Bourbon Gingersnap Ham (Alton Brown's City Ham)

Easter Ham!  They're plastered all over the grocery ads and commercials right now, but you weren't quite sure what you'd do with one this year.  Right?  How about something a little different, but a lot delicious?  And easy, to boot?

Enter Alton Brown's "City Ham."  This recipe has been floating around in my head for - I kid you not - at least 7 years.  And I finally just got around to making it!  I'm not sure why on earth I stalled in making it; it's awesome stuff.  Bo even declared it the best ham he's ever had.  And I have to say, I loved that it was easy to make and didn't involve any guesswork.  But that's what's wonderful about Alton Brown's recipes; they are science-y and detailed and easy to follow.

Hoppin' John Soup

Happy New Yearrrrr!!!

Oh wait.  This is March, isn't it.  Whoops.  Well, count me belated in my New Year's wishes and count me belated in posting this recipe.  You'll forgive me, right?  Please?  Can I buy your forgiveness with a toasty warm batch of Best Friend Makers?

So, the tradition behind this soup is that black-eyed peas are considered good luck if you eat them first thing on New Year's Day.  The peas are a symbol of coins; the collards represent the green of money; the pork represents having plenty; and the cornbread's color represents gold.  It's pretty much a lottery ticket in a bowl, am I right?  There are more interesting tidbits about the history here and here.

Hoppin' John soup is very, very new to me.  I grew up in the Pacific Northwest (insert dreamy sigh here), so I'd never seen a collard green in real life until I moved to Georgia last year.  Also, if I'm being completely honest - Southern cooking isn't known for being healthy, so I'm sometimes hesitant to try the ingredients and dishes that are traditional here.  But, I kept seeing recipes for Hoppin John this and Hoppin John that for New Year's, and they actually seemed fairly healthy, so I thought I'd give it a try.

And boy!  Am I ever glad I gave it a try.  We love, love, love this soup.  Seriously, we love it.  It's basically one big pot of cozy, which is perfection on a blustery day.  Bo is over the moon when I start cooking it, and then pretty much dies on the spot when I start baking cornbread to go with it.  (Did I mention that he's from the South?)  If you can get your hands on some kind of green (collards, kale, mustard greens, etc), I highly recommend trying this recipe out.  I've read that you can substitute white beans for the black-eyed peas, but don't come crying to me if you don't get rich, ok?

Enjoy!



Hoppin' John Soup
recipe adapted from Steamy Kitchen

12 oz. quick-cook or canned black-eyed peas
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1/2 c. carrots, diced
1/2 c. celery, diced
1/2 medium onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
8 c. water
1 ham bone (with meat attached)
3 c. diced ham
14 oz. can diced tomatoes, drained
5 handfuls torn collard leaves (tough stems removed)

Prepare black-eyed peas according to package, or drain the can.  In large stockpot, heat olive oil over medium-low heat.  Saute carrots, celery, and onion for 5-7 minutes.  Add the garlic and saute additional 2 minutes.  Add the ham bone, drained peas, and water to the pot.  Bring to a low boil and then simmer for 1 hour.

Add the diced ham and tomatoes and simmer for an additional 30 minutes {Mix up your cornbread now.}  Remove the ham bone and then stir in your collard greens and simmer for an additional 30 minutes {Put your cornbread into the oven now}.  Salt to taste.  But we didn't add a speck of salt because the ham added so much flavor and was salty enough on its own.

Ingredient Lineup.

Carrots, celery, onion, and garlic.

Add in the water and ham bone.

Add in the diced ham and tomatoes.

Remove the ham bone and add in the collards.

Delicious.

I wouldn't lie to ya.

Chunky Potato Soup

My husband makes a delishish ham that my whole family devours.  However, there are always leftovers because it is so big.  I have finally found a great recipe to incorporate some of these leftovers in.  Potatoes, cheese, ham, are you drooling yet?  It just screams comfort food to me.

Serve this up with a side of salad and some crusty bread (or skip the bread!) and you've got yourself a filling, nutritious meal.  Yum!



Ingredients:
3 medium red potatoes
2 cups water
1 small onion
3 Tablespoons butter
3 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
crushed red pepper flakes
ground black pepper
3 cups milk
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup cubed cooked ham (mine was shredded)

Directions:
1.  Peel potatoes and cut into 1 inch cubes.

