Green Tomato Hash


Well, never in my life did i think i'd be eatin' green tomatoes, but since gardening in the Pac NW--especially tomatoes in the garden--it can be a supurb year where no one dares looks at a neighbour for fear they'll pass along yet another grocery sack of produce from their garden, or it can be a year known as the "Summer of Lettuce and Peas"

When we had a cooler and wetter than usual summer a few years ago (the first time i joined a CSA) there was an overabundance of greenies from the CSA and our garden. My mom figured there had to be some use for them, so we scoured the internet, and this is a recipe she found from southern cooking on About.com.

Baked green tomato hash casserole is made with leftover meat, beef, or pork, and potatoes.

Ingredients:
•2 cups leftover chopped beef, pork or ham
•1 cup diced raw potatoes
•2 tablespoons butter
•1/2 cup diced green tomatoes
•1/4 cup chopped onion
•salt and pepper, to taste
Preparation:
Combine ingredients; mix well. Turn into a buttered casserole and bake at 325° for 1 hour.
Serves 4.

I've been making this with shredded beef or pork, Spanish style, which adds lots of flavour. Hubbie has an unsatisable palate for all things hot, so we've tried it with some jalapenos on his part too (it's that growing up in El Paso that taught him to love all things spicy--aka 5 star spicy. The kind of spicy that is so hot, you utter to yourself a Hail Mary or two and you tell your food, "I'll see you....later", just before you take the first bite.) Yeah, it's that kinda hot. Ei yi Ei!!