Ham and sweet potato hash

I made this for dinner tonight.  I found it on Mel's kitchen cafe.  I adapted it for my family by adding chipotle powder instead of a chipotle chile and by scrambling my eggs among other things.  I really liked the amount of spicy I ended up with in the meal.  Enough I could taste it, but not enough to overpower the meal or make the kids gripe.  I really liked the spicy with the sweet of the sweet potatoes.  Everyone except my picky won't try anything 2 year old liked this.  I can't say if he would have liked it because I couldn't get him to even keep the eggs in his mouth.

Ingredients

• 3 russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch chunks
• 3 small sweet potatoes, peel and cut into 1/2 inch chunks (I actually used less than 2 medium but that was already 1 1/2 times the amount of regular potatoes I had)
• 1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1 Tablespoon butter
• 1 onion, minced
• 1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced
• 1/8 teaspoon chipolte pepper powder
• 3 Tablespoons heavy cream (I used half and half, but wouldn't again.  I think it just made it sticky.)
• 10 oz. diced ham
• 8 eggs, lightly beaten
• dash garlic and herb seasoning
• shredded cheddar

Directions

1. In a medium microwave-safe bowl, toss the potatoes with 1 Tablespoon oil, salt and pepper.  Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a lid and microwave for about 6 minutes until the potatoes are tender but not overcooked.  Sir the potatoes 1/2 way through cooking.  (I didn't manage the stirring, time passed quicker than I thought.)  Drain the potatoes of any excess liquid and set aside.
2. Heat butter in a large skillet.  Add onions and saute for a couple of minutes.  Add bell pepper and continue sauteeing for another minute or 2.  Stir in the chipotle powder.  
3. Stir in the drained potatoes and the cream (I think I'd add another Tablespoon of butter here if anything, but before the potatoes so it could melt.)  Pack potatoes into the pan pressing them into an even level with spatula.  Let the potatoes cook without stirring them for about 2 minutes so they can start to get nicely browned.  Flip the potato hash mixture one portion at a time and lightly repack to brown the other side.  Continue this flipping process every few minutes until the potatoes are nicely browned, about 8-10 minutes.  (I wasn't supurb at the flipping.  I think it would work better if I flipped better, but I did a flip/stir.  Gentle as I tried to be it made it a bit mushy, but again, I think that was partly the liquid I added.  I can't wait to try this again to do better.)  Meanwhile, crack eggs into a dish, add garlic/herb seasoning and lightly beat.
4. Stir in ham and cook for a minute.  Push the hash to the outer edges of the pan and lightly repack.  Add the eggs to the center of the pan and cook and stir until done.  (you could always just scramble them in a seperate pan while cooking the hash, but this way they pick up little bits of the hash as they are scrambled.  I liked that, even though it was a little more difficult to do, and took a bit longer.) Serve.

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