White Trash Hash

You don’t have to live in a trailer park to enjoy this easy-to-make meat & potatoes grub, prepared with a can of beer!

We've all heard of and probably had, corned beef hash, especially that kind from a can. White Trash or not, that's just gross. And to make it from scratch properly, with brisket, takes a great deal of time. So forget about the corned beef, we'll use ground beef (or turkey if you want to look good in your swim suit or halter top), potatoes and of course a can (or two) of beer.

Here's the recipe:

• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Cook Time: 20 mins
• Yield: 3-4 Bowls

Ingredients

• 1lb Ground Beef (or Turkey)
• 4-5 Large Red, White or Gold Potatoes, roughly chopped (substitute 2-3 Idaho Russet)
• 2-3 Garlic Cloves, finely chopped
• 1/2 Medium Onion, finely chopped
• 1/2 Bell Pepper, finely chopped
• 2 Cheap Beers, 1 for cooking and 1 for the chef
• Salt & Pepper to taste

Directions

Place your potatoes into a medium pot, fill with enough cold water to just cover them, add a teaspoon of salt, cover, then onto high heat, until boiling. Meanwhile, chop your garlic, onion, bell peppers and set aside. 

Once the potatoes have begun to boil, reduce the heat to a simmering boil, but not too rapid or the potatoes will become mush. Cook for about 10 minutes, until tender. While the potatoes are doing their thing, put your meat into a large skillet over medium high heat and brown. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Once the meat has gotten just browned, use a slotted spoon and remove it from the pan into a strainer or heat-tolerant colander and allow to drain. However, DO NOT remove the rendered fat from the skillet. Over medium heat, add your onions to the skillet and sauté until translucent, about 6-7 minutes. Add in your bell peppers after about 3 minutes, and finally the garlic for the last minute. Salt and pepper to taste (If your meat is lean, you may need to add a teaspoon or so of oil to sauté your veggies).

Keep an eye on your potatoes. Once tender, carefully pour off the water and cover to keep warm. Add your meat back to the skillet. Over high heat, slowly pour in one beer and deglaze (scrape the bottom of the pan) to loosen up all the browny goodness. Once it comes to a boil, reduce the heat to medium and simmer uncovered until it reduces to a thick consistency, about 5-6 minutes.

To serve, place your meat into a medium serving bowl and your potatoes into another. Each person serves themselves, placing potatoes into their bowl, then the meat. 

Top with ketchup, mustard, hot sauce (optional), grated cheese (or canned cheese if you’re REALLY trashy!), schmush together and enjoy!

Semi-Healthy Peanut Butter Cookies

A tasty update to the traditional cookie, that happens to be gluten-free and vegan.

Your typical peanut butter cookie recipe calls for a whole bunch of flour, sugar and eggs,  which really weighs down the cookie, and certainly isn’t all that healthy. With this contemporary spin, using puréed banana instead of eggs and no flour, the true taste of the peanut butter shines through and go figure, it’s actually a lot healthier too.

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cooking Time: 10 minutes

Servings: 2 Dozen Cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 cups All Natural Peanut Butter, crunchy and/or creamy, without added sugar, room temperature
• 1/2 ripe large Banana, room temperature 
• 3 tablespoons Honey
• 1/2 cup raw or granulated Sugar
• 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
• 1/2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• Optional embellishments:
• Jelly or Jam
• Chopped nuts: such as pecans, almonds, peanuts 
• Nutella*
• Chocolate Chips or Kisses*

*Nutella and chocolate contain milk, which negates the vegan

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 325.

While still in its container, place the honey into a small bowl of hot water to soften it. Put your peeled banana into a blender or food processor and purée until smooth; OR toss into a large mixing bowl and with a potato masher, schmush it up. Add into the mixing bowl the peanut butter, baking soda, vanilla, honey and sugar. Using a hand mixer on low or a large spoon, thoroughly stir to combine. 

If using chocolate chips or nuts, gently stir them in. Using a spoon, scoop out some cookie dough, then roll it into a ping-pong-sized ball and place onto a cookie sheet, preferably lined with parchment paper. If the dough is a little sticky, dip your fingers into some room temperature water before rolling into balls. Repeat for the rest of the cookies, placing them about an inch apart. 

For old-school cookies, using a fork dipped in water, make crosshatch marks across the top and flatten them out slightly. 

For thumbprint cookies, dip your thumb (or a finger) into some water, push down into the middle of the cookie, then fill with a 1/4 teaspoon of jelly, jam, Nutella or a chocolate kiss.

Into the oven they go for 10-12 minutes. Keep an eye on them so they don’t burn. Once they’re done, place onto a rack to cool for a for about 10 minutes.

Note: The cookies will be soft when they first come out of the oven, be sure not to disturb them until cool. 

As an added treat, place a scoop of softened vanilla ice cream or frozen yogurt in between two cooled cookies and freeze for a couple of hours for a tasty ice cream sammich!