There are plenty of reasons I feel spoiled living in Rapid City, but one of them is that we have excellent coffee shops! One of our absolute favorites is Essence of Coffee located downtown on Main Street. I’m not a coffee drinker, but my husband says they have the best coffee in town. I enjoy their take on a London Fog, but we both can agree that anything on the menu is outstanding.

I’m not afraid to try new things there, because even recipes that have sounded “funny” or downright weird when I’ve looked at the description have pleased my tastebuds and we keep going back for more. This hash definitely made me raise my eyebrows upon reading the menu after my husband suggested it. Apples with sausage and red onion? Maple syrup with eggs? But then I shrugged and figured, “I’ve never had anything here I didn’t like.” I just started recreating this at home. There’s a few extra dishes involved because you roast the potatoes, brown the sausage and then still have eggs to cook in another pan, but it’s worth it. I can make the potatoes and sausage mix and then only make a small serving of eggs and save the leftovers so I only have to fry or scramble eggs the next day for a quick brunch.

You’ll love this dish. Don’t be afraid of drizzling the maple syrup over the eggs. It’s delicious! You can use only sweet potatoes instead of having two different kinds, I just did both because that’s how it’s served at Essence of Coffee. I scramble the eggs when my kids are eating with us, but Michael prefers his over easy stacked on top of the hash. You can’t go wrong! And the next time you’re in Rapid, make sure you visit Essence of Coffee!

Apple Sausage Hash

Ingredients

• 1 small sweet potato, diced
• 2 gold potatoes, diced
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon salt plus more to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh cracked pepper plus more to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary
• 1 lb maple sausage
• 1 Honeycrisp apple, peeled and diced
• 1/2 red onion, diced
• 3 Tablespoons maple syrup, divided
• 1 Tablespoon butter
• 8-10 eggs, scrambled (or. . . however)

Directions

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees
• Peel and dice both types of potatoes and place in mixing bowl. Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil and stir to coat.
• Spread potatoes on baking sheet and sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon salt, pepper, and dried rosemary
• Bake potatoes for 25 minutes stirring once halfway through cooking time. (Starting a timer is crucial unless you’re a fabulous multitasker and aren’t distracted by children who always want something when you’re busy.)
• Dice red onion
• Peel and dice apple
• Brown sausage in large frying pan. Drain if necessary.
• Add red onion and apple cubes to sausage along with 1 1/2 tablespoons of maple syrup. Stir and cover, reduce heat to low. This allows time for the apple to soften up while you make your eggs.
• Add butter to separate frying pan and melt over low heat. Add eggs and scramble. Or fry . . . season with salt and pepper to taste
• To serve, add potatoes to plate along with apple sausage mix and an extra drizzle of maple syrup. Top with your eggs of choice! (Unless of course you have picky eaters or people ten and under. Then you might have to serve everything separately and let’s be honest, they still won’t appreciate it.)

Recipe by Life’s sweet seasons