Sausage Breakfast Skillet Hash

Breakfast for us is usually simple: cereal, orange wedges, coffee. I usually make scrambled eggs once a week and there are occasionally more complicated weekend treats like omelets or pancakes.

Being snowed in as we were recently, I decided it was a good opportunity to make a special breakfast. Hence, this breakfast skillet hash, a classic combination of fried potatoes, sausage, eggs, cheese and vegetables. This is homestyle cooking at its simple best.

As a kid, my family would sometimes eat breakfast at The Village Inn, and their breakfast skillets were our favorite things to order. More recently, Chris and I ate delicious hash plates at 24 Diner in Austin, Texas. Whether you call it a skillet or hash--or skillet-hash--it's good stuff.

Since the potatoes are, by volume, the largest ingredient in the dish, it's important to get them right. They need to be firm but cooked through, browned and crispy on the edges. I used The Food Lab's recommended method of par-boiling the potatoes with vinegar, letting them drain awhile and then frying them for quite awhile until crispy. They turned out exactly as I wanted them too. The par-boiling helps cook the potatoes through, since the frying will mostly be about crisping up the edges. The bit of vinegar helps the potatoes keep their shape through all this. While frying them, I first stirred the potatoes to coat them in the oil, then smoothed them into an even layer, which I let cook for 5 minutes without being disturbed to help promote browning.

What you put in this dish besides potatoes is really up to you. Some kind of meat--sausage, bacon or ham--is good, but you could make this vegetarian too. I used Whole Foods mild Italian chicken sausage, since it's one of my favorites, half an onion and a red bell pepper. I topped the skillet with two scrambled eggs (I suggest one egg per person) and a good sprinkle of shredded cheddar cheese, which I melted under the oven broiler.

Sausage Breakfast Skillet Hash
Potato technique adapted from a recipe by J. Kenji Lopez-Alt for The Food Lab, Serious Eats

Serves 2 really hungry guys or 4 normal portions

1 1/2 lb. russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2- to 3/4-inch cubes
2 quarts water
2 tbsp. white vinegar
1 1/2 tbsp. kosher salt
4-6 tbsp. vegetable oil
1/2 lb. mild Italian chicken sausage
1/2 yellow onion, diced
Red bell pepper, cored, seeded and diced
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Pinch of cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp. smoked paprika
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
1/2 tsp. dired oregano
2 to 4 large eggs, lightly beaten (use 1 egg per person)
1 to 2 tsp. unsalted butter
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1. Add potatoes, water, vinegar and kosher salt to a large saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer for 5 minutes. Drain potatoes in a colander and allow them to sit in the colander for at least a couple minutes so as much water drains out as possible.

2. Heat 1 tbsp. vegetable oil in a large (12-inch) frying pan over medium heat (note: if using pork sausage, it will render more fat, so I don't think you need this initial 1 tbsp. of oil). Add the sausage and cook, breaking up with wooden spoon, until cooked through. Transfer the sausage to a large bowl.

3. If needed, add another tbsp. of vegetable oil to the pan, increase heat to medium-high, then add the onion and bell pepper. Season with salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, paprika, thyme and oregano, and cook, stirring occasionally until softened. Return the sausage to the pan and continue cooking the mixture until it gets a little brown around the edges. Remove from the pan and transfer back to the large bowl.

4. Add the remaining 4 tbsp. (i.e. 1/4 cup) vegetable oil to the pan. When hot, add the potatoes and cook until browned and crisp around the edges, about 20 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes.

5. While the potatoes cook, scramble the eggs: heat 1 to 2 tsp. butter in a small frying pan over medium heat. Add the eggs and cook, stirring frequently, until set. Remove from the pan and set aside on a small plate.

6. Preheat oven broiler. Once the potatoes are cooked, turn the heat off under the pan and stir in the cooked sausage, onion and pepper. Add the scrambled eggs on top, then cover the whole thing with shredded cheddar cheese. Place under the oven broiler to melt the cheese, about 45 seconds to 1 minute. Serve from the pan.

8-2-Eat: Winter Bean Recipes

8-2-Eat is my food-focused list series. A perfect Friday distraction. Beans taste particularly good in the winter, when they can be simmered and flavored as a main star or side to a number of ingredients. Here are 8 ways that I like to enjoy them.

