Easy Ham Hash — The Pork for Progress We Always Come Back To

New Year's Day 2019. Black-eyed peas for luck, collards for money, cornbread for gold, pork for progress. The annual beginning. The annual promise. The annual tradition that connects January 1st to every January 1st before it, a chain of meals that goes back to Mama's kitchen and before that to her mama's kitchen and before that to wherever the tradition started, which is wherever a Black woman stood at a stove and decided that the new year deserved a meal and the meal deserved meaning and the meaning deserved to be repeated until it became sacred.

David went back to Nashville with Charlie on the 28th, but the impression he left is still here — in the lawn chair where he sat, in the kitchen where he washed dishes without being asked, in the way Mama asked about "the dumpling boy" on my New Year's Day visit, which is Mama's way of saying she remembers him and the remembering is approval. Mama remembers the people who matter. The fog takes the rest.

Rosetta's resolution list is on the refrigerator: Earl will continue blood pressure medication (non-negotiable), Earl will eat more vegetables (annually renewed), Earl will set a retirement date (getting closer), and Rosetta will run her third half-marathon (certain). My resolutions: same as always. Smoke better. Love harder. Show up.

I made the peas with the smoked turkey wing variation that worked so well last year — the lighter smokiness that Rosetta prefers and that I have come to appreciate the way you appreciate a new note in a familiar chord: it doesn't change the song, it just opens it up. Walter Jr. and the family came. Marcus and Angela — married almost nine months now, settled, happy, Angela already talking about "someday" in a way that Rosetta interprets as baby-adjacent and I interpret as information I don't need to process yet.

The year ahead: retirement planning. Charlie and David. Mama's eighty-second birthday in September. The fundraiser. The smoker. The route, for one more year. All of it, low and slow, the way I do everything, the way I am everything, the way the fire burns and the smoke rises and the patience holds.

The black-eyed peas carried the meaning, but the pork carried the promise — and that’s been true at this table as long as I can remember. When Rosetta’s family had cleared out and the new year had officially settled in, I found myself reaching for something straightforward to use up the good smoked ham we’d had on hand: this Easy Ham Hash, the kind of dish that doesn’t ask anything of you except a skillet and a little patience. Low and slow, same as everything else worth doing.

Easy Ham Hash

Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 25 minutes | Total Time: 35 minutes | Servings: 4

Ingredients

• 2 cups cooked ham, diced into 1/2-inch cubes
• 3 medium russet potatoes, peeled and diced into 1/2-inch cubes
• 1 medium yellow onion, diced
• 1 green bell pepper, seeded and diced
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil or bacon drippings
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
• Salt and black pepper to taste
• 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped (optional, for garnish)

Instructions

1. Parboil the potatoes. Place the diced potatoes in a medium saucepan, cover with cold salted water, and bring to a boil. Cook for 5–6 minutes until just barely tender but not falling apart. Drain and set aside.
2. Sauté the vegetables. Heat oil or drippings in a large cast-iron or heavy skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and bell pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, for 4–5 minutes until softened and starting to turn golden at the edges.
3. Add the potatoes. Add the parboiled potatoes to the skillet in a single layer as best you can. Press down lightly and let them cook undisturbed for 4–5 minutes to develop a crust. Stir and repeat once more.
4. Add the ham. Fold in the diced ham, garlic powder, and smoked paprika. Stir to combine everything evenly. Press the hash down again and cook another 5–6 minutes, stirring once, until the ham is heated through and edges are crisp.
5. Season and serve. Taste and adjust salt and black pepper as needed. Garnish with fresh parsley if desired and serve hot, directly from the skillet.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 310 | Protein: 18g | Fat: 12g | Carbs: 31g | Fiber: 3g | Sodium: 820mg