Q My mother made wonderful hash from leftovers. Could you help me with a recipe, or a guide? She was from Arizona, so she cooked spicy.
A Hash. I haven't heard anyone rave over hash in donkey's years. You are so right -- this can be one of those great-tasting, "save the family" bits of magic done with what's on hand. Browned crispy potatoes, bits of great-tasting this and that -- hash definitely needs a comeback. Image is the problem. In coffee shops, for example, you find it done with that despicable frozen-shredded-potato-and-canned-corn-beef glop.
Good hash is all about the mix and getting it crisp by browning (a big heavy skillet is a help).
The mix is flexible, so figure that one-third to one-half of your hash should be cooked sliced or diced potatoes because they taste good on their own and they brilliantly pick up other flavors. You want half that quantity again of onions, another half again of the starch quantity in cooked or easily sautéed vegetables. Then you could have some kind of cooked meat, or poultry, or cheese. Or you could top the hash with a fried egg.
Brown the mix on top of the stove and then brown the top under the broiler. If you are using eggs, make shallow wells in the top of the crusty hash, break in the eggs and run under the broiler until the white is firm.
This recipe is a starter. Season it as you wish, and use any mix you think you'd enjoy. Hash is an exercise in waste-not-want-not and doing it in style.
In pizza, cheese is tops Q Please settle a dispute. When making pizza, what is the order of the toppings? I say sauce, cheese, toppings. My lovely wife insists the toppings go after the sauce, then the cheese. We're not doing Chicago-style pizza, so I think I'm right. What do you say?
A I may be too late, but here is my two-cents' worth. The order is sauce, toppings and cheese.
Grating basics Q How do you grate ginger without bloody knuckles and without leaving most of the ginger stuck to the grater?
A Use a box grater, or lay a flat grater over a container. You want the grater parallel to the countertop, not perpendicular. Stretch a sheet of plastic wrap over the grater, pressing it into its surface.
Now the way to not bleed. Use a long (4 to 5 inches) piece of ginger so your knuckles get nowhere near the grater. Grate away, and when you are done, lift the plastic wrap off the grater, lay it flat on the counter and, with the back of a knife, scrape up any ginger.
Lynne Rossetto Kasper hosts "The Splendid Table" radio show from American Public Media, and is the co-author of "The Splendid Table's How to Eat Supper." To reach her, see www.splendidtable.org.