Smoky Pinto Bean, Red Wine and Bacon Soup. This recipe, from the New York Times' Melissa Clark, is the best bean soup I've ever had. It's absolutely incredible. Splurge for Benton's Smoked Country Bacon for this one and you won't be disappointed.

Apple-Fennel Soup with Beans and Sausage. It's not the cannellini beans the broth that really makes this soup, a puree of apple, fennel, onion, garlic, celery, ginger and sage.

Pasta e Fagioli Soup

Pasta e Fagioli (Pasta and Bean) Soup. Adapted from a recipe by the late and ever so talented Italian cook Marcella Hazan, this soup, which uses cranberry beans, is much better than what you'll get at that "Italian" chain restaurant.

Spicy Beans and Pepperoni on Toast with Fried Eggs. A delicious and easy way to incorporate navy beans into breakfast.

Spelt Soup with Escarole and White Beans. Beans, greens and grains are a perfect winter soup trio. Here, cannellini beans team up with the heirloom wheat-grain spelt and bitter green escarole.

Quick Black Bean Soup. This is a longtime favorite. Although the version that requires an overnight soak and simmers all afternoon is wonderful, this much quicker version that uses canned black beans is good too and ideal for a weeknight dinner.

Salmon with Beans, Kale and Bacon 

Broiled Salmon with White Bean, Kale and Bacon Ragout. There are a lot of soups on this list, but beans can be used in other ways. Here, cannellini beans, bacon, garlic and kale form a side for broiled salmon.

Chili. Whether chili should contain beans is a subject of debate. Sure, if you're making a traditional chili con carne, perhaps not, but there are lots of other types of chili where I saw beans are more than welcome to join the party. Try them in BBQ Turkey Chili, Cincinnati Chili or Thai-Style Chili, a mashup of chili and tom kha gai soup.

Smoky Farro, Bacon and Brussels Sprouts Bowl

After a weekend of roughing it due to Snowzilla, it's time for some good eating. This is simple, easy winter fare that's like a "choose your own adventure": pair a chewy grain (farro), with an indulgent meat (hickory-smoked bacon), a roasted vegetable (Brussels sprouts) and a nut (pecan). You could make all sorts of substitutions to the aforementioned formula and end up with a great meal.

Smoky Farro, Bacon and Brussels Sprouts Bowl

12 oz. Brussels sprouts, root ends removed and sprouts larger than about 3/4-inch cut in half

1 tbsp. olive oil

Salt, to taste

1 cup farro, rinsed

3 cups plus 1 tbsp. water

6 oz. thick-cut hickory-smoked bacon, such as Benton's, strips cut in half
1 yellow onion, diced
1/2 cup pecans
Pinch of hickory-smoked sea salt
1 tbsp. honey

1. Preheat oven to 400 F. Add sprouts to a large bowl, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and toss to coat. Transfer to an aluminum-foil-lined baking sheet, turning sprouts so their cut-side is down. Roast until browned, about 25-30 minutes. Remove from the oven and transfer to a large bowl.

2. Combine farro, 3 cups of water and a pinch of salt in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until the farro is tender, about 20 minutes. Drain and transfer to the large bowl.

3. Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Cook the bacon until browned and crisp. Remove from the pan and set aside on a paper-towel-lined plate. Drain off the hot bacon fat, leaving about 1 tbsp. in the pan. Add the onion and sauté until softened, about 10 minutes. Add the onion and bacon to the large bowl.

4. Toast pecans in a small skillet over medium-low heat until they are fragrant, tossing occasionally to prevent them from burning. Sprinkle with the hickory-smoked salt and drizzle with honey. Stir, then add the 1 tbsp. of water and stir. When the water has evaporated enough to make a honey-syrup that evenly coats the nuts, remove them from the pan and transfer to the large bowl with the other ingredients. Toss the ingredients together and serve in shallow bowls.

Mad About the NoMad Bar (New York, N.Y.)

Three years ago, we visited The NoMad for dinner. We had an excellent meal of roast chicken for two, as well as some pretty decent cocktails.

Manhattan

At the time, The NoMad had two bar spaces: the bar in the back of the dining room, now referred to as the "elephant" bar because of its statues and the nearby library space. Although the restaurant had a tremendous amount of buzz, the bar proved to be just as popular if not even more acclaimed. The NoMad Bar received a James Beard Award nomination for Outstanding Bar Program in 2013 and then won that award the following year. As Eater tells it, the popularity of the bar was such that hotel guests (The NoMad is a hotel after all), were unable to relax at the bar. So they expanded, creating a new third bar space, The NoMad Bar, a beautiful wood-paneled space with a large bar, booths, standing tables and a second floor of additional tables. It's the sort of setting that exudes class and good taste.

