In honor of St. Patrick's Day (please note that I am neither Irish nor Catholic, so whatever), I picked up a roast to make on the 16th. Shuffling through the pre-seasoned roasts at Wild Oats (Mini-Whole Foods), the butcheress behind me shouted out something about the roasts she was sliding back into the case were known to be the best corned beef in town. I had to take her up on the claim. Since I was only feeding the 2 of us (perhaps more introductions later), I had her cut off a 2.3lb portion of a larger roast and pack it up with extra pickling herbs. Since it was already salted, seasoned, and soaked, I just did the generic braise with potatoes and cabbage on Sunday night. With only a measly 5oz chunk left over on Monday, however, I was reticent to use the rest of the meat, since it didn't seem like much would come of it.

When searching in the fridge and cupboards for any other suitable dinner alternative came up dry, I decided to make corned beef hash and set about cutting up every root vegetable I had into 1/8" cubes and frying them in goose fat (leftover from New Year's goose). Served with some spicy-sweet mustard, this was incredibly good with a perfectly fried egg on top (also done up in goose fat - yum!!), with the yolk oh so gently flowing over chunks of potato and carrot. So, here you go:

Corned Beef Hash with (optional) Fried Egg:

• 5-6oz. Cooked Corned Beef
• 6oz. Carrots (2 large)
• 6oz. New or Small Red Potatoes (2 medium)
• 3Tb Schmaltz (goose or chicken)
• Handful of Cherry Tomatoes
• 2 Spring Onions
• 2 eggs

Cube the first 3 ingredients into bitty cubes (1/8") and fry in half the schmaltz on medium-high until the potatoes start to brown. Turn the heat down to just below medium and let fry for about 7 minutes, or until the carrots are soft, stirring once in a while to keep from sticking. Toss the tomatoes with some salt and pepper and throw under the broiler on a piece of aluminum foil or similar until they start to get wrinkly, then pull them out. Once the rest of the goods in the pan look done, carefully stir in the tomatoes and add salt and pepper to taste. Heavily sprinkle with the green onions and slow-fry some eggs in the leftover schmaltz until the whites are just set (or however you like 'em) and slide atop the pile and eat. Serve with damned good mustard (below).

Damned Good Mustard

• 2 parts Dijon (I'm using up a Costco bucket of Grey Poupon)
• 2 parts Beet Horseradish (I'm using hot-prepared Beaver brand)
• 1 part Honey (Another local brand here - just to take the "gaaahhh!" factor down a step