Breakfast in Jeanne-Mance Park

Sweet Potato Hash

Sunday morning was gloriously warm and sunny. Appropriately, Leigh Partington, (another loyal altitudiène), Carie, one of Leigh’s friends, and I brought our picnicking equipment, i.e., camping stoves, fuel, coffee, food, blankets, cutlery, cups, plates, bowls etc., to Jeanne-Mance Park in Montreal where we proceeded to cook ourselves up a delicious little breakfast. Trying to recreate the most authentic camping scene that I could, I wanted to think of a recipe that would be appropriate for folks spending some time out in the trees, or along the beach, or in the mountains, and that wouldn’t be too difficult.

There are many kinds of hash, but from what I gather, there are two kinds: wet and dry. Wet hashes use gravy in their preparation and dry ones use the fat rendered from butter or meat. (My recipe will be for a dry hash, but if you’d like to experiment by adding gravy, or searching for other recipes on the Internet, please, be my guest.) I am of the opinion that you can throw whatever the heck you want into hash. Maybe you want to add other ingredients such as spinach, cheese, dried herbs, and spices, to name a few. The main point is that you want your hash to have lots of crusty crunchy bits that will contrast silky yolks of fried eggs, or light pillowy scrambled ones. To avoid waiting an hour for breakfast to be ready, use pre-cooked potatoes that you have left over from the night before. That way the hash will heat up and cook quickly to a golden brown.

MSR Whisperlite International

You can use almost any stove to cook this meal because it involves quick sautéing and browning. I have a MSR Whisperlite International stove, which has two settings: high and low. It’s a hearty, lightweight little machine meant for expeditions and simple cooking. Using this as my number one weapon of choice, I have every intention on becoming a master, backpacking chef (even though I heard that the heavier MSR Dragonfly is the Rolls Royce of camping stoves….)

It’s also nice to have a friend like Leigh along who will bring her Jetboil and make you coffee while you cook. The Jetboil Personal Cooking System (PCS)is the ultimate solo hiker’s dream. It boils water at a rapid-fire speed, is insulated with a neoprene case so you can pick it up with your hands and everything fits into the canister! The real bonus is if you buy the French Press attachment, which you can also store inside the pot, it’s a real one-pot operation.

The Jet Boil (PCS)

For actual cooking I’ve however heard that it’s a bit tricky. Leigh said she burned a perfect black sphere into her pot of oatmeal when she left the pot unattended for 30 seconds. Next time I’m going to give it a go, so you can look out for an update. For now, here’s the recipe.

Sweet Potato Pesto Hash

Make this recipe after a night of fire-roasted potatoes and any meat you have left over such as, hamburger, hot dogs, other sausage, bacon etc.

For four hungry hikers/campers/picnickers

2 eggs per person
2 C diced cooked potato (or raw)*
2 C diced cooked sweet potato (or raw)
1 C chopped meat (can be uncooked)
1 C chopped onion
A couple TBS of pesto
Salt and Pepper

*If you use raw potato, this will take much longer.

Fry your onion and meat (I used bacon) together in a frying pan until it’s tender and brown.

Frying the onions and bacon

Then add your potatoes, sweet potatoes and pesto. Add salt and pepper to taste. Cook until crunchy and crispy, it’s okay if some parts are almost burned.