Although The NoMad Bar is accessible via a curtained hallway between the Elephant Bar and Library, it also has its own entrance, as well as its own menu, a list more akin to pub fare than the gourmet dishes in the dining room. It also boasts a massive cocktail menu, an enticing list mix of classic drinks, new creations and large-format "cocktail explosions," punch-like creations served from a giant goblet-like glass container with a spigot. It serves eight, takes two bartenders to make and costs over $100. And they sound pretty awesome. If ever we're there with more people, we're getting one. Credit for these creations goes to NoMad's bar director, the talented Leo Robitschek.

We visited The NoMad Bar after dinner, so we stuck to drinks and loved every one we tried. I've mentioned before that the Manhattan is our favorite cocktail right now; however, I hadn't yet had a really good one while actually in Manhattan (the one I had last summer at Colicchio & Son's Taproom was, unfortunately, not as good as I'd hoped). Thankfully, The NoMad rectified that oversight, as the Manhattan was absolutely perfect.

Always Betz on Black

Our favorite drink was Always Betz on Black, a drink that also appears on the Eleven Madison Park bar menu, made with Irish whiskey, rum, Islay Scotch, sherry, cold-brewed coffee and Angostura bitters. It's a dynamite good winter cocktail, all smoky, roasty and dark. Along similar lines was the Gentlemen's Exchange, a potent mix of rye, Suze, Foro amaro, sweet vermouth, cold-brewed coffee, absinthe and angostura bitters.

Dr. Feelgood

For something a little brighter, I tried the Dr. Feelgood, made with mezcal (my favorite spirit at the moment), sherry, Suze, génépy (an herbal liqueur), avocado, lemon, lime and jalapeño, beautifully garnished with a rolled slice of cucumber and a spicy rim. Another excellent drink. Our first night ended with North Sea Oil, another smoky creation of Islay Scotch, aquavit, Cocchi Americano and triple sec. Did you catch that mention of a "first night?" Yeah, we went back a second time. It was that good. Any luckily we were able to get a table both nights because the place was really busy both Monday and Tuesday nights. Despite that, we received good service, with someone nearby always coming by at the right time to let us order another drink.

People-watching at The NoMad Bar is also fun. We saw a family of foreign tourists with kids (yes kids in a cocktail bar), a young couple that couldn't keep their hands off each other and a trio of well-dressed twenty-something guys that ordered one of those cocktail explosions and left after drinking maybe a third of it. Seriously, who drops that kind of money on cocktails and then doesn't drink them? (Wall Street types maybe?) We were tempted to rush over and bring the thing to our table to finish.

Although most of our best drinking in New York takes place in the East Village these days, we were happy to discover that The NoMad Bar is an excellent place for good cocktails further uptown. With most cocktails priced in the high teens, The NoMad Bar is by no means a cheap place to drink, but it certainly is a satisfying one. I just hope we can get a table next time.

The NoMad Bar, 1170 Broadway (through The NoMad Hotel and restaurants, also a separate entrance on 28th Street), New York, N.Y. (NoMad district, north of the Flatiron). (212) 796-1500.

Cocktail: Hot Toddy

People are calling today the "big dig," as the east-coast snowstorm has now passed and it's time to start cleaning up. One of the advantages of living in an apartment instead of a single-family home is most apparent on days like today.

Still, I know a lot of people are going to be outside shoveling snow today. It's brutal work. When you're done, in addition to being worn out, you're cold and possibly soaked depending on how well your clothing and shoes are waterproofed.

So you'll want something to help warm you up and make you feel better. And for that, there's the Hot Toddy. This classic winter warmer is also good for you if you have a cold--apparently even scientifically proven, at least according to this source.

There are variations on how to make a Hot Toddy, but the basic formula is a brown liquor (whiskey, brandy, rum or Scotch work great--I bet even tequila would do the trick) with honey, lemon and hot water. If any cocktail can be considered a "comfort food," it's this. 

Hot Toddy

1/4 cup boiling hot water

1 tbsp. honey

2 tsp. fresh lemon juice

1 1/2 oz. bourbon whiskey (may also use any other type of whiskey, brandy or rum).

Combine water and honey in a tempered glass or ceramic mug and stir until the honey is dissolved. Stir in the lemon and bourbon. Serve warm. 

