Potato Hash...With a Secret Ingredient..Shhhhhh

Potatoes can be made 89776456789099276 (yes that's the exact number, I counted) different ways. This happens to be one of my favorite! Potato hash is pretty simple to make and with a low number of ingredients you will be amazed at how packed full of flavor it is. Potato hash can be enjoyed for breakfast with eggs, with brunch on toast or my favorite for dinner. You don't even really need any side dishes, but Bobble-Head would give me that look most men get when there are only veggies on the plate so I did serve this one with some baked Tilapia. There are a multitude of different hash recipes out there, but I find these are the flavors that marry together best. Plus there is one secret ingredient that I've never seen put in a hash before that happens to be super healthy for you. And if you never tell your husband or kids its in there they won't ever know! (It's kale ya'll....hipsters unite!) To try your hand at this potato of all trades recipe you will need:

**In true form I only measured two things, this recipe should be tailored to your tastes and you should be tasting throughout the process. I truly don't think you can have too much or too little of anything in this recipe except for the potatoes and salt ratio. Cooking should be more about taste for a dish like this, so don't worry about the exact measurements.**

2 Russet potatoes (Yes they have to be Russet. You need their starchiness and any other potato would be too waxy.)

Thick cut bacon or pancetta (I used thick cut bacon. Using pancetta will give you a more smokey flavor which is delicious but it can be difficult to find.)

Red and green bell-peppers

Green onion (This recipe uses only the white and light green parts of the onion.)

Baby kale

Butter

Olive oil

1 Teaspoon Kosher salt (we've been over this, you NEED to keep some kosher salt in your kitchen.)

Black pepper

Cayenne pepper

Sharp cheese (No,not the bagged kind.)

Before you do any cooking on the stove you will want to do the prep work. That means dicing your peeled potatoes and all of your veggies up to about the same size. Except the baby kale, just give that a rough chop because its going to wilt beautifully in the pan. You will also want to chop up your bacon or pancetta, I used 3 or 4 slices of the bacon. But of course if you aren't a big bacon fan just use less, this recipe really can be tailored to your tastes and preferences.

Once your potatoes are diced get them into a bowl of cold water and swirl them around with your hands, pour out the water and add fresh cold water. You will need to do this probably two or three times until the water stays clear. This removes some of the extra starch and makes the cooking process faster and the potatoes get a bit crisper. Then drain your potatoes and move them to a bowl. Making sure they are dry you can start to season using, KOSHER salt, pepper and of course cayenne.(Table salt just won't work for this, keep some kosher salt around you will use it more often than you think! Next start heating a cast iron skillet on the stove at a medium heat, and put in just enough olive oil to cover the surface and get started on your bacon. You want to cook it to just crisp, as it cooks you will notice all the fat is being rendered out, and that's what you will use to cook everything else. It's going to give some amazing flavor and help combine all the flavors in the pan. when your bacon is ready it should look something like this.

Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon and set it aside for a while. Next turn your heat up to medium-high and add your potatoes and some butter to the skillet. I have no clue how much butter I added, I just cut a bit off the stick. It really isn't a big deal how much or how little butter you use, you just need enough to combine in with that rendered bacon fat. Do not be over tempted to stir the potatoes frequently. Give them about 4 minutes at a time before stirring. You want them to start sticking the pan just a bit so they can brown.

You can see the potatoes are just starting to brown up a bit here so they needed to cook longer, the potatoes need to keep going until the are a really nice golden brown color. When you reach optimal goldness add in your peppers and onions. You want to cook everything together until the veggies get soft and tender, stirring occasionally.

At this point you are ready for the last two ingredients. Add your baby kale stirring continuously. It's going to wilt in beautifully and quickly! So be prepped to lose about half of what you put in. Once your kale is wilted down throw in a few quick grates of a sharp or smokey cheese. I think sharp would probably taste best, but I had a smokey Gouda on hand that worked great too. You don't need much, we are aren't trying to make a cheesy dish. You just want to incorporate a bit of the flavor. Once the cheese is combined you are going to have an amazing skillet that looks like this.

All that's left to do is plate and enjoy. You can eat this on its own as a main dish, or dress it up with something like eggs or meat. However you choose to have it this amazing dish will leave you wanting much more than just one serving.....