As with any successful experiment, it is important to have a controlled variable, a baseline with which one can measure all other variables. My baseline is Hormel Homestyle Corned Beef Hash. Since it had been awhile--possibly 10 years--since I had this dish, I thought I'd make some for breakfast yesterday, complete with a poached egg. My first instinct when I picked up the can of hash at the grocery store was to look at the nutrition facts. Bad idea! With just one serving (there are 3 per can) I'd be getting over half of my daily recommended allowance of saturated fat. I wondered to mysefl if I should start another blog in tandem with this one that tracks my blood pressure from week to week. Anyhow, I digress...
Nutrition be damned, I proceeded to dollop a spoonful of dog food-like hash into the skillet and turn on the fan above the stove. Our kitchen was still airing out from Thanksgiving's ritual frying of sausage for stuffing, and I know that hash packs a pungent odor.
Simultaneously, I began my attempt at poaching an egg. This was my first time, and I had decided to use the "swirl" method, which I read about on the internets. In order to do this, you have to create a vortex in the simmering pot of water, and then crack the egg into the eye of the storm. It took two people to successfully complete the whole process, but the egg turned out pretty all right, if not a little overcooked.
Once the hash was fried sufficiently, I pulled it from the skillet and topped it off with the poached egg and some green onions for color. All in all, it smelled a little pungent, and had a dull, disconcerting glisten, but how would it taste?
Not surprisingly, exactly how I remembered it. The potatoes were mushy, the meat a tad bit gritty, and overall, a bit too greasy for my liking. The whole time I was eating it, I was thinking to myself, "This shouldn't be too hard for a restaurant to top!" Hopefully I'm right.
This brings us to the most important part of today's little experiment: setting the criteria for reviews. After all was said and done (or eaten, as the case may be), I've decided to judge the dishes based on five categories: consistency, flavor, aesthetics, accoutrement, and the ever-important Kelly P Factor--wherein my wife, Kelly P, who does not like corned beef hash at all takes one bite and gives me a one sentence summary and a 0-5 rating. Once that is all taken into account, I'll give the dish a score of 0-5 skillets, 5 being the highest.
So, stay tuned for tomorrow's first official review of B&O's corned beef hash. It will be enthralling and inspiring.
Best,
A.W. Hilst
Nutrition be damned, I proceeded to dollop a spoonful of dog food-like hash into the skillet and turn on the fan above the stove. Our kitchen was still airing out from Thanksgiving's ritual frying of sausage for stuffing, and I know that hash packs a pungent odor.
Simultaneously, I began my attempt at poaching an egg. This was my first time, and I had decided to use the "swirl" method, which I read about on the internets. In order to do this, you have to create a vortex in the simmering pot of water, and then crack the egg into the eye of the storm. It took two people to successfully complete the whole process, but the egg turned out pretty all right, if not a little overcooked.
Once the hash was fried sufficiently, I pulled it from the skillet and topped it off with the poached egg and some green onions for color. All in all, it smelled a little pungent, and had a dull, disconcerting glisten, but how would it taste?
Not surprisingly, exactly how I remembered it. The potatoes were mushy, the meat a tad bit gritty, and overall, a bit too greasy for my liking. The whole time I was eating it, I was thinking to myself, "This shouldn't be too hard for a restaurant to top!" Hopefully I'm right.
This brings us to the most important part of today's little experiment: setting the criteria for reviews. After all was said and done (or eaten, as the case may be), I've decided to judge the dishes based on five categories: consistency, flavor, aesthetics, accoutrement, and the ever-important Kelly P Factor--wherein my wife, Kelly P, who does not like corned beef hash at all takes one bite and gives me a one sentence summary and a 0-5 rating. Once that is all taken into account, I'll give the dish a score of 0-5 skillets, 5 being the highest.
So, stay tuned for tomorrow's first official review of B&O's corned beef hash. It will be enthralling and inspiring.
Best,
A.W. Hilst
1 comment:
I'm quite excited for you to embark on your hash-filled journey...
May I suggest Etta's across from Pike Place, I just sampled some amazingly delicious corned beef hash there during brunch a couple weekends ago. Goes perfectly with their bloody mary. Who knew!
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