Soft Meat Hash (Beef, Corned Beef, Lamb, Pork, Veal, or Ham)

Recipe No. 325 from the U.S. Army’s WWII cookbook — Meat. Quantities are exactly as printed, for 100 servings; a scaled-down 8-serving version is in the notes.

Ingredients

• Meat, cooked, diced — 22 pounds
• Potatoes, cooked, diced — 20 pounds
• Onions, chopped — 5 pounds (5 No. 56 dippers)
• Salt (if needed) — 4 ounces (8 mess kit spoons)
• Pepper (if needed) — ¼ ounce (1 mess kit spoon)
• Meat stock or gravy — 1 gallon (4 No. 56 dippers)

Directions

1. Combine diced meat, potatoes, and onions; add salt and pepper if needed.
2. Pour hash into well-greased baking pans to depth of 3 inches. Add enough stock or gravy to cover entirely and moisten thoroughly, but avoid making mixture as thin as a stew.
3. Bake in slow oven (325° F.) until mixture is thoroughly hot and slightly brown on top.

Notes

SCALED TO 8 SERVINGS (the original is ÷12.5): Meat, cooked, diced — 1 lb 12¼ oz Potatoes, cooked, diced — 1 lb 9⅔ oz Onions, chopped — 6⅓ oz Salt (if needed) — about 2 tsp Pepper (if needed) — a pinch Meat stock or gravy — 1¼ cups

All kinds of left-over potatoes except fried may be utilized in this recipe. Left-over meats, gravies, and bread stuffings may also be used.

— TM 10-412, Army Recipes (War Department, 15 August 1944), recipe No. 325, Meat. Army measures: 1 No. 56 dipper = 1 qt; 1 No. 55 dipper = 1¾ qt; 1 mess kit cup = 1½ pints.