A Recipe from the Past
I read in bed at night, sometimes hours before I am ready to go to sleep. I like to read long magazine articles, especially in The New Yorker. I don’t read all the articles, but I surely remember the cartoons.
On one particular night I saw a cartoon about food that might have been in the freezer for a long time. That made me think I should check my big freezer in the garage the next day.
What I found were about three packages of skinless, boneless chicken breasts. They must have been on sale. I took a package and put it in the refrigerator. Then found, a recipe, yellowed with age, that I used to make it when we lived in Canterbury, Connecticut, maybe 25 years ago.
It was as delicious as I’d remembered. Feel free to use a bottled salsa, but the recipe below is my daughter’s recipe.
Lee White of Old Lyme has been a food editor and restaurant reviewer for more than 25 years. You can email her at leeawhite@aol.com.
Ginger Chicken Hash
Yield: 2 servings
Ingredients:
10 ounces skinless, bones chicken breast
2 cups low-sodium chicken stock to poach
chicken breasts
1 large baking potato
1 medium red onion (6 tablespoons grated)
1 tablespoons ginger, coarsely grated
2 tablespoons flour
3 egg whites
¼ teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black to taste
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
Directions
In a saucepan, add chicken breasts and stock. Bring to a boil, drop to a simmer, and cook for about 10 minutes, until the chicken is cooked. Remove from the pan. You will not use the stock again.
Meanwhile, peel potato, cut into small chunks, and place in food processor. Chop fine by pulsing; place potato in a dish towel and twist to squeeze out liquid; and place in mixing bowl. In the same processor bowl, finely chop the onion, then stir into the potato mixture. Grate ginger and add flour, egg whites, salt, and pepper into the bowl and stir. When chicken is cool, dice and stir into the mixture. Season with salt and pepper.
Heat large nonstick pan until it is very hot; reduce heat to medium. Add oil; add chicken hash mixture. Cook, stirring often, until browned. Stir with salsa.
Salsa
From my daughter, Darcy White
Ingredients:
½ onion (she uses yellow
onion, I like sweet onions)
1/3 bunch cilantro
1 bunch scallions
(green onions), green and
white parts
4 to 5 Roma tomatoes
(3 to 4 vine-ripened or
1 to 2 beefsteak tomatoes)
1 small can Rotel original
canned tomatoes
1 jalapeño, seeded, or
half a can El Patio Mexican
hot-style tomato sauce
Directions
Coarsely chop onions, cilantro, scallions, and fresh tomatoes. Place all ingredients except jalapeno or hot sauce into a food processor or blender and pulse to desired consistency. Place in a medium-sized bowl; stir in the jalapeno or hot sauce, to your own taste, and mix. Serve as a dip for chips, add ¼ cup into guacamole, or use with the chicken hash recipe above.