Lunching with Snowzilla: Making Due with What's on Hand

If you're like me and millions of other East Coast dwellers this weekend, you're snowed in. Restaurants, if you can walk to them, are probably closed. Markets are closed and completely wiped out of food anyway. In short, you gotta make do with what's in the fridge.

In the days leading up to this weekend's big storm, we stocked up as best we could, but I also view this as an opportunity to clean out and use up a few things that might have otherwise gone to waste.

Take today's lunch. Feeling like something other than a peanut butter & jelly sandwich, I looked through the fridge to see what odds and ends might yield a decent lunch. I found half a cucumber from a salad I made earlier in the week, some celery and scallions left over from kung pao chicken, half a block of feta cheese from last week's salad, my husband's mostly empty tub of hummus and a almost-empty jar of sundried tomatoes.

Together with a few new items--a fresh loaf of bread, a tub of arugula and a few other condiments and seasonings--I turned this motley crew of scraps into a delicious vegetarian lunch, a cucumber, hummus and feta sandwich and an arugula, celery and peanut salad, both of which were quite tasty.

Cucumber, Hummus and Feta Sandwich
Makes 2 sandwiches

4 slices whole-grain bread
2-4 tbsp. hummus
2-3 scallions, chopped
1/2 cucumber, thinly sliced
1/4 cup crumbed feta cheese
2 tbsp. sundried tomatoes, cut into small pieces
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Toast the bread, then spread two slices with a generous 1 to 2 tbsp. of hummus. Top with scallions, slices of cucumber, crumbled feta, sundried tomatoes and a sprinkle of freshly ground pepper--plus the other toasted slices of bread.

Arugula, Celery and Peanut Salad
Serves 2

2 cups arugula leaves
2-3 celery stalks, sliced at an angle into 1/8-inch thick slices
1/3 cup unsalted roasted peanuts, chopped
2-3 scallions, chopped
1/2 tsp. Aleppo pepper
1 tbsp. rice vinegar
1 tsp. honey
2 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Combine the arugula, celery, peanuts, scallion and Aleppo pepper in a large bowl. Whisk together the other ingredients, pour over the salad and toss to coat with the dressing.

Getting Serious about Mezcal

6666 Miles Cocktail

It's time to get serious about mezcal. The days of dismissing it as a second-rate spirit with a dead insect in it are over. Mezcal producers have become much more sophisticated, and high-quality mezcal is proliferating at good cocktail bars and liquor stores near you.

Leading the pack is Del Maguey. Rather than operating as a single distillery, Del Maguey works with a collection of small-scale producers making mezcal using traditional methods in various villages around the Oaxaca region of Mexico. According to the company's website, each of its mezcals is made by a family-run producer in a small village. Thus, Del Maguey markets most of its mezcal line as "single-village mezcals," which are also certified by the USDA as organic.

The company celebrated its 20th anniversary last year. Ron Cooper started it in 1995 with the intention of expanding the availability of artisanal mezcals produced through traditional means. Cooper himself is clearly very passionate about mezcal--there's a great interview with him on the Del Maguey site. But he also has a background in art, which is reflected in the beautiful and unique way Del Maguey packages its mezcals in green bottles each with a different colorful illustration. Some of these works were designed by Ken Price, an artist friend of Cooper's who died in 2012.

Del Maguey definitely has a cool factor. Its mezcals are prominently featured on the bar shelf at the renowned East Village bar Mayahuel (their spirits menu boasts 13 of the company's mezcals). Del Maguey even teamed up with José Andrés recently to make a ham-flavored mezcal. What they don't have...a worm larva in their bottles, a practice I've read came about to mask the flavor of inferior mezcals, which Del Maguey certainly are not.

Our recent visit to Mayahuel is what sparked my renewed interest in mezcal. I've been a fan of their Vida mezcal for sometime, but wanted to try some of the other types. These can be harder to find, but I am seeing them more often in liquor stores, including in D.C. at Eye Street Cellars, a relatively recent addition to Mount Vernon Triangle, which carries a good selection. I picked up several bottles there recently.

Del Maguey mezcals

Vida is a great place to start with the Del Maguey line. It's smoky, but not intensely so like some mezcals. It's very clean and refreshing. It's a wonderful choice for cocktails, both because it's easy to get ahold of and mixes well. Vida can usually be found for around $35, which makes it an affordable mezcal (they can get quite pricey), particular for something of this quality. Vida comes from San Luis Del Rio.

