Old Fashioned Baked Hash

It makes use of your leftover cooked roast beef, and any leftover potatoes you might have languishing in the refrigerator. 

Do you save your bacon fat???  I have for years, and let me tell you it comes in mighty handy when it comes to things like this.  You can strain it and keep it in a jar in the refrigerator where it will keep for quite a while. 

Don’t worry if you haven’t got any bacon fat.  Just use some oil or butter in it’s place.   Bacon fat does make for a nice flavour however. 

At that point you will add your leftover gravy.  Don’t worry if you haven’t got any leftover gravy. You can use gravy made from gravy powder if you must.  Or you can use a tin of soup, but I would use gravy over soup any time.

So do taste it and if you think it needs more seasoning, then add it. 

Slice some ripe tomatoes and place them on top in a decorative manner.  These also get seasoned lightly and sprinkled with some dried basil and dotted with butter.  Mmmm . . .

Into the oven it goes for a little less than half an hour.  Just about enough time for you to cook some vegetables to serve on the side or make a salad, or both!

I cooked some carrots today, seasoning them with a tiny knob of butter, salt, pepper and nutmeg.  I then chopped them up with an clean and empty tin can that I keep just for that purpose.  Works a charm

We also had some corn niblets.  This went down a real treat!

Old Fashioned Baked Hash

ingredients:

• 2 TBS bacon drippings
• 1 small onion, peeled and diced
• 1 small green pepper, trimmed and diced
• 3 TBS finely chopped red pepper
• 1 stick of celery, trimmed and chopped
• 325g chopped cooked potato (1 cup)
• 300g diced cooked beef (2 cups)
• 360g leftover beef gravy (1 1/2 cups)
• 2 heaped dessert-spoons of tomato ketchup
• salt and black pepper to taste
• 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 2 ripe tomatoes, sliced
• 2 TBS butter
• 1/4 tsp dried basil, crumbled

instructions:How to cook Old Fashioned Baked Hash

1. Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark4.  Butter a shallow casserole dish, or individual sized  casserole dishes.
2. Heat the bacon drippings in a skillet and saute the onions, green and red peppers and celery for two to three minutes.  Add the potatoes and meat and cook for about two minutes longer. Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Add the leftover gravy, tomato ketchup, and Worcestershire sauce.  Bring to the boil then pour/spoon into the prepared casserole dish.
3. Place the sliced tomatoes evenly over top of the meat and potato mixture.  Sprinkle with the basil, and more salt and pepper.  Dot with the butter.
4. Bake in the preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes until browned.  Serve hot with your favourite vegetables, pickles or salad on the side.

Being able to create delicious main dishes with your leftovers turns your leftovers into delicious options that nobody turns their noses up at.  In fact my family always used to look forward to the leftovers.  With a bit of thrift and ingenuity you can make a silk purse from a sows ear! 

Debunking the myths of English Cookery, one recipe at a time.
The English Kitchen

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