Ham, Cheese and Jalapeno Hash Browns

My husband usually makes breakfast on Sunday mornings. He is a phenomenal cook and likes to use a lot of spice in his dishes.  He knows how to put in just enough heat to enjoy the flavor of the food, yet make your taste buds dance in your mouth.  And I don’t know what it is about spicy food, but once I start eating it, I want more. And more.  No matter how spicy it is!  This weekend, he made a Ham, Cheese and Jalapeno Hash Brown with a fried egg on top. It was incredible!

You can easily up or down the heat in this dish.  You can add more or less chili powder and cayenne or omit them all together if you only like a little bit of heat.  Also, for years, we would peel fresh potatoes and slice them on a cutting board or mandarin.  But then, one day, I found my new favorite pantry staple.  Frozen shredded hash browns!  They are cheap, easy and pretty much a blank palette so you can season them however you want.  In fact, I am going to give you two recipes today. One for basic hash browns for those who don’t like heat and one for the Ham, Cheese and Jalapeno Hash Browns.  Here we go!

Basic Hash Browns

Ingredients:

1 sliced onion

salt and pepper

3-4 cups of McCain’s frozen hash browns (they are the best in my opinion)

Directions:

1. Saute’ sliced onion in about a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil.

2.  Add salt and pepper to season. (note: if you want to add ham or another meat at this point, go for it!)

3. After about 5 minutes, add the potatoes.  Mix together.  Let it cook about 7 minutes.

4. Using a spatula, flip sections over one at a time until you get a nice golden brown.  If they look a little soft, add a little more olive oil, but you shouldn’t need more than another tablespoon. Serve hot!

And, now, for all the spice lovers out there…

The Ham, Cheese and Jalapeno Hash Browns

Ingredients:

1 small sliced onion

Extra virgin olive oil

salt and pepper

1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

sprinkle of crushed red pepper flakes

1 tsp chili powder

1/2 cup diced cooked ham

1 jalapeno, diced with the seeds lightly removed (If you don’t like a lot of heat, remove all the seeds using a small spoon, not your fingers!!)

3-4 cups of McCain’s frozen hash browns

1/4 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Directions:

1.  Saute sliced onion in about 1 TBSP extra virgin olive oil.

2. Season with salt, pepper, cayenne and chili powder

3.  After about 5 minutes, add the diced ham and jalapenos and cook another 5 minutes.

4. Add 3-4 cups of the frozen potatoes and mix well.

5.  Let cook about 7 minutes and using a spatula, flip over sections one at a time.  You want to get all of the potatoes browned and blended.

6.  Adjust seasoning if necessary (sometimes you might need a little more salt since potatoes absorb it quickly)

7.  Add shredded cheese to the top and serve with a fried egg on top if desired.

 

 

Crazy-Good Corn Casserole

 

This is a soft cake-like  corn casserole that you can serve with pretty much anything. I especially like it with spicy food because the sweetness of the corn cools your palette a little before you take another bite of spicy goodness. It is also great with steak, chicken and fish – basically anything you would normally serve corn with.  It was adapted from The Pampered Chef’s “Festive Scalloped Corn” but I made it a little lighter and, as my husband would say, “goose-a-fied it.”

Ingredients:

1 can creamed corn, undrained

1 can whole kernel corn with peppers if you can find it. If not, just plain corn will do. (Drain this one)

1 cup reduced fat sour cream (or one 6 oz container of plain Greek yogurt to be extra healthy)

3 eggs

1 box of corn bread mix (I use Jiffy)

2-3 scallions or red onions

1/4 cup diced red peppers

5-6 dashes of hot sauce (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375.

2. Whisk eggs in a large bowl.

3. Add all other ingredients to the eggs and stir well.

4. Spray oval, round or square baking pan with Pam or another non-stick spray. (You could butter the pan and make it even more delicious!)

5. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until top is set and edges are golden brown. Let it sit about 5 minutes and then cut into squares.