cup total of melted fat. I used a combo of butter and bacon fat. Duck fat would taste divine too.
* 1 tsp lemon juice
* Salt, pepper, cayenne (optional)
* Toppings (pictured is red cabbage, ginger sauerkraut and avocado)
Directions
Sweet Potato Hash:
1. Shred the potatoes. For small amounts, I use my baby sized cheese shredder. Seriously, where did I get this thing. It’s so tiny.
2. Warm cast iron pan and spread potatoes in a thin layer
3. When potatoes are brown, flip and brown the other side.
4. Remove from heat
Hollandaise Sauce:
1. Whisk 4 egg yolks and lemon juice in small, heat safe bowl
2. Melt fats. I used a glass pyrex measuring cup so that I could easily use the same vessel to pour
3. Using a double boiler or a super fancy set up like the one I have (a small stainless steel pan filled an inch or so with water placed under a large stainless steel bowl) slowly (really, like a few drops at a time) add the melted fats to the egg mixture. Be careful that the heating water does not touch the bottom of the bowl or the eggs will turn into scrambled egg. Very yummy, but definitely not hollandaise sauce.
4. When all fat is combined, add spices to taste.
Putting it all Together
1. Arrange sweet potatoes in a bowl or on a plate.
2. Add anything you want to the middle. If you’ve chosen to add eggs, cook these last so they are still warm.
3. Top with Hollandaise sauce
4. Wonder why this is even a step as I’m fairly confident you would have figured this one out on your own.
5. Enjoy! Again, this is not really a needed direction.