So, we’re a few days after Christmas festivities and boy, do I have a lot of leftovers. For the most part, it’s a little baggie of this and a small container of that, mostly leftover from the veggie, meat & cracker trays I made for my Mom’s dinner on Christmas Day. Today, I was hungry and knew that some toast and peanut butter wasn’t going to “do it” for me, so I started taking stock of what I had in the fridge and freezer. Here’s what I found:
- a link of garlic smoked sausage
- leftover cooked bacon that had been cooked up “just in case”, cut up into small pieces
- three small links of “Turkey Bites” pepperettes
- two breakfast sausage rounds
- a baggie of mixed green and red bell pepper strips (from the veggie tray)
- some leftover herb butter I had made for making the mashed potatoes (rosemary and chives)
- half of a white onion
I also found the following which I have on hand usually:
- extra virgin olive oil
- potatoes
- sweet potatoes, frozen, pre-cut
- celery
So, I sliced up the smoked sausage, pulled out the bacon bits (reduced sodium bacon), sliced up the Turkey Bites and cubed the breakfast sausage and set all this meat aside.
Then I chopped up the onion and sautéed them in some olive oil and herb butter while I peeled, washed and small-diced three small-medium potatoes. I only let the onions get a bit translucent at this point, as they’re going to be re-added to the pan later.
Using a slotted spoon, I removed the onions and set them in a bowl for later, then sautéed the potatoes for a few minutes until they were just starting to get brown around the edges. Then I added the sweet potato (about 1-2 cups worth) and sautéed this while chopping up the green and red bell peppers (about half a sandwich bag full) and one stalk of celery.
In went the celery and a bit of salt and pepper (to taste). I kept stirring this mixture from time to time to help the veggies brown on as many sides as possible.
Once the potatoes were soft (stick a fork in one and see if it goes in easily), I added the bell peppers and the onions I had pre-cooked. This mixture was sautéed for another few minutes, then eventually put into a bowl, using a slotted spoon again to help keep as much of the oil and butter in the pan rather than on the veggies. (Feel free to pour the mixture into a sieve to drain as much of the excess oil as possible, adding a bit more oil and butter to the pan for the next step if you just pour it all out with the veggies.)
Then, I put the smoked sausage and Turkey Bites into the pan, again sautéing for a few minutes to brown the meat up a bit. Once these started to get golden, I added the breakfast sausage and bacon and cooked a minute longer to ensure that the last two meats were heated through.
Again, either using a sieve or slotted spoon to remove as much grease as possible, transfer the meat to the vegetable mixture and stir well.
Serve alone or with toast and/or a small bowl of fruit/berries, or even as a side with eggs.
I like mine with a little bit of ketchup drizzled on top. (Just enough to taste.)
I love making hash on a Sunday morning/early afternoon for brunch because my hubby doesn’t like eggs, so this is a good, hearty breakfast we can both enjoy. I call this one “Confetti” Hash because it has a multitude of colours in it: reds from the meats, red and green for the peppers, white from the onions and potatoes, orange from the sweet potato, etc.
It’s not a very healthy meal, due to being sautéed, but it’s tasty, hearty and a great way to use up some of those leftovers from the various party platters we make up for our holiday gatherings.
The other nice thing about this is that you can put in whatever ingredients you want in it. I know I have a block of frozen spinach defrosting in the fridge somewhere (the box is so full it’s hard to find things, though) that I would have added for extra nutritional value. Like yours spicy? Add spicy peppers or chilli powder/red pepper flakes, maybe. Or serve it with a bit of spicy Sriracha sauce. Want a different flavour? Add some mild curry powder in the pan (so good… we’ve done this before!) and some cubed apple. Grate or cube up some carrot instead of sweet potato if you don’t have it or don’t like it. Vegetarian? Exclude the meat! It’s just such a versatile breakfast and brunch food.
cyberpantry 