Southwest Hash with Baked Eggs and Spicy Chipotle Hollandaise

Last night was the October meetup of the cooking group (find out more about our group here!), and this month’s theme was Breakfast for Dinner.

The hubby and I were the hosts, which meant that we had the main course.  I was a little torn on what to make…there’s always the old standard quiche/strata mash-ups with veggies and stuff, but it wasn’t exactly new territory for me.  Crepes seemed too fussy, making a big chunk of meat was out (since the hubby and I are cutting it out of our diets), and all then there was the whole gluten-free restrictions – I could find carbs to sub in, but it all seemed like more than I wanted to get into.

So I narrowed it down by figuring out what sounded good to me: I knew I wanted to use eggs, I wanted it to be vegetarian and filling, and I wanted it to be pretty easy to put together at serving time so that I could actually enjoy having people over.  Combine all that with my love of big Mexican flavors, and this is where I ended up – a southwest flavored veggie hash blending yellow and sweet potato, a hollandaise with smoky adobo chilis, and eggs baked right on top.

Seriously, it was good stuff.  Give it a shot the next time you have to bring something savory to a brunch, or just the next time you need some breakfast deliciousness on your plate.

Southwest Hash with Eggs and Chipotle Hollandaise
Serves 10

Get your mise en place together!

1 large yellow onion, diced

2 green peppers, seeded and diced

1 red pepper, seeded and diced

1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 Tb olive oil

1 large sweet potato, peeled and 1/2″ dice

5-6 yellow potatoes, 1/2″ dice

1 Tb cumin

1 Tb chili powder

1 Tb dried parsley

1 Tb fennel seed

salt and pepper

1 Tb olive oil

1/2 bunch of spinach, rough chop

3/4 cup salsa

10 eggs

To Make the hash:

One of the really great things about this dish from an entertaining point of view is that it can all be prepped ahead of time, leaving just 10 -12 minutes for the eggs to bake on top when you are ready to serve.

First, get yourself a large bowl and preheat your oven to 400 degrees.  Peel and dice the sweet potato, add to the bowl.  If your yukon or yellow potatoes are thin-skinned, you can just leave the peel on and dice them.  Add them to the bowl and give it a little mix.  Add the cumin, chili powder, parsley, salt and pepper, and olive oil, give it all a good mix.  Get yourself a couple of sheet pans out, and spread the potatoes between them (you want to give them some room so they can cook evenly).

Let them roast for 10 minutes, then take the pans out and give them a stir.  Put the pans back in for another 5 minutes to finish roasting.

While the potatoes are in the oven, you can start your veggie prep.  In a large bowl, combine your diced peppers, onions, garlic, jalapeno, salt and pepper.  Add to a hot saute pan with the olive oil, and saute just for a few minutes.  You don’t want to cook everything all the way through since you are going to finish the dish in the oven.  We’re just getting a little bit of the crunchiness off the veggies.  Once they are sauteed, put them back in the bowl and add your cooked potatoes.

Now you can add the salsa and spinach (we did not saute it in the pan, it’s going to wilt here with the hot potatoes).

I used a large 9 x 13 casserole dish and a smaller 8 x 8 dish to hold the hash, but whatever works for you is fine.  Give them a spray with cooking spray, and put your hash in them.  Using a spoon, make little divots in the hash for your eggs.  In the large casserole, I made 6 divots, one for each egg.  In the smaller dish I made 4 divots.  Carefully crack each egg and gently let the egg rest in the little nest you made for it. 

Now tell me that’s not the cutest thing you ever saw.

Here’s a tip: if I were going to make this again, I would put a little salt and pepper on the eggs, give them a little spray of Pam, and then cover the whole thing in foil to bake.  Mine was uncovered, and it did something  to toughen the outer texture of the eggs.  So learn from my mistake!

Put your dishes back in the 400 degree oven and let the eggs cook for 10-12 minutes.  Poke the yolks with your finger to determine how soft/hard they are (it maybe hard to tell visually).  When they are done, take the pans out and get ready to make the best Hollandaise you ever had.

Chipotle Adobo Hollandaise Sauce (in a blender!)
Makes about 1 1/2 cups

5 egg yolks

1 Tb lemon juice

1/2 c melted butter

1 Tb Dijon mustard

1 1/2 Tb Adobo chilis in chipotle sauce (canned)

salt and pepper

To make the Hollandaise:

Get out your blender, this is going to be a snap!

Put your egg yolks, lemon juice, dijon, adobos (chop them up a little if they are too big out of the can), and some salt and pepper in your blender.  Turn it on and blend them up for a few seconds.  After they are all incorporated, take off the opening in the lid of the blender and begin to slowly pour in the hot butter while the blender is still on.

Making Hollandaise this way is foolproof.  I promise.  No more using a double boiler, worrying about over-cooking the eggs, none of that.  Give your sauce a taste; it should be smoky-spicy with enough zing from the dijon and salted well.  If you feel like it needs more of something, trust your instincts and add a little more.  Don’t be afraid of the adobos, they are the most important part of this whole recipe. they are spicy on their own, but mixed with the butter and eggs they mellow out nicely.

To serve it, just scoop out a nice helping of hash with an egg on top and give it a drizzle of the Hollandaise.

People are going to be really happy you made this!