Fried Spam, Onions, Potatoes & Mushrooms
By David J. Stewart
I don't have a photo of this meal, but it's one of my favorites to cook and eat. It's simple to make and tasty.
Ingredients:
1 yellow onion (any size), diced
1 can white potatoes, diced
Spam (whatever amount you like, I use a 3oz. single slice packet), diced
small can mushroom pieces (optional, I like mushrooms), diced
fresh ground pepper to taste (I like a lot. I use McCormick's “Peppercorn Medley Grinder.” It's under $5.)
2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (has a fruity smell)
Preparation:
Dice the onion into small pieces and sauté in a large frying pan under medium heat with the olive oil. Then add the diced up Spam, potatoes and mushrooms. Cook until everything starts to brown, stirring occasionally. I prefer to really brown the meal to give it a great fried flavor.
Close to the end, add pepper. I use a pepper grinder with assorted color peppercorns inside. This gives you freshly ground pepper. I wouldn't use black pepper in a can. McCormick makes the one I use. It's called the “Peppercorn Medley Grinder,” and costs under $5 at any larger grocery store. I add pepper and taste the meal, then add some more to taste. You can always add more pepper, but you can't remove it, so be careful not to over do it. I do like plenty of pepper as it gives the meal a great flavor.
The diced mix of grilled onions, potatoes, Spam and mushrooms is delicious. You've got meat and potatoes with the great onion taste and mushrooms to top it off. The pepper highlights the meal wonderfully. I don't use any salt. If I have mushrooms I use them, but if not it won't keep me from making this meal.
I usually have a buttered dinner roll with each meal. I always use real butter for everything, unless a recipe specifically calls for vegetable oil (i.e., Margarine).
Note: I like the flavor of potatoes from a can. They taste good to me and are already cooked and soft. If you choose to use raw potatoes, then you need to boil them first to make them soft. Then you can fry them in this recipe. Personally, I much rather prefer the precooked potatoes from the can. That's just me.
The important thing is to thoroughly fry this meal, or else it just won't taste the same. It's your preference. I really like it browned well. Enjoy!
Storage and reheating tip:
I often don't eat the entire meal at once because it makes quite a bit. I always have plenty of gallon-sized Ziploc baggies on hand. I put the whole bowl with the leftovers into a gallon-sized bag and put it into the refrigerator. The next day just open the bag about an inch or so and then microwave the food, bowl and all, for about 1:30 minutes to warm it up (depending on your Microwave's power). The baggie causes the food to steam and warms it uniformly. Without the baggie, the bottom of the bowl tends to heat up, but not the top of the food. The baggie steams it. I use this technique to microwave most of my foods.