Moving into something a little different, there's Chichicapa, named after the village where it's made (most of the Del Maguey mezcals, except for Vida, which means "life" are named for the villages where they are made). It's not as smoky as Vida, but has a spicier, more complex flavor.

Lastly, we tried Creme de Mezcal, which is a little different, since it's 90 percent mezcal and 10 percent agave, making what some would call a "mezcal liqueur." The agave's sweetness further smooths out the mezcal, making this a very sippable concoction. I could see this being very useful for crafting mezcal cocktails without needing the addition of agave or simple syrup.

So how does mezcal work in cocktails? Rather well actually. I love that they combine the characteristics of a good tequila with the smoky nose akin to a peaty Scotch. Mezcals are a natural to pair with citrus, but they also work with other fruits, like pears, as well as coffee, chocolate and herbal flavors. They also mix well with other spirits--tequila, obviously, but also rum. I recommend tasting your mezcal before mixing it, since some mezcals work better with other flavors (I find that the smokier mezcals can be more challenging for mixing).

Oaxaca Old Fashioned

One of the best-known mezcal cocktails is the Oaxaca Old Fashioned, which was created by Phil Ward for Death & Co. The Oaxaca Old Fashioned is brilliantly simple: replace the Old Fashioned's whiskey with mezcal and use agave nectar instead of of sugar. Although the original recipe called for Angostura bitters, using mole bitters introduces yet another Oaxacan flavor. Death & Co. also originated the Naked & Famous, a drink similar to the Last Word made with mezcal instead of gin.

Of course Mayahuel makes many amazing mezcal cocktails. Among them are the Division Bell, a sunny take on a mezcal cocktail with Aperol, and the Smoked Palomino, a citrusy mezcal-sherry cocktail.

Replacing some or all of the tequila in a margarita makes for a smoky take on a familiar classic. A little chili pepper adds nice heat too to the Margarita on Fire, and Dave Arnold's version of the classic frozen margarita made with mezcal, orange liqueur and chartreuse is a brilliant revision of that summer favorite. I also like this smoky pear margarita.

For a hot drink, warm up on a cold day with Spicy Aztec Hot Chocolate with Mezcal, a recipe that comes from Serious Eats' J. Kenji López-Alt.

For other ideas, Del Maguey's website has an extensive list of mezcal cocktails. The Going Back to Mezcali piqued my interest, both because it sounds delicious (and is) and because it's by Donato Alvarez of Sixth Engine in D.C. I changed the garnish a bit: instead of the cold-smoked lime peel, I did a flamed lime peel. Lastly, I concocted the 6666 Miles below, as a sort of nod to the Oaxaca Old Fashioned. Like that drink, I took an existing classic--the Black Russian--and replaced its base spirit with mezcal. I also added some mole bitters. I call it 6666 Miles because that's the approximate distance from Moscow to Mexico City.

6666 Miles
(Photo at top)

2 oz. Del Maguey Chichicapa mezcal
1 oz. coffee liqueur (Kahlúa will work; I used a homemade liqueur)
2 dashes Bittermens Xocolatl mole bitters
Bing cherry, garnish

Combine mezcal, coffee liqueur and bitters in a cocktail mixing glass with ice. Stir until very cold. Strain into a rocks glass with ice. Garnish with cherry.

Going Back to Mezcali

Going Back to Mezcali
Adapted from a recipe by Donato Alvarez of Sixth Engine, Washington, D.C.

2-3 slices of cucumber
1 oz. Del Maguey Vida mezcal
1 oz. Yellow Chartreuse
1 oz. Aperol
1 oz. lime juice
Flamed lime peel, garnish (note: the original recipe calls for a cold-smoked lime peel)

Add cucumber to a cocktail shaker and muddle. Fill with ice and add the mezcal, Chartreuse, Aperol and lime juice and shake until very cold. Double-strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with the flamed lime peel.

Related

Death & Co. Modern Classic Cocktails (includes recipes for Oaxaca Old Fashioned and the Naked and Famous)

Cocktail Bar: Going Two Rounds at Mayahuel (includes the Division Bell recipe)

Mayahuel Mezcal Cocktails (includes the Smoked Palomino recipe)

Margarita on Fire

Smoky Frozen Margarita

Smoky Pear Margarita

Spicy Aztec Hot Chocolate with Mezcal