Ham Hash

We moved from Washington state to New Hampshire in November of 1984 and bought a little house that had been built in the mid-1800s, probably to house one of the families that worked in the shoe factory that was nearby at the time. Those old shoe factory workers were later housed in a small, stone-walled cemetery up around the corner from where we lived; their lives and deaths marked with tilting old granite gravestones. 

We loved that little two-story red house, with its wide-pine floors and its many-paned windows (we loved those windows even more when we discovered how storm windows worked and slid ours down, which instantly warmed up the house). 

We especially loved our Saturday night suppers in the kitchen. It was one of my favorite kitchens ever, with lots of windows, lots of cupboards, and a "secret" pantry that was accessed by pulling on a bookcase built into its concealed door. 

We really liked the way that New Englanders embraced traditions, so we made a family tradition of our own of baked bean suppers on Saturday nights, and we ate while listening to the wind howling on the outside and the radio playing Prairie Home Companion on the inside. 

Lots of times our bean supper was accompanied by ham hash. This is a great dish to make with your leftover Easter ham. You can also serve Steamed Brown Bread with the meal.

Ham Hash

There really aren't any measurements for this recipe. Just take a look at your leftover ham and decide how many potatoes you want to add, and how much onion. 

Brown chopped onions in a little olive oil. Add some peeled, cooked, cubed potatoes and some chopped up ham. Stir and cook over medium heat until the potatoes have browned a bit. Season to your liking with salt (optional) and plenty of freshly-ground black pepper.