Corned Beef Hash - Deal of the Day

I am a fan of Corned Beef Hash and my latest Deal of the Day is quite tasty, even from a can. What makes it a hash is the addition of cooked diced potatoes. There are a lot of purveyers of canned Corned Beef Hash out there, and as for this one, American Pride, it does the job fine.

The can instructions says this Hash is already cooked and ready to eat - well, I would give it a seared caramelized crust first, then serve. It's too much like a greasy and meaty potato salad texture, kinda off-putting to me, in it's raw state.  

Corned Beef is cured with sugar, salt and coriander spice, so that is a lot of flavor. You can see my recipe here, to make your own Corned Beef, or Pastrami, sometime.

I like my Corned Beef Hash with over-easy eggs for breakfast. I cook the Hash about 5 minutes until it has a crispy crust on one side, then I get the eggs going. It is best to use a non-stick pan so it's easier to turn over crispy Corned Beef Hash. But if you use a regular frying pan, be sure it's well oiled.

As with typical Corned Beef, this version is salty, but not too much to overpower everything, so you don't need to salt the eggs, too. I just add a little pepper to my eggs.

And when the eggs are done, the best part is breaking the yolk and swirling it into the hot Corned Beef Hash. Next cut out a hunk of egg white and scoop it up with a chunk of Hash. Boy is this a tasty mouthful.

I'm sure this Corned Beef Hash would combine with scrambled eggs, too.

I used about a third of this 15 ounce can for one serving. This may seem like a large amount, but once the Hash is heated, it starts to reduce in size, melting out the water and any beef fat.

right from the can

Now there are a couple of minor problems that the can cover photo doesn't show. First, it looks like there are large pieces of  corned beef  brisket. The salty and pungent corned beef taste is there in spades, but the meat texture is more ground meat than typical chunky beef. So the potato and meat mush together in flavor.

The potato part is okay though, while the cubes are on the small side, they are big enough to sometimes have a nice plain potato starch taste.

The ingredient list short, mostly corned beef, potatoes, sugar and a little more salt. You don't want to serve this every day as there is a lot of fat and sodium.

My latest Deal of the Day is a pungent way to start the day. I would give this Hash another try, too. So on my Cheap$kate Dining Scale of 1 to 9, 9 being beast, I give American Pride Corned Beef Hash a satisfying 6!

Dumplings & Chicken - Deal of the Day

Southern comfort in a can is the latest Deal of the Day's offering. In the manner of Jewish Matzo Balls or Chinese Won Tons, Dumplings & Chicken by Comfort Creek Foods are tender dough slabs in a flavorful broth. At just 15 ounces, it's a hearty meal in a tin.

I'm always a bit wary of canned meals -- chile with beans is about the only canned dish that sometimes works. Soups are always lacking in veggies, meat and noddles (or rice.) I'll give Comfort Creek Foods credit for loading the can with fat dumplings and tender white meat chicken chunks.

I think the last time I had Chicken and Dumplings was sitting on my grandmothers lap and being spoon-fed as a 4 year old! And after putting away this loaded Deal of the Day you'll be ready for your nap.

The dumplings are as large as poker chips and the chicken pieces actually match the size of the label photo. I could not detect any veggies in the gravy; some pieces of celery and onion would've been nice. And more chicken would have been even better -- I guess that's why it's labeled as "Dumplings & Chicken" not the more traditional "Chicken & Dumplings."

As for the gravy, it's awfully salty; while not quite a salt lick in a canister, it is a common problem with canned foodstuffs, so I'm not too surprised. And I would have liked more liquid or broth mixed into the gravy. When I heated it in a pot on the stove top, what little liquid there was almost cooked away. Maybe they should put somewhere on the label "add 1/4 cup of water".

The dumplings themselves are firm but not too much so, and the taste is light and doughy, flavored by the chicken gravy.

So all in all it's not a bad Deal of the Day. On a scale of 1 to 9, 9 being best, I give Comfort Creek Foods Dumplings & Chicken a big fat 6.