Spring Hash

The Sunday before last was Mothers Day, and I hope y'all remembered that. Remembering constitutes a call, card, gift, and/or hug. I woke up on Sunday morning to the sound of my mother walking down the hall; if I were a better daughter, I would have set my alarm and greeted Mom in bed with breakfast, but since I'm the only daughter, I'm already the best daughter. I ran to the kitchen and started to prepare breakfast; fortunately, I had already decided on something to make the night before, so I could begin delegating tasks to dad.

We made asparagus hash, because what's better than something terribly springy on a beautiful May day? The local farm stand had the most picturesque asparagus. I swear they picked it the day we bought it. I could eat it every other day--yeah, probably not every day--and never get sick of it. My dad, on the other hand, sees having it once a week as an overdose. It was time to get creative; roasted asparagus just wasn't going to cut it any longer.

I also needed to use asparagus in a breakfast dish...other than a quiche. This hash is very simple; it took about 40 minutes from dicing the first potato to topping it with the fried egg and parmesan. It was a great brunch dish and would have been enjoyed even more had we not gone straight from brunch to a huge lunch at my grandparents' to a nap to dinner. At dinner, we were all still full from brunch, yet somehow, we managed to keep eating.

This recipe could have used a little more bacon, because a) Dad snacked on it the whole time we were cooking the potatoes, and b) life can use more bacon. I'm not a huge fan of meat, but I L.O.V.E. bacon. Remember these? As I've said before, bacon alone is enough reason not to be vegetarian. If you are vegetarian, I guess you could leave the bacon out of the recipe.

1/4 lb. bacon (you may want more)
3 red skinned potatoes, diced 1/4" to 1/2"
1 medium onion, chopped
1 bunch of asparagus, chopped to 1" pieces
salt and pepper to taste

Cook the bacon in (cast iron) skillet until crispy. Remove from pan and crumble once it cools. Remove all but a couple tablespoons of grease from the pan.

Add the potatoes to the hot grease over medium-high heat. Try to make a single layer in the pan, and do not move them once you have arranged them. After five or so minutes, flip the potatoes. Let them crisp on this side for 5 minutes. Add salt and pepper or your favorite seasoning salt. Add the onions and saute for a couple of minutes.

Add the asparagus. You will want to cook thicker asparagus for 7 - 10 minutes based on your preferred doneness. If you have pencil-size asparagus, 4 - 5 minutes may do it.

A couple of minutes before your asparagus is done, fry an egg (in another pan, please). I like mine over medium, but if you prefer over easy, then go for it. Once the asparagus is done, add the remaining bacon (if there is any left after snacking occurs) and toss. Serve the egg over a scoop of the hash and top with parmesan cheese.