Smoked Turkey Hash with Foxen Tinaquaic Vineyard Syrah (Santa Maria Valley) 2010

On Thanksgiving Day, I grill-roasted a heritage breed, free range, organic 9 lb turkey from D'Artagnan using apple and hickory wood chips for smoke (one of the best things I ever did was to install a gas line on my back porch so I can run a natural gas grill and patio heater without ever having to worry about running out of propane on a long cook like this one, and hard wood charcoal purists can bite me).

Since it was just Helen and I, we had two drumsticks, one thigh, and one breast left over. A mid-morning snack today revealed that the leftovers had intensified in smokiness. I also had some leftover boiled new potatoes, green beans, and carrots. (The leftover cornbread dressing didn't make it past that midmorning snack). As I pondered tonight's dinner, I immediately thought: hash. So here's how I (mostly) cleaned out my refrigerator.

You definitely want to have your mise en place ready to go before you start cooking, as it goes pretty damned quick.

• ½ medium yellow onion, diced
• white parts of 3 green onions, diced finely
• 1 Serrano chile, seeded, minced finely
• 3 garlic cloves, minced finely
• 2 cups shredded turkey meat
• 8 golf ball sized boiled new potatoes cut into small dice
• ¾ cup cooked carrots, diced fine
• dried parsley flakes
• ¾ cup cooked haricot verts, diced fine
• green parts of 3 green onions, sliced finely
• olive oil
• unsalted butter
• salt
• pepper
• Worcestershire sauce
• 2 eggs
• Tabasco sauce

I heated my trusty All-Clad Master Chef 2 Nonstick 12-Inch Fry Pan over medium-high heat and added a tablespoon of olive oil and a tablespoon of butter. When the oil-butter mix stopped foaming, I added the onions and chili. I hit them with a small pinch of salt. I sauteed them until they had softened and were just beginning to color at the edges. I then added the garlic and cooked it another 30 seconds. Next I added the turkey and stirred it through. Next I added the potatoes, carrots, and a big pinch of the dried parsley. A big pinch of salt and 10 grinds of black pepper (using my Turkish pepper mill) followed. I tossed the hash around in the pan for a while, smoothed it out to an even level, and then pressed it down to let it brown. I spread the green beans and green onions on top of the mix.

While the hash browned, I heated a pat of butter in my Calphalon Nonstick 8-Inch Frying Pan. When the butter stopped foaming, I fried two eggs over easy. I seasoned them with salt, pepper, and a few dashes of Tabasco. As the eggs fried, I stirred the hash to mix in the beans and green onions. I then dished up the hash and topped each plate with one egg. Because I like heat much more than Helen does, I refrained from hitting her serving with the several more dashes of Tabasco to which I subjected mine.

What wine to serve with this hash? Granted, you could make a case for beer, cola, or iced tea being better matches. But I like wine. Specifically, red wine. I wanted something young, fruity, not super tannic, with some smoke being a plus. The 2010 Foxen Tinaquaic Vineyard Syrah worked surprisingly well. 

The bouquet suggests black cherry, raspberry, and cola. The palate picks up those elements, but adds smoky bacon, tar, and plums. Grade: B+