Irish Nacho Hash

This evening, I came home exhausted, but had an insatiable need to sink my teeth into hearty meal. I had been at work teaching my delightful sixth graders all day, and then went directly to the gym and pushed myself on the elliptical for forty five minutes. I walked in the door to an empty house with my husband still at work and then going to Jiu Jitsu practice. After showering, I realized I was out of yogurt for the morning and went back to the store. I was aggravated. I was tired. I was hungry.

After stacking my yogurts in the fridge, I looked around to see what I had. I was pleased to see half of a large Kirkland ham steak, some cubanelle peppers, and a jalapeno. I knew there were potatoes in my basked, so the first thing that came to mind was a hash. I had some scallions and onions, too. I chose the scallions because they would perish sooner. I was a little weary about the taste because I had never had scallions in hash, but it worked out just fine. 

I knew the potatoes would take the longest, so I boiled them first. Meanwhile, I chopped the other ingredients and began to heat them on the skillet. I left the heat low, for a slow meld of salty ham and spicy jalapeno heat to sink the ingredients. When the potatoes were done, I added them to the skillet, and then they had a chance to absorb the fresh flavors.

While I was heating the ingredients in the skillet, I realized that the scallions and potatoes reminded me of Irish Nachos, or nachos made on top of potatoes instead of tortilla chips. It was then that I decided to add cheese to the concoction, putting the nacho into the hash. When I put the cheese on top right after plating it, the steam from the heating process melted the cheese sufficiently. I did have an idea to add more cheese and place it under the broiler, but I was too tired for the further step.

This meal is straight up filling. I plated mine out, a little less than half, and it was too much. I had to give my husband a little off of my bowl, and then he couldn’t finish his. It was super tasty, with cheesy coated potatoes, salty ham, and peppery heat. I could eat it all over again… when I can fit it. 

When I make this again, I will add sour cream and some diced tomatoes… I dare you to try it, too. 

Ingredients
1 dozen fingerling potatoes, quartered
1 tsp. Olive Oil
8 oz ham steak, diced
2 cubanelle peppers, diced
1 jalapeno pepper, diced
2 scallions, thinly sliced
Pepper to taste
Salt to taste
½ cup shredded cheese (or more to taste!)

Method
1. Boil the quartered potatoes in a large pot of water for twenty minutes, or until the potatoes are soft.

2. Warm the olive oil in the skillet until temperature is medium low. Add the ham steak, cubanelle peppers, jalapeno, scallions, pepper, and salt and cook until the peppers are soft.

3. Add the potatoes to the skillet. Heat until flavors have united, roughly three minutes.

4. Plate the hash and immediately add the shredded cheese. Mix the cheese gently and let it melt as the steam rises. Let stand for five minutes. Then, eat it.