Corned beef hash omelet with broiler toast
Julia Child taught me to make omelets many years ago on The French Chef. I follow her instructions to the letter every time I make one. It’s extremely simple and very, very fast. You’ll spend a lot more time on the prep than you will actually making the thing. And an omelet is a wonderful thing, from the breakfast variety filled with and/or accompanied by your choice of pork product to the dinner variations. I was introduced to the concept of a dinner omelet in Kansas City, MO where I had an elegant creation filled with artichoke hearts and asparagus and topped with Hollandaise sauce. The memory of it still makes my mouth water :)
This corned beef hash number is a good deal more prosaic than the above paragon, but a delicious and filling meal, never the less. You will even make the hash yourself, but don’t worry - that doesn’t take much preparation or much time.
For two people, you will need the following ingredients:
12 oz corned beef (leftover brisket if you have it, canned if not), diced
3 small potatoes (whatever type suits your fancy or whatever you have on hand), diced small
6 - 8 large eggs
1/2 c shredded cheese (I used cheddar but Swiss would be awesome too)
3 tbls butter or margarine
1/2 loaf of French or Italian bread
Salt and pepper to taste
Note: If you’re using canned corned beef, your going to have to deal with this critter:
The dreaded key
I don’t have an electric can opener and the can opener I do have won’t handle the sharp angles on the dad-blasted can. So I use the key and you may have to too - it comes standard on every can of corned beef. You remove it from the little metal tab that holds it on the can, reverse it so that the loop of the key hands below the bottom of the can and place it back onto the tab. Now you just turn the key - all the way around the base of the can (removing the label, or as much of it as you can, is helpful here). As you turn the key, a small strip of metal is removed so that the meat can be gotten too.
Be extremely careful when you’re getting the meat out. The edges of the can where you removed that metal strip are horrendously sharp. The only serious damage I ever did to myself in the kitchen was with a stubborn corned beef can - cut my finger right down to the bone. If the can seems not to want to let go of the meat, try running a knife between the can and the meat. Using a can opener to punch a couple of holes in the ends often helps too.
Put the diced potatoes in a microwave safe bowl somewhat larger than you need for just the potatoes - you’ll be adding the corned beef a bit later. If you’d like some onion in your hash (Myria doesn’t care for them so I generally leave them out), now’s the time. Chop a medium yellow or red onion rather finely and add it to the potatoes.
Diced potatoes
Corned beef hash
Turn on your broiler.
Take your bread and slice it horizontally through the middle so that you wind up with two large hunks. Butter the cut surfaces and place on a foil lined baking sheet, butter side up. Place under the broiler and watch like a hawk until the surface is golden and crisp! In my stove, browning the bread takes less than a minute. The first time I did this, I put the bread under the broiler and set the timer for two minutes thinking it would take at least that long. Let’s just say there a reason there’s no such thing as toast flambé :)
Toast, broiler style
Eggs - get rid of the shells first :)
Put a large skillet on the stove. This will work best if the skillet has sloped sides but is do-able in a straight sided pan. Turn the heat on high and let the pan get hot for a couple of minutes. Drop a tablespoon of butter into the pan. It should sizzle and start to melt immediately. Once it has melted, tilt the pan and let the melted butter run around the sides.
Then add the beaten eggs. Shake the pan to make sure the eggs aren’t sticking anywhere (and they shouldn’t be as long as the skillet and the fat are very hot). With a spatula, start drawing the eggs towards the center of the pan, letting the uncooked part move out towards the edges. Be a bit gentle, you don’t want to break the eggs.
When the omelet is almost-but-not-quite set, scatter half the cheese over the surface. Now turn the heat off. The eggs will continue to cook on their own heat for a couple of minutes so turning them off now keeps them from being overdone. Carefully, spread about half of the hash over the cheese.
Almost there...
Place one of the broiled bread pieces alongside your masterpiece and serve with a green or a fruit salad.
Omelet and toast
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That’s a fine looking omelet. Yum 
Nice looking omelet. A four-egg omelet is a little much for me, even for dinner. Eggs are SO filling.
Where in KC did you find an omelet like that?? Was it The Greenhouse? I miss that place, they had good salads, too.
Aarlene - Thanks :) It was pretty fine tasting too! 
Chery - You know, I’ve been trying to remember the name of that place. I think you might be right. It was also the first place (and so far only) where I ever saw fried chicken livers served as an entree (and they were gooood) and they had an ice cream dessert called the Hook and Ladder. Oh, oh - and they served bread in flower pots, with sweet butter :)
ummm, broiler-toast! pass the jam-
what a timely recipe for leftovers from a st. pat’s day dinner too-
did i brag about it being spring here? evidently i cannot be believed- cold, wet, windy here- that old march lion is making his presence known today- here lamb, lamb, lamb-
stay happy-
Barb - I’ve been thinking that March came in like a whole pride of lions up here. Sorry your weather’s turned on you!
My God, how good is that!! My hubby and I always wondered how you use the canned corned beef that you see in the supermarket. I love your cooking demos, I always learn something. Next time I’m out, I’m buying the supplies for that omelet!
Cheryl - Cool! I hope you really enjoy it :)
Hmm. Methinks I know what’s for dinner tonight! I’ve added frittatas to my regular dinner rotation. I think your omelet would be a nice variation. Thanks for your recipes - your sausage & tortellini was a big hit at my house, too.
ching ching! we had a variation on this night before last wth home made pancake mixture and chopped up left over corned meat roast - with a tomatoe and onion cooked mess on top. It was very filling and a great use for left overs! I love it when you post recipes
Samina - I’m glad you enjoy the recipes - they’re usually just stuff I’ve thrown together that’s, somehow, worked :)
Natty - Your idea sounds pretty nifty - I especially like the onions and tomatoes thought. I bet that was yummy!
This dish reminds me of one my mom used to fix. She’d buy the canned corn beef hash (Armour makes it I think) and would put it in a skillet and fry until the under layer was nice and crispy. Then she’d break eggs on top of it, cover it with a lid until the eggs were sunny side up sort of and then serve it out. There were four in the family so she’d cook four eggs to one can of the hash. It was yummy, too.
Charlotte - Yup, that’s a pretty traditional treatment, I think. I can’t eat eggs if any part of them is runny which is probably why this method occurred to me in the first place. CB hash and eggs is just too good a thing to give up on :)
