I recently spent the weekend on the coast of North Carolina. I stayed in Morehead City but passed through the beautiful Emerald Isle and Atlantic Beach to get there. I was attending a wedding reception at the North Carolina Aquarium in Pine Knoll Shores, the coolest place I’ve ever attended a wedding or reception by the way. Just imagine, the bride and groom sitting in front of a huge fish tank, sharks and other exotic fish swimming behind them. Being the foodie that I am I investigated places to eat. The options were painfully limited; I don’t do fast food. There was a breakfast/brunch place close by that had great, consistent reviews so I went there for breakfast. I ordered the hash brown sundae; I believe when I go to eat somewhere, I need to experience different dishes instead of playing the safe card by ordering the same thing. I’m glad I ordered the hash brown sundae because it inspired this remake of the dish. Now, I did healthen it up a bit, healthen is a word, right? I’m making a word. Here’s how my variation is different from the restaurant: I used shredded butternut squash instead of potatoes, turkey bacon instead of pig bacon and ghee instead of salted butter or any other overly processed cooking oil (ha-hem, canola). Feel free to use white or sweet potatoes in place of the butternut squash. I used my food processor to grate the squash and cheese. Sharp cheddar is used in this recipe, although I will make it with Swiss cheese next time to see how the flavors work together. I suggest buying a block and grating it yourself instead of pre-shredded cheese.
Serves two. Prep time: 15 minutes Cook time: 20 minutes
Ingredients:
4 cups shredded butternut squash
1 1/2 cups thinly sliced yellow onion
5 strips turkey bacon
1/3 cup shredded cheddar cheese
4 eggs
Ghee
Put It Together:
Spray a large nonstick pan with high temp cooking oil like avocado or coconut oil and heat pan to medium-high. Once the pan is hot, add butternut squash and onion. Sauté and stir often for about 15 minutes, until squash begins to char and onion is translucent and soft. I put a lid over the pan to keep the heat in. While this is cooking, place bacon slices on a paper towel lined plate, cover bacon with paper towel too, and microwave for 2-3 minutes, moving and flipping pieces around about every minute. Cook until nice and brown. *Option: cook bacon in a pan on the stove top, never in the oven. Cut bacon into 2 inch strips and set aside. Fry eggs in a nonstick pan in 1 tablespoon of ghee until cooked to desired doneness. I like a runny yolk, so I cooked for 2-3 minutes per egg, flipping halfway through.
Divide hash brown mix onto 2 plates, top with grated cheese, bacon slices and two eggs per plate. Season with pepper. Chow down y’all!
This looks YUMMY!!!!