Corned Beef Hash

1 can any brand Corned Beef (I prefer Libby’s)
1 clove garlic, crushed or minced
¼ medium onion, diced (about a couple of TBS)
1 small tomato diced
1 medium size potato (optional), diced very small
oil for sautéing

Sauté the garlic and onions in a skillet with 1 TBS cooking oil until the onions are soft and translucent, then add the tomatoes, pressing until the tomatoes are soft adding a few teaspoons of water to keep from getting too dry. Add the diced potato and simmer covered for a couple of minutes stirring occasionally. Add a tablespoon of water if it gets too dry. Cook until the potatoes are cooked but still firm. Add the corned beef before the potatoes get too soft. Break it apart in the skillet, stirring to prevent sticking and burning on the bottom. It is done when the potatoes are done.

Add a dash of black pepper. It is already salty so do not add salt before you taste it.

Another way is to fry the potatoes first and set aside. Then sauté the garlic, onion and tomatoes. Add the corned beef, break apart, then add the potatoes. Simmer for a couple of minutes and enjoy.

There are a few dishes I know that you can make from corned beef. One is soup with macaroni and another is omelet.

I woke up this morning figuring out what I wanted for breakfast. I’m tired of bacon and eggs, oatmeal, or cereal. I didn’t have leftover paksiw for fried rice and really couldn’t find anything in the fridge appropriate to eat for breakfast for myself. I found a couple of cans of corned beef in the pantry and gave me the sense I was hungry for it.

So, I started to chop up the ingredients and proceeded to cook it. While I was cooking it I remembered my childhood with the corned beef experience that I decided to write it down.

My husband had his regular bacon and eggs with toast. He was in the Navy and said he is sick of corned beef and refuses to eat it. Well, it’s all for me then.

When I was in elementary school back in the Philippines, I would walk to school with the other children. We would pass vendors lined up along the street selling cooked food, fruits, snacks and candies. One of the older children who was watching over me stopped to buy breakfast from one of vendors. I got swayed to do the same because it looked and smelled good and I was hungry.

One corned beef sandwich cost 5 centavos, like a nickel. (Wow! Those were the good ol’ days). The bread is called pandesal, which is a crusty roll like bolillos. I bought two of those sandwiches, one to eat right then, and the other to save for later.

When I bit into the crispy crust the meat squeezed out of the bread. I hurriedly turned it around to catch it with my lips, my tongue and my face so that it would not fall to the ground and get wasted. You see I was only 6 years old then and I was walking very fast or almost running to keep up with the older kids and also so as not to be late while I ate my sandwich. Hmmm, a little too much for a little kid, not to mention all the books I had to carry in my school bag (backpacks were not yet invented).

It was the aroma and the crispy crust of warm Pandesal that I was missing. I will bake some Pandesal one of these days. There is nothing better than the freshly baked, just come out of the oven bread, steaming hot, smelling yeasty baked flour and the crunchy crust that breaks apart when you bite it. Slap on some butter, sit down and gobble it all up. Before you know it there is no more left when you are ready to eat them with the good dish.

Well, I wish I had pandesal this morning. It is also good with toast but I opted for a little rice. I can still have this tomorrow with toast and scrambled eggs if I have some leftovers.

I thought my husband didn’t like this dish because he said he got sick and tired of corned beef when he was in the military years ago. So, I only cooked this for myself. Good, I don’t have to share. But to my surprise he saw it and made a sandwich in toast with Mayo and cheese. Now he says he likes it.