Ham. It’s What’s For Dinner For Days.

Speaking of food, I made us a big Easter dinner that was excellent, if I do say so myself.

I bought a spiral sliced half ham that was a hefty 12 lbs.  That was yummy, but was nothing more than following cooking instructions.

With it we had potatoes, mashed by Deb, carrots, some especially tasty asparagus, and candied sweet potatoes.  I saved out a hefty amount of plain sweet potato for Sadie, so we’ll see if she likes that as much as she did the baked version.

To make the candied sweet potatoes, I peeled a couple large specimens, cut them lengthwise, sliced them, boiled/steamed them in minimal water (we really could use another steamer or two, or a steam basket or two made for regular pans; everything but the asparagus got “boiled"), and when they were done put them into a deep frying pan where I had melted 1/3 stick or so of butter and mixed it with a couple big spoonfuls of brown suger.  Heated, flipped, stirred, let it get all coated and gooey, and voila.  It’s delicious, yet simple.  It might have been improved by thicker slices, perhaps barely done when put in the sweet mix, rather than already falling apart done.  There are recipes out there with all kinds of embellishments, but simple works and reminds me of what my mother made, rarely, when I was a kid.

My next project will be to make pea soup.  I have the ham bone with a ton of meat still on it, and could possibly add some of the meat I carved off.  Ended up with leftover ham in two of the gallon Ziploc bags, and the bone in a third pending my soup experiment.  Any suggestions?  Seems simple enough.

1. Simply doing a bit of surfing this morning to look for ways to use up all of this ham. Soup… sounds good to me. Will have to see if i can find an easy recipe.

   Posted by A Touch of Style  on  03/28  at  09:34 AM

2. Ah..the curse of the baked ham: leftovers.

   How about Baked Ziti? (a massively good Mac & Cheese for grownups) Simply subsititue ham for the prosciutto:

   Here’s my recipe:

   Bechamel sauce:
   1 stick unsalted butter (4 ounces)
   1/2 cup and 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
   1 quart whole milk, at room temperature
   Pinch fresh nutmeg
   Sea salt and white pepper
   1 cup grated fontina
   1/2 pound thinly sliced prosciutto, julienned
   1 pound dry rigatoni
   3 tablespoons unsalted butter, diced

   Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

   Bechamel sauce:
   In a 2 quart saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the flour and whisk until smooth, about 2 minutes. Always stirring, gradually add the milk and continue to whisk until the sauce is smooth and creamy. Simmer until it is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. This will take approximately 10 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in nutmeg, 1/2 cup fontina, prosciutto and season with salt and white pepper. Set aside.

   In a large pot, bring to a boil 6 quarts of salted water. Add the rigatoni and cook for about 5 minutes. Since you will be cooking the pasta a second time in the oven, you want to make sure the inside is still hard. Drain in a colander. Return pasta to the pot and pour in bechamel sauce. Using a wooden spoon, mix well until all the pasta is coated with the sauce.

   Into a greased 13 by 9-inch baking dish, pour the pasta with cream sauce. Smooth out top and sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup fontina. Dot the top with diced butter and bake in oven for 25 minutes or until bubbling and the top is golden brown.

   You could use thinly sliced russet potatoes instead of the pasta too...eyeball the quanity..you want a good 3 inches of potatoes...I use about 6-8 cups in a 13x9 baking dish. I sometimes use jack or swiss with potatoes...but fontina is ideal as it doesn’t “break”.

   I also make ham carbonara with a cup of the white sauce and an additional 1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese...it’s very tasty with a mild ham...just use a tablespoon of rendered bacon fat for one of the tablespoons of butter in the sauce to add more smokey depth.

   Or ham and pea risotto...a fav spring dish in Bologna...simple but good.

   Being an Army brat teaches you how to cook and eat well on a budget. ;^)

   bj

   Posted by BJ  on  03/28  at  12:17 PM

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