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Hash, New York
To every cupful of cooked chopped meat take two cupfuls of chopped potatoes, half a cupful of boiling water or stock, two table-spoonfuls of butter, and seasonings to taste. Season the meat and potatoes; put the water and butter over the fire, and when the water boils add the meat and potatoes. The difficulty of making good hash lies in the cooking, for it must be stirred, yet not too much, or it will be pasty; the water should boil away, yet the hash must neither be dry nor watery. Let it cook, stirring occasionally, until there is a coating on the bottom of the pan from which the hash can be freed without sticking. Serve at once. For this dish beef is most generally taken, although corned beef, chicken, turkey, veal, or even mutton may be used. Many people like a slight flavouring of onion, when it is better to use a few drops of onion-juice rather than the chopped onion itself.
A leftovers dish whose whole method rests on one judgment: how long to leave it alone. The proportions are sound as written and scale directly.
- The hingeStir only occasionally, and let the pan build a browned crust on the bottom before you lift it. Constant stirring mashes the potato and gives the pasty texture the recipe warns against.
- ProportionsOne cup cooked chopped meat to two cups chopped potato, half a cup of liquid, two tablespoons butter. That set makes roughly two generous servings; double it for four in a 10-inch pan.
- PotatoesThe recipe specifies cooked meat but does not say whether the potatoes are cooked; in practice use already-cooked potatoes, boiled or leftover roast, chopped rather than grated, since raw potato will not soften in the time the half cup of liquid takes to cook away.
- Pan and heatA heavy skillet over medium heat, uncovered, so the water reduces rather than steams. Expect 12 to 20 minutes depending on how wet the potato is.
- Corned beefCorned beef is salty. Season lightly, and taste before adding any salt at all.
- Onion juiceThe advice holds: grate a little onion and press out a few drops, or use a pinch of onion powder. Chopped raw onion will not cook through in the pan and stays harsh.
- Stock over waterThe recipe allows either; stock is worth using if you have it. Leftover gravy thinned to half a cup works too.
Hash is one of the oldest economies in the English kitchen — the name comes from the French hacher, to chop — but the "New York" label in a British cookery book marks it as an American treatment: meat and potato cooked together in one pan until a crust forms, rather than the older English hash of sliced cold meat reheated in gravy. The corned-beef version became the emblematic American form. And hash is a technique lesson disguised as a recipe: the ingredient list is trivial, and the entry is really a paragraph about heat, evaporation and knowing when to stop stirring.