Vegetable Hash with Buttered Bread and Eggs

First rainy day in 10 weeks or so here in St. Charles, Missouri (just outside of St. Louis). What a beautiful setting for a comforting Sunday dinner. Grab your blankie and a good old movie. And a fork…….

Ingredients:

2 1-inch slabs of good whole grain bread, torn into large chunks

2 Tablespoons melted butter

1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

½ cup chopped onion

¼ cup chopped celery

1 cup chopped cabbage

¼ cup chopped carrot

¼ cup chopped bell pepper

½ cup chopped zucchini

1 cup leftover Parslied New Potatoes or any other cooked potatoes, cut into 1 inch chunks

¾ cup chopped mushrooms

1 large tomato, chopped

½ cup vegetable stock

1 Tablespoon tomato paste

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon fresh cracked pepper

2 teaspoons seasoning blend (use anything you like here-I used grill seasoning)

4 eggs

Pinch salt

Pinch pepper

Fresh parsley, chopped for garnish (optional)

  

Directions: Heat a large cast iron skillet (hey, any skillet about 12 inches in diameter will do, but I love my grandma’s cast iron) to medium. Coat the bread chunks with melted butter and cook about 3 minutes per side until golden. Remove to a plate.  I love bread this way because the outside gets golden and crunchy, but the inside stays moist.

Heat olive oil in the same skillet and throw in the onions, carrot, cabbage, celery, bell pepper and zucchini. Cook, still over a medium flame, for about 15 minutes, or until the liquid from the veggies is gone and they start to turn golden brown. Add the potatoes and stir for 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes, mushrooms, stock, tomato paste, and seasonings. Cook 30 minutes more. By this point, the liquid should be mostly absorbed yet the hash should still be moist.

Make four wells in the vegetables. Crack one egg into each of the wells. Sprinkle each egg with a pinch of salt and pepper.  Cover and cook 10 minutes or until white is set and the yolks are as set as you want them. Sprinkle with parsley and spoon into four bowls (about 1 ½ cups hash and one egg per bowl). Serve with buttered bread.

Get creative on me: You change up the veggies I used for anything you like. Also, change the seasoning mix up—I think some kind of southwest seasoning would be awesome in this, especially for a brunch. Got some leftover roast beef, corned beef, chicken or sausage? Throw it in!! Use chicken broth instead of vegetable—I leave this all up to you.