Roast Beef Hash

Salty, beefy, and crisp roast beef hash

My mom is a great cook. Not a healthy cook, but a GREAT cook. One of the things she fed my brother and me when we were young was Libby's Corned Beef Hash from a can. She would refrigerate the can, open both ends, push the contents out one end, and slice off disks of hash. Then she would fry them in a pan until they were brown and crispy. Mmm. Such a fabulous food memory. 
Well, as an adult, I've looked at the nutrition information on that can, and holy smokes! I have NO business eating that stuff any more. I pretty much have no business eating what I'm telling you about now either, but I did it. I won't do it every day or anything, but in case you want to make it too, the recipe is below.
Now, this is not an exact recipe. It's what I did today with what I had leftover from dinner the night before, although I did bake up the potatoes to cube and add to the mix, since I didn't want the beef to get lost in the mashed potatoes. 
I got the idea because this is actually made from leftover leftovers. I reheated the roast in a pan, and all of the moisture evaporated, and some of the roast beef got crisp on the bottom of the pan. Of course I had to taste it as I was putting it away, and oh my goodness! It took me back to the 70s when my mom fed us the Libby's corned beef hash! So salty, crispy and beefy. (Cue the drooling.)
So, today after church, this is what I mixed up for our lunch, and wow! It turned out even better than I'd imagined. Even sent a pic to my brother to make him drool. I imagine the next time they have roast at their house, he'll be making some of this the next day.
There you go. Roast beef hash--now one of my favorite ways to enjoy leftover chuck roast.

Roast Beef Hash

Ingredients:

• 2 medium baked potatoes, cooled, peeled, and cubed
• 3/4 cup mashed potatoes
• 3 tablespoons minced onion
• 1 1/2 to 2 cups cooked chuck roast, preferably leftover and well seasoned
• 3 tablespoons butter, divided
• canola oil (or other vegetable oil)
• salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

• Chop the roast into smaller bits.
• Place the cubed potatoes, roast, mashed potatoes, onion, one tablespoon of butter, one tablespoon canola oil and salt and pepper in a large mixing bowl.
• Mix thoroughly to incorporate.
• Preheat a large cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. 
• Add a tablespoon of butter and a tablespoon or two of canola oil. Tilt pan to coat it with butter & oil.
• Scoop out about a 1/2-cup portion of hash mixture and form into a ball, and then flatten into a disk about 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch thick.
• Carefully place disk into the pan. 
• Repeat making disks until the pan is full, leaving about 1 inch between disks. 
• Fry until crisp and browned on one side (about 3-5 minutes), and then carefully flip. Some pieces may break off, but just smoosh it back together. This is hash, after all, and it's not going to be terribly neat. If the pan looks dry, add a little more oil before (or as) you fry on the second side.
• Continue to fry until both sides are browned and crisp.
• When the first batch is done, remove hash to a serving plate.
• Scrape the pan and remove leftover bits. 
• Add another tablespoon of butter and more canola oil and continue to fry up the hash until it's all cooked.
• Sprinkle with chopped or dried parsley, if desired.

Serves about 4 (although I ate way more than my share) 

(Gluten Free) Croq Tele

Buttery, sweet & salty croq tele (gluten free today)

These unassuming little sweet & salty buttery nuggets are addicting. At least they are to me. 

They're just a really great shortbread cookie, and although I already have them here on this blog, today I made them gluten free. 

I had my doubts that they would turn out as delicious as the wheat version, and I was pleasantly surprised. Like I said, sweet, a little salty, and gorgeously buttery--especially if you bake them to the point where the butter in them browns a bit. Mm. So good.

I'm going to have to give some of these away before I eat them all myself.

Croq Tele (TV Snacks)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup almond flour
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup Better Batter Gluten Free All Purpose Flour
• 7 tablespoons cold butter, cut into little cubes

Instructions:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. 
• Line a baking sheet with parchment paper & set aside.
• In a small bowl, mix the almond flour, sugar and salt. 
• In the bowl of standing mixer or a large mixing bowl, mix the gluten free flour and the butter until it is sandy in appearance (see pic below).
• Add the almond flour, sugar, and salt mixture to the butter & flour mixture and mix until completely incorporated and the dough gets a bit clumpy. It will not become a cohesive mass.
• Using a half teaspoon measuring spoon, scoop up a packed level half teaspoon of the mixture. Scrape it out into the palm of your hand and pinch the dough with the fingers of your other hand to create a tight little lump that holds together.
• Place on the baking sheet and continue to form the cookies until the pan is full. Cookies should be placed about 1 to 1 1/2 inches apart.
• Bake at 325 degrees for 16-20 minutes. I like mine browned pretty well, so I bake them closer to the 20 minutes mark.

Makes about 9 to 10 dozen little nuggets

This is what the butter and flour mixture looks like right before you add the other ingredients.