Carnitas Hash

Mmmmmmm, Carnitas! has been my mantra since I first made them a month ago. These tender but crispy bits of pork shoulder are packed with flavor and add an extra punch to any meal.

Since Alice and I have been talking about this blog, we’ve come up with and promptly discarded quite a few different concepts, but this one seems to be a winner…after each of us has been tagged, we must post about a dish that we made using an ingredient or concept from the previous post. Carnitas are fun to work with and so I’m off on my quest to use up some leftover carnitas in a new and different way.

I love nothing more than to pull things out of my fridge and give them new life as a brand new dish. So today I give you Carnitas Hash.

I chopped up a baked potato

…then crisped them in a little butter:

I chopped up half an onion and sauteed it along with a little garlic, fresh rosemary and sliced mushroom.

In a separate pan, I browned up the carnitas before adding them to the mix.

After heating everything together, it was time to top this delicious mixture with – a poached egg:

This is a new skill I’m working on. I love soft boiled eggs, I eat eggs boiled, fried and scrambled, but have always been too intimidated to attempt a poached egg.
I found a tutorial on one of my favorite blogs, smittenkitchen.com and set out to give it a shot:

Alice recommended I use farm fresh eggs and what do you know? That very night, I received 2 dozen fresh eggs from my friend’s farm. Talk about timing! (Plus this gave me a few practice eggs, just in case the first attempt didn’t work out just right)

Bring water to a simmer – not a boil.

Add a splash of vinegar to the water.

Crack egg into a small bowl.

Swirl the water to create a mini whirlpool,

Then slide the egg into the water,

tuck the stray whites back, and cook for about 3 minutes, or until it has reached the desired doneness. Remove the egg from the water with a slotted spoon and drain on a paper towel.

Then perch the egg atop the delicious hash and eat!

Carnitas Hash

2 Tablespoons of butter
1 sprig of rosemary, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
4 mushrooms, sliced
1/2 med onion, chopped
2 med potatoes, baked and chopped into bite sized pieces
1/2 cup of carnitas
1 egg
In a medium frying pan over medium heat, melt butter, then add garlic and rosemary. Sautee for 1 minute, then add the onion and sautee until it starts to soften. Then add potatoes and mushrooms and allow to brown, stirring as needed.

In a separate pan over medium heat, heat up carnitas and allow to brown and crisp, then combine with potato mixture.

Top with poached egg, if desired (see step by step instructions above)

And now, TAG Alice…you’re it!

~B