Remember when canned food was good?

I remember when I was a child, canned food wasn't looked at the way it is today. I remember liking some things out of cans, and I still do. Not everything, mind you. I remember loving asparagus in a can. It was a special treat. We'd warm it up, and (literally) slurp it down. Now, I don't like my asparagus cooked that long, or that color, so I buy it fresh and cook it myself. I still like corn from a can, and I still like Spam. It does need to be sliced thin and fried until it's crispy, just like when I was a kid. Another thing I like is corned beef hash. 

There is really nothing like the corned beef hash that comes out of a can. The potatoes are teeny tiny squares, the corned beef is smooth and salty, and you have to scoop it out to put it in the pan. Once you get it there, we smash it down so that it's almost a flat layer in the bottom of the pan. There's just enough fat in there to make it amazingly crispy on the outside while it stays moist in the middle. MMMM!!!

Walter and I tried to recreate that experience with the rest of the corned beef he made last week. We ground it up in the food processor, and combined it with some hashed brown potatoes. It was close, but no cigar. We decided there's just no substitute for some things.

Almost right!

Today I'm back to bread making - I'm trying brioche. I think it looks right - we'll see how it turns out on tomorrow's blog. Until then, I hope you have all you need, and much of what you want!