I love a good hash. My folks made it occasionally when I was growing up. They always used left-over beef from a roast. They'd cut up the beef into cubes, cube up some potatoes and onions and fry it all up. I was in heaven whenever they made it. Unfortunately the only time we ever had hash, was when there was leftover roast. So that didn't happen very often.

My parents made another similar dish where they would fry up potatoes and onions as a side dish to serve with smoked sausage. I loved that too. We had it more often since smoked sausage was a lot less expensive than a beef roast. It is also more of a spur of the moment meal, since you don't have to have leftover roast on hand to make it.

At some point after I started doing my own cooking, and after making both dishes many times, I got the idea of combining the two dishes into a hybrid sausage hash. Instead of leftover beef roast, I just started cutting up sausage and frying it up with the potatoes and onions. Being a great experimentalist at heart, I tried all sorts of variations over the years. I found that this hash recipe works well with a wide variety of different sausages, from Smoked to Kielbasa, to Bratwurst, to my favorite, Andouille. I haven't tried Italian sausage in it yet, but I don't see why it wouldn't work.

I also found that making a big skillet of hash is a great way to clean out the refrigerator and use up all kinds of leftovers and things nearing the end of their useful life. I like to make a lot of salads. So I usually have a lot of salad fixings in the fridge. Things like left over diced bell pepper, assorted varieties of mushrooms, and grated cheeses, etc. I like to toss them into the hash too, rather than let them go bad. Just about any vegetable could be fodder for the hash. Adding these leftovers also makes the batch of hash larger, with almost zero extra effort or expense. My hash recipe varies depending on what sausage and which leftovers are in my fridge. It is rarely exactly the same twice, but it is always good. Add a side dish or two, and it will make a great family meal.

This recipe will make enough hash to serve 4 people.

I always start out by dicing up the potatoes and onion. I cut them up into cubes about 1/2 inch in size and dump them into a large skillet with a couple of tablespoons of vegetable oil. I don't peel the potatoes. You can if you like, but I like the potato skins. Once in the skillet, sprinkle with 1 tsp seasoned salt, and put over medium heat.

While the potatoes and onion are heating up, get out about 1/2 pound of your sausage of choice and cut it up into slices 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick.

Add the sausage to the skillet and start stirring the mixture every few minutes. You want everything to brown evenly. This is the minimum recipe for sausage hash. You could stop here and cook it up as is, or you could go on a scavenger hunt in your fridge for more ingredients.

Here I have added the remainder of a tub of diced tri-color bell peppers I found hiding in my fridge. They were nearing the end of their life. "Better to go into the hash than into the trash," I always say.

Here is a tub of sliced white button mushrooms. They aren't old, but odds are I won't use all of them in salads before they go bad. So half will go into the hash. I also like Portobello mushrooms in my salads and hash. I wait until the other vegetables are just about cooked before adding the mushrooms. That way they won't get over-done.

You will know the hash is pretty much done when the vegetables are browned and tender. At this point I add 1 1/2 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce and stir it in, then kill the heat. Now is the time to add the grated cheese if you so desire. Here I used up some grated Parmesan that was getting rather long in the tooth, and the last dregs from a bag of grated sharp cheddar. All together a total of about 1/2 of a cup of cheese. The steam from the evaporating Worcestershire sauce melts the cheese nicely over the hash.

Add maybe a salad and a side dish or two, and call it dinner. The kids will probably want to slather ketchup on it before they will eat it. Just grin and bear it, and think of all the vegetables hidden in the hash that they are eating.

I hope you like this hash recipe as much as I do.

Enjoy!