All of these words make sense on their own, but when placed together, they become a culinary puzzle to unravel. If you are not familiar with the Dutch Baby, it is in the pancake genre, but is thick, custardy, and baked in a cast iron skillet. Our breakfast-for-dinner side dish was hash. Why cowboy hash? Because marketing is everything. Who doesn’t want to make a dish that could have been whipped up on the lone prairie (provided “Cookie” had a jar of salsa and some knife skills)? Yes, we took a bunch of ingredients that were sitting around in the pantry or fridge, combined them in a skillet, and called it Cowboy Hash. Everyone was happy.
Ben was happy as a clam, declaring that it was an occasion worthy of eating in the dining room instead of the kitchen. We knew he meant business when he set the table with water goblets instead of regular glasses.
We doubled this Dutch Baby recipe:
https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/brown-butter-dutch-baby
Cowboy Hash
1 tablespoon oil
2 potatoes, cubed
1 green pepper, chopped,
1 onion chopped
1can of black beans, drained and rinsed,
2-3 cups of cubed ham (ours had been frozen during the holidays, and thawed)
1/2 teaspoon Adobo seasoning
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 jar salsa
Sauté potatoes, pepper, and onion in oil over medium to medium-high heat. When vegetables are soft, add remaining ingredients, and heat through. Call it Cowboy Hash, clang together an assortment of metallic kitchen implements, and holler, “Come and git it!!!”
I learned some important things this week. The school district offers (apparently?) free breakfasts and lunches for students to pick up on their way out of school. We are pretty sure this intended for those experiencing food insecurity, especially since most people are only in school twice a week. We have tried to tell Ben that we are covered, and he doesn’t have to raid this supply, but every day he brings home a pile of food. Sometimes it is stuff we wants and eats. Other times it sits in the fridge for awhile, and I am guilted into finding a use for it because I don’t like to waste things.
When we made the Dutch Baby, Ben was insistent that we add the peaches he brought home from school to add to our frozen peaches, and caramelize as a topping. Milk? He had us covered with several half-pint sized cartons. Though we have begged him not to bring this food home from school because we don’t need it and other people might, what I finally realized today is that bringing this food home to contribute to our meals is Ben’s way of doing his part. At the heart of everything he does is his desire to be part of the team. He beams with pride when he can contribute food towards a family meal. We aren’t sports-y folks, but Ben knows when he is part of the team. Until I figure out a better way, we will support the local food bank, I will sniff tiny cartons of milk for freshness, I will chop dried out baby carrots to add to soup, and I will dream up new applications for canned corn.
