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Country Ham and Hominy Hash

A good hash is like soup: you can toss together all the odds and ends from your fridge and pantry and end up with something rustic and hearty that is much more than the sum of its parts.

Recipe information

  • Yield

    serves 4 to 6

Ingredients

Hash

One 4-ounce piece country ham
1 bay leaf
3 or 4 black peppercorns
2 russet potatoes (about 1 pound), peeled and chopped
2 cups cooked hominy, rinsed and drained
1 onion, chopped
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more if needed
1 tablespoon unsalted butter

Eggs

2 teaspoons distilled white vinegar
Pinch of sea salt
1 or 2 large eggs per person

Preparation

  1. Hash

    Step 1

    Place the ham in a pot with the bay leaf and peppercorns. Cover with water and simmer for about 1 hour, until the ham is fork-tender (see Know-how, page 172). Add the potatoes and simmer for 10 minutes more, until the potatoes are just beginning to get tender. Strain the ham and potatoes from the pot, reserving about 1/4 cup of the liquid, removing and discarding the bay leaf, and set aside.

    Step 2

    Using two forks, shred the ham into bite-size pieces and place in a large bowl. Add the potatoes, hominy, and onion. Stir in the reserved cooking liquid and parsley and season to taste with salt and pepper. (Country ham is salty, so be sure to taste before adding any extra salt.)

    Step 3

    Heat the olive oil and butter in a large nonstick or cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat until hot. Add the ham-potato mixture and spread into a flat cake. Cover with a splatter screen or lid and cook until crispy, 4 to 5 minutes. Flip and re-form the cake. Cover and cook, adding a little more oil if needed, until crispy on the other side. Remove from the heat and cover.

  2. Eggs

    Step 4

    Fill a large skillet with water about 2 inches deep and bring to a boil. Add the vinegar and salt and reduce the heat to a simmer.

    Step 5

    Add the eggs one at a time and poach for 2 to 3 minutes, until the whites set and a thin, translucent film forms over the yolks (see Know-how, page 86). Use a slotted spoon to gently transfer the eggs to a paper towel–lined platter to drain.

  3. Assembly

    Step 6

    Divide the hash evenly between individual serving plates, place 1 or 2 eggs on top of each, and serve hot.

  4. Sara’s Swaps

    Step 7

    For a more rustic interpretation of this dish, make a hole in the hash, crack the eggs in the hole, and cover to fry, rather than poach, to your liking. For a sweet-and-savory combination, substitute sweet potatoes for the russets, and for a crispy finish, scatter fried oysters on top. Or, make a cheesy variation by layering the hash mixture with Gruyère cheese in a skillet to form one large cake and sauté until brown and crispy. Slide the cake out of the skillet and cut into 4 to 6 wedges, then assemble the dish as for the main recipe.

  5. Chew on this: About Hominy

    Step 8

    Hominy is the name for corn kernels that have been hulled to remove the bran and germ. Lye hominy is hulled by soaking the corn kernels in a weak lye solution—a very traditional, centuries-old Native American method—and pearl hominy is hulled mechanically. It is then dried and either ground to make our beloved hominy grits or boiled whole to make what New Orleansians call “big hominy.” You can buy hominy canned, meaning precooked, or dried, in which case it will need to be presoaked and boiled in the same manner as dried beans.

Reprinted with permission from Sara Foster's Southern Kitchen: Soulful, Traditional, Seasonal by Sara Foster. Copyright © 2011 by Sara Foster. Published by Random House. All Rights Reserved. Sara Foster is the owner of Foster's Market, the acclaimed gourmet take-out store/cafés in Durham and Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and the author of several cookbooks including The Foster's Market Cookbook, winner of the Best Cookbook Award from the Southeast Booksellers Association. She has appeared numerous times on Martha Stewart Living Television and NBC's Today show. She has also been featured in magazines such as More, House Beautiful, and Southern Living, and is featured regularly in Bon Appétit.
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