The remnants of St. Patrick's Day

I love St. Patrick's Day, for one reason.  It's not for the green beer, nor celebrations in local pubs.  It's for the leftover corned beef, and the hash that follows on the day after.

 

This year we made the traditional corned beef and cabbage.  I just put mine in the pressure cooker.  One hour later it's done, and fork tender.  There were, of course, leftovers.  While some of the corned beef made it to the next day, the cabbage did not.  If cabbage doesn't get eaten the day it's cooked, it just seems to be flat and unappealing on day two.  I need to find a recipe that better allows for leftovers of this vegetable, but for now, it's an "eat it the day its cooked, or it goes" kind of thing.

The hash on the next day was so good, we went back to the store and bought two more corned beef briskets, and put them in the freezer.  They were on sale, of course.  =)  A few days ago I pressure cooked one of them, made a huge batch of hash, and put it in the fridge.  We have been having it for a quick breakfast, with poached eggs, each morning ever since.

Today I made a nice Hollandaise sauce to add to the dish.  It's Saturday, after all, and I'm not trying to get my husband out the door by 7am, so I had time.

The hash is pretty easy.  As I said, I start with the brisket, and pressure cook it for one hour.  Some people slow cook it, all day, and that works, too.  I just like to get it done quick, and the pressure cooker does that for me.  Pressure cooking leaves the meat ridiculously tender and full of flavor.  Once cooked, and I dice it up, and set it aside.

I use red baby potatoes for the hash, also diced (leave the skin on, of course).  Once diced, I microwave them for several minutes, until they are cooked and tender, but not falling apart.

I finish them in a skillet with some olive oil, chopped onion and garlic.  Once the potatoes are browned nicely, I add the meat and continue to cook on higher heat until the meat forms its own light 'crust', if you will.

I let it cool completely, then store it in the fridge.  When it's time for breakfast, I heat a pan of water for my poached eggs, and heat a serving of hash in the microwave.  I top the hash with the eggs, and viola!  Breakfast is served.

Today I topped it with Hollandaise, and it was delicious, though certainly not a requirement.

Once that second brisket (currently sitting in the freezer) finds its way to the pan for hash, corned beef will fade from my memory until the next St. Patrick's Day, and we'll do it all over again.