2.  Bring water to a boil in a large saucpan.  Add poatoes and cook until tender (approx. 20 minutes).  Drain, reserving liquid.  Set aside potatoes.  Measure 1 cup cooking liquid, adding water, if necessary; set aside.

3.  Peel and finely chop onion.  Melt butter in saucepan over medium heat.  Add onion to saucepan; cook, stirring frequently, until onion is translucent and tender, but not brown.  (approx. 6-7 minutes)

4.  Add flour to saucepan; season with pepper flakes and black pepper to taste.  Cook 3-4 minutes.  (this will make it into a thick mixture)

5.  Gradually add potatoes, reserved 1 cup of cooking liquid, milk and sugar to onion mixture in saucepan; stir well. 

Add cheese and ham.

Simmer over low heat 30 minutes, stirring frequently.

6.  Serve and enjoy!

This recipe is from a mail order recipe card from www.grandmaskitchenreicpes.com

Split Pea & Ham Soup

I made a commitment to clean out the kitchen freezer of left overs this week. Seriously. I was having to open and grab what I needed fast for fear of something sliding out and falling on my toes! The first challenge was a big ol' meaty ham bone left over from a Sunday ham dinner.

Split Pea & Ham Soup

1.) To a large dutch oven add:

• 1 (thawed) meaty ham bone
• 2 large carrots shredded
• 2 stalks of celery chopped
• 1 yellow onion chopped
• 2 garlic cloves minced or 1 teaspoon garlic from a jar
• 1 lb. of split peas
• 6 cups of water

2.) Bring to a boil over medium-high heat; reduce heat to a simmer.

3.) Cover and simmer for an hour or until peas are soft, stirring occasionally.

4.) Remove ham bone, cut the meat from the bone and dice it. Return the meat back to the soup.

We chose to serve the pea soup with toasted Chiabatta rolls and tall glass of milk. It was a satisfying dinner for 6 - 8 people.

Note: Split pea soup will thicken upon sitting or during refrigeration. To thin, heat slowly and stir in small amounts of water, chicken stock, light cream or milk until desired consistency is reached.

This definately falls in to the 4 spoon rating - Yummy and Useful!

Ham and Cheese in Puff Pastry

I hope that you are all enjoying the video's -- since I learned to cook by watching the Food Network -- It really puts me at ease to watch the recipe being created. I can then match up what I have created to see if I am doing something right. It's hard for me to just pick a recipe out of a magazine or cook book and make it. I do. But the video's really help me! I hope they are helping you too!


This week my recipe come from Ina Garten - The Barefoot Contessa. This is one of my favorite shows on the Food Network. I love how she makes fantastic dishes that seem hard but are secretly very simple.

In the video (from tasteofhome.com) you can see that there are very little in the way of ingredients:

Puff pastry
Ham
Cheese
Dijon mustard
and egg wash






I was have always feared working with puff pastry - it always seemed way to fancy for me. But it's actually very simple and easy to use. I was so surprised and delighted!! I am going to be looking for a dessert recipe to try out using it again! I bet it tastes phenomenal with chocolate!!


Check out how YUMMY mine looks!! I will say this -- every oven is different -- even though I took mine out well before the time was up -- it's still a little extra crunchy around the edges.





Directions:

Start with cold puff pastry on a lightly floured surface rolling out to about 10 in x 12 in.

Place on sheet pan lined with parchment paper. ( I didn't have parchment paper...turned out fine)

Brush with 2 tbs of Dijon mustard leaving a 1 in border.

Layer ham and cheese - about a quarter of a pound of each - leaving a 1 inch border. (I used cheddar cheese -- very yummy!!)

Roll out 2nd puff pastry to 10 in X 12 in.

Brush 1 in border of ham and cheese covered puff pastry with egg wash.

Place 2nd piece on top - lining up the edges to match.

Crimp edges with a fork.

Brush entire surface with egg wash.

Make 3 slits in top to allow steam to escape.

Bake in a preheated oven for 30 minutes at 425 degrees.

(remember to keep an eye on it -- mine got very brown very quick -- I covered it with foil and took it out of the over at about 22 minutes...ovens and cooking time certainly vary on this one!!)

Cut into squares and enjoy!!





We give this recipe 5 spoons -- I wanted more but it was all gone!

I think a good addition to this recipe could have been frozen spinach or broccoli - it was really cheesy and would have been great with either!





This was a simple and quick recipe to throw together. I hope that you enjoy it as much as we
did!!

Mellisa