Oregon Salmon Hash

Serves 4

Hash
Salmon hash often puts a shine on Pacific Northwest mornings. You find it in fancy hotel dining rooms, cheap cafes, and, in this simple but sublime form, on many home tables.

2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 pound Yukon Gold or waxy red potatoes,
peeled if you wish and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1/2 medium onion, preferably red or yellow, diced
3 tablespoons half-and-half
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
Salt and freshly milled black pepper to taste
3/4 to 1 pound hot-smoked salmon,
not cold-smoked nova or lox, flaked
3 tablespoons minced fresh chives
2 teaspoons minced fresh dill or 1 teaspoon dried
Sour cream, optional
Capers or caperberries, optional

Warm the butter and oil in a large heavy skillet over medium-low heat. Add the potatoes, stirring them well to coat with the fat. Cover and cook the potatoes for 10 minutes, during which time you should hear only a faint cooking noise.

Uncover and turn the potatoes. Raise the heat to medium and cook for 5 minutes longer, until uniformly soft with some crisp brown spots. Add the onion and pat the mixture down. Cook until the onion is soft and the mixture begins to stick in a few spots and brown on the bottom, 5 minutes longer. Scrape up from the bottom, then add the half-and-half, mustard, salt, and a generous grinding of pepper. Raise the heat to medium-high. Continue cooking until the liquid evaporates and the mixture begins to crisp and brown again, 5 to 8 minutes longer. Scrape up from the bottom and pat back down another time or two. Add the salmon and herbs and cook for a couple minutes longer, until heated through. Serve hot, topped if you wish with a dollop of sour cream and a sprinkle of capers.

Double Salmon Hash

Double your pleasure with two salmon tastes and textures. Reduce the amount of smoked salmon to 1/2 pound. Broil or grill a 1/2-pound fresh salmon steak or fillet section until just cooked through, then flake it when cool enough to handle. Add it to the hash along with the smoked salmon.

Buy the Book!

A Real American Breakfast
The Best Meal of the Day, Any Time of the Day
By Cheryl Atlers Jamison and Bill Jamison
Morrow Cookbooks/HarperCollins Publishers
Copyright 2002. All rights reserved
Hardcover, 464 pages
$34.95; $52.95 (CAN)
ISBN: 0060188243
Recipe reprinted by permission.