Cubano Hash

I had this for the first time, months and months ago....


The second time around it tasted even better than I remembered. 


I love sausage and the mixture of the relish made of mustard and pickles compliments it so well. 


The really awesome part? It takes only a half of a bottle of beer. That means I got to drink the other half of George Killian's Irish Red. Hey, I didn't want to waste the bottle?

Ingredients

• 
  
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
• 3/4 pound ground pork
• 1/3 pound (1/2 package) chorizo, peeled and chopped
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon cumin (1/3 palmful)
• 1/4 teaspoon allspice
• Salt and pepper
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1/2 bottle of beer
• 2 Portuguese rolls or 2 sandwich-size English muffins, split and toasted
• 4 dill pickles, chopped
• 2 tablespoons yellow mustard
• 4 deli-cut slices of Swiss cheese
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 4 eggs

(I know, seems like alot but this comes together pretty quickly)

Pre-heat the oven to 400°F.

Heat a skillet over medium-high heat with the EVOO, one turn of the pan. Add pork and brown, 3-4 minutes. Add chorizo, onion and garlic and season mixture with cumin, allspice, salt and pepper and cook for 7-8 minutes. Stir in tomato paste, cook a minute longer, then add beer.

Arrange bread on baking sheet. Toast the split bread.

Coarsely chop the pickles and reserve.

Cover bread with yellow mustard, then top with mounds of hash and a slice of Swiss, folded in half. Melt the cheese in the oven, 2-3 minutes.

Melt butter in medium size nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add eggs to melted butter and fry to desired doneness.

Top the hash with fried eggs and pickles and serve.

This is a Rachael Ray recipe. You can find it here

Chef in Training Tuesday
Tempt My Tummy
Tuesdays at the Table

Pain Perdu (or as we Americans call it French Toast)

I'm baaaaaack!


And better than ever.


I got my personal life under control, I will be cohabitating with fellow foodie and cook and I will be blogging away!


One of the cuisines my sexyman (that's what I call him) loves is New Orleans food. Cajun or Creole. It doesn't matter, that stuff is gooood.


So this morning we made Pain Perdu, or french toast as it's more commonly called.


Pain Perdu translates from french as "lost bread". It was a way to use up day old french bread and turn it into something exquisite.


This recipe comes from "My New Orleans The Cookbook" by John Besh. 


French Toast


5 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup half and half
1/4 cup fresh squeezed orange juice
2 pinches ground nutmeg
2 pinches ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 pinch of salt
2 tablespoons Grand Marnier, optional
2 tbsp canola oil
12 slices day old, 1-inch thick french bread


Beat together the eggs and sugar in a large mixing bowl until they are well mixed. Add the half and half, orange juice, nutmeg, cinnamon, vanilla, salt, and Grand Marnier, if you like, and mix well.


Heat the oil in a large skillet (we used cast iron skillet) over moderate heat. Working with 3-4 slices of bread at a time, dip the slices of bread into the egg mixture and submerge for a few moments. Remove the bread from the egg mixture and put into the skillet. 


Fry the bread, turning once, until golden brown on the both sides. Repeat with the remaining slices of bread. Serve the french toast hot with homemade preserves, warm syrup or powdered sugar.