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Autumn Harvest Sweet Potato Hash
A couple of notes about this autumn-y hash:
I’m not a big fan of any of the fake bacons available, but I wanted that salty, smoky, bacon-y flavor for this and the fake bacon works just fine. Even though California banned pork gestation crates several years ago, I’m not eating any pork until the pork industry gets on board with their customers regarding animal welfare.
If you are eating bacon and want to use the real deal instead of fake bacon, I would still cook it separately and just sprinkle over the top so the dish isn’t overly bacon-flavored. I know that that seems an impossible thing - to have too much bacon flavor - but what’s kind of nice about this dish is that each ingredient retains its own flavor, so I don’t think it would be good to over-bacon it.
Sausage would also be very good in this. I’d cook it separately and drain it, stirring it in when you add the apple and pecans and cheese. You could also use vegetarian sausage or chicken sausage links, cut up fairly small.
**Soaking them in water with a little bit of sugar helps them to caramelize. A neat trick learned from the restaurant days. And so good.
This is a pretty quick-to-cook meal and could be darn near fast-food if you keep some potatoes soaking in water/sugar in the fridge. You could then throw them in the skillet and brown them and add anything that strikes your fancy within reason or even without reason. It’s your skillet and sweet potatoes, after all.
Autumn Harvest Sweet Potato Hash
3 to 4 servings
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Sweet potatoes, 2 Medium (3/4 to 1 lb.each) cut into 1/2 inch cubes - about 3 cups cubed potatoes
Leek, 1 medium, well-cleaned and thinly sliced
Apple, 1 medium, cored (not peeled) and cut up into 1/2 inch cubes
Dried cranberries, 1/2 to 1 cup
Toasted pecans, coarsely chopped - about 1/2 to 3/4 cup
Cheddar Cheese, 2 to 3 oz. cut into 1/2 inch cubes
3 strips of vegetarian bacon, cooked until crisp, then crumbled
Olive Oil, about 2 TBSP
Butter, 1/2 TBSP (you could omit)
Kosher salt, about 1 tsp
Sugar, about 2 tsp.
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Peel and cube potatoes, cover with cold water and a little sugar and Kosher salt and let soak for at least 1/2 hour. Drain right before you’re going to fry them.
Toast pecans: In dry skillet, heat pecans over medium heat until they start to smell real pecan-y. They’re done. Remove them from the heat before they burn.
Heat oil over medium high heat in skillet. When hot, add drained sweet potatoes. Cook, letting potatoes brown as much as possible on one side before turning. Taste and adjust seasoning - the only seasoning I used was Kosher salt. When potatoes start to get done, but are still firm, add leek and cranberries. Continue cooking until potatoes are cooked through and browning - but try not to brown leeks. Cranberries should be plumping and softened. Add butter, stir and heat through.
Remove pan from heat and stir in apple, pecans and cheddar cheese. Sprinkle cooked bacon over the top.
—Mary Pryor
