Wednesday, December 2, 2015

Cajun Swiss Chard Yukon Gold Hash

This is a wondrously fantastic side dish or an accompainment to some nice pasture raised eggs you fried in organic butter. Nice breakfast, yeah. So stuck at home instead of out and about on a Wednesday evening when I could be at a bar listening to a friend's band and drinking beer. But, sadly, health concerns. So,
playing with some stuff. Made a few things this afternoon. This one was just ever so fantastic. I love Cajun spiced foods. It's just that combination of cayenne, garlic and thyme with lots of freshly ground good black pepper and the Holy Trinity of Cajun, onions, peppers and celery. Well, this dish doesn't have celery, but the chard just makes it pretty spectacular. First off, take 4 Yulon Gold potatoes and cut into large dice. In a big skillet preheated to high medium add some olive oil and then toss in the potatoes. Stir a bit to coat and cook about ten to twelve minutes, turning over every three to four minutes.
When good and browned, add the chopped stems of the Swiss Chard and a diced red onion and diced red pepper.Toss a few times and continue to cook until the onions are beginning to soften. Now comes the fun part. Add a quarter cup or so of Cajun seasoning. Toss well. Add a half cup of good red wine. Toss well. Bring the wine to bubbly, turn down the heat and then add all the chopped chard leaves. Cover the skillet and let the leaves steam for about ten minutes. Remove the lid and stir the mix well. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly and then serve with those fried eggs. Well, that's how I ate them. You know, comfort food for when you don't feel so hot. This will heat you up a bit, well, depending on the Cajun spice mix you use, it might just heat you up a lot.

My Cajun spice blend - Mix together 2 oz. Cayenne pepper, 2 oz. sweet basil, 2 oz. ground thyme, 2 oz. garlic powder, 2 oz. onion powder, 1 oz. ground chili, 1 tsp. ground mustard, 1/8 tsp ground clove.  When using this mix, always add plenty of freshly ground black pepper.