Butternut Squash Hash with Potato, Sausage, Egg and Chard

It”s a terrible photo, I know. You see, I was in such a rush to start eating this mash up of deliciousness that I attempted to take a photo of it with my iPhone in very bad light. It is clear to see – or is it blurry to see (heh heh), that it did not work out so well. “Oh bother” as little Winnie the Pooh would say, it does not matter much, as the real gem of this post is to be found in the recipe. I insist that you make this. Trust me on this one, it is delicious and super easy and all of the ingredients can be found in season right now. I am a little unsure of the feeling I was having as I was whipping this up – but I believe that the feeling was “fun”. I think it may have been the anticipation of getting to crack some eggs on something at the end and watch them dribble through all the nooks and crannies of the dish that evoked these feelings as I buzzed through the recipe. I found this recipe on this blog – www.alloveralbany.com which is foodie inspirational and fabulous! The recipe caught my eye, as the cook who runs that blog had the exact same blue cast iron pan that I have and love. The full post and recipe can be found here on her page at  http://alloveralbany.com Sausage and Butternut Squash Hash with Baked Eggs 3 links hot Italian local sausage (about ¼ pound) – check out Bacon Acres and Field Gate Organics ¼ cup diced local onion (about ½ medium) 2 cloves Ontario garlic, minced 1 butternut squash (approx 2 pounds), peeled and diced – these are everywhere right now! 1 medium Ontario potato, diced ½ cup apple cider 3 leaves of chard, chopped Eggs (however many you want) 2 Tbs fresh oregano Sea salt and black pepper Squish the sausage from it”s casing and crumble it into a hot, oven-safe pan set over medium heat. Cook the sausage completely and then remove it from the pan and set it aside. Next, throw in your chopped onion and garlic to the original pan and cook for 3 or 4 minutes, until they soften. Next, add the squash, potato, and cider. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Keep cooking the squash and potato mixture, do not let it burn and adjust your heat settings as needed.Your oven should heat up in about 6 – 10 minutes and once it reaches 400 the hash should be ready – I found it was probably about 15 minutes of cooking time for me by the time the potatoes were cooked through and the squash became soft. Once you feel the postoes are cooked, add the sausage back into the hash, along with the chard. Stir it until the chard wilts. Turn of your heat and remove pan to side. Now, for the fun part! Create several shallow holes in the hash (one hole for each egg). Crack each egg into it”s hole. Transfer the pan to the oven and bake for 10 minutes, or until the egg whites are set. I did not trust that the eggs were set because they looked a little jelly-like still, but I have to say to trust the 10 minute, or 12 minutes and remove from oven. You can then season with salt and pepper, and serve. Serves 2!  Read More

What a surprise…

I was at a wedding all day yesterday.. congrats to my good friends Elspeth and Will! So I was feeling a little sluggish this morning, but this afternoon when I finally dragged myself off the couch (yes.. too much good spirit the evening before has the Sunday morning couch potatoe effect) I decided to go outside to check in on my pumpkins that I am growing for the first time this year. I was curious to see if they have grown any bigger in the last few days – and I thought hey.. wait a minute.. where did those potatoe plants that were growing here just a few days ago get to? I thought they all must have been pulled out by a wild raccoon or trampled by a deer or something, so I moved the dirt around a little bit and low and behold there was a wonderful surprise waiting for me underneath! I did post here on how I happened to become a potatoe farmer this year. I did not think much of it at the time, I was just playing around to see what they would do. I had no idea it would be so easy! So, the next time you have a bunch of potatoes in your cupboard that you forgot about and have decided that they wanted to grow eyes — just take those ugly spuds and put them in some good dirt and in 2 and half months (approx!) you will have brand new delicious potatoes! It should be noted that I am Irish, so I may have had the luck of my ancestors riding with me on this one. :,,) Oh and one more thing.. had a visitor today in the garden in the middle of the day! Thought I would share…  Read More

They Came from Another Planet!

All right, in all honesty this post does not help you eat local, and it certainly does not point you in the direction of a farm, nor does it contain a helpful tip of who sells the best strawberries right now – but it just might inspire you! Quite frankly, it will probably just frighten you instead. So, on to the explanation of the above photo…. those multi-eyed little devils are just some potatoes that I am embarrassed to say were hiding in one of those silly corner cabinets with the lazy susan device in them that resides in my kitchen. Well, I”ll admit, I just plain forgot about them for a month or so (maybe more!!). I opened the cupboard the other day and with a gasp, thought I had aliens hiding out in my kitchen cupboard, alas they are just some lovely, and apparently very happy spuds. Here is where the inspiration comes in, I took those nasty looking taters and I have planted them in my garden to see what happens.. and oh yes,I will keep you posted!!  Read More