by Ali Carter, WPVGA Auxiliary Member
Managing Editor’s note: Ali Carter’s new cooking column will be replacing Gerri Okray’s “What’s Cookin’” with Gerri’s blessing. Gerri wrote an article about her experiences writing her column for years and working with Badger Common’Tater, WPVGA and WPVGA Auxiliary. We wish her the very best and hopefully, she will continue to contribute material!
“My husband, Mike, Bushman’s, Inc., says that I tend to ‘love’ the people around me with food. He is right. I’m not sure anything is more fulfilling than creating a meal for the ones you love. There is a certain creativity and freedom that comes from being in the kitchen. Cooking is a passion of mine and I am beyond excited to share that passion and adventure with all of you!”
Can we talk a minute about breakfast for dinner? It is a bit indulgent and fun to savor the typical morning meals at the end of a busy day. This Chorizo Potato Hash is one of those breakfast meals that come together easily while providing great flavors.
Crispy fried potatoes and sweet potatoes are perfect mixed with chorizo sausage, cilantro and sprinkling of spices. A soft fried egg, a slice or two of avocado and an English muffin with butter melting into the crooks and crannies, rounds out the meal making this perfectly filling for the day’s end.
Today, I chose to use russets as well as an orange sweet potato and a white sweet potato. The white sweet potatoes have a softer texture and milder sweetness than the orange. Combining them both with the russet makes for incredible levels of crispness and flavor.
If you use a variety of sweet potatoes, keep in mind that an orange sweet potato will take longer to cook, so add that to the frying pan first along with a drizzle of olive oil and a pat of butter. Once they soften, 
add the white sweet potato to the pan. Continue cooking until both are just about fork tender. Then, drizzle a bit more olive oil on them and add the diced russets. This entire process takes about 35 minutes. Look at these beautifully subtle colors!
At this point, add the diced onion and continue frying, allowing the onions to soften and the potato to crisp up. Then, transfer that delicious potato combination to a bowl and brown your chorizo sausage in the frying pan. Once browned, add the potatoes back into the pan with the chorizo sausage, sprinkle with chopped cilantro and the spices and turn the burner to low. In another pan, fry an egg (or two) for each person you will be loving with food this evening. Once the eggs are fried, you are ready to plate this savory ‘breakfast’.
When I cook, it is typically for three ravenous kids and a hungry husband, plus I LOVE leftovers so I tend to make more food than necessary at the evening meal. This recipe will feed a family of five with healthy appetites and allow for those treasured leftovers. The beauty of cooking is the ability to tweak each recipe to fit your particular needs so please feel free to adjust as needed to make this work for you.
You also may notice that I do not mention spice amounts in the recipe below, but bear with me
on this as I tend to simply add a dash of this and a sprinkle of that. Again, feel free to be creative!
I promise you cannot mess up this recipe.
CHORIZO POTATO HASH RECIPE
4 medium-sized russet potatoes, diced into cubes
2 orange sweet potatoes, peeled & diced in small cubes
1 white sweet potato, peeled & diced in small cubes
1 large onion, chopped
15-oz. chorizo sausage
2 Tablespoons butter
2-3 Tablespoons olive oil
Fresh cilantro, chopped
Paprika
Cumin
Garlic powder
Salt and pepper
Eggs
Avocado (optional)
In a large frying pan, drizzled with olive oil and a pat or two of butter, fry the sweet potatoes and russets until tender and begin to crisp up. Add the onion and continue to fry. Once cooked through to fork tender and your desired crispness, transfer the potato combination to a bowl. Use the same frying pan to brown the chorizo sausage. Once browned, add the potatoes back into the frying pan to rewarm.
Add the chopped cilantro, salt and pepper and spices. Lower heat to low and keep warm. In another pan, melt a pat of butter and fry an egg or two per person. Add large scoop of sausage and potatoes to a plate, top with a fried egg (or two) and sprinkle with some additional chopped cilantro. Add a couple slices of avocado on the side. ENJOY!
