Baked ham! It’s not just for Easter.

 

As you may have guessed, I have a great affinity for pork products. While on the surface, it may be the decidedly unglamorous staple of a lunchtime sandwich, the lowly ham can occasionally have center stage at Easter, Christmas, or other large gathering. Usually, it’s one of those 10-pound behemoths purchased from a specialty store or super market that come already glazed and ready to go. Yes, they are delicious and convenient, but you can make a cheaper and much more sophisticated version at home, with about the same amount of skill that it takes to go to the store, buy the ham, and pour whatever glaze concoction it comes with.

Another bit of news…You can also buy a mini ham at most grocery stores! Well, why is this exciting, you ask? Well, as it turns out, it is a super easy and fancy looking weeknight dinner with the same minimal effort! It’s especially nice when cooking for two, as you will have leftovers that you can transform into any number of other dishes in the days to come.
I like to re-use in croquetas or gratin aux courgettes.

I usually serve with some mashed potatoes and green peas, but I came across these lemon potatoes from Martha Stewart that paired really nicely as well.

Here is my go-to glaze recipe for a baked ham for two:

1 quarter ham
1/4 cup whole cloves
1 tsp grated orange peel
1/4cup brown sugar
1 heaping tablespoon grain mustard
1 tsp cider vinegar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Score the top of the ham and stud all over with the whole cloves. Place on a roasting pan or baking dish and into the oven for 30 minutes.

In a small bowl, whisk the orange peel, brown sugar, mustard and vinegar together until combined.

When the 30 minutes are up, pour the glaze over the ham and return to the oven for 15 minutes.

Remove the ham from the oven and let it rest for about 10 minutes before slicing and serving.

Notes:

You can switch out the cider vinegar for orange juice.
If the ham is pre-sliced, you don’t need to score it, but I recommend that you tie it together with some butcher’s twine so that it stays together in the oven.
If you are using a whole (8+pound) ham, increase the ingredients accordingly.

 

 

Here Piggy!

Roast pork is a staple of Cuban cuisine. You’ll see it at birthdays, weddings, Christmas, and even next to the turkey at Thanksgiving. It is usually the the crown jewel of any Cuban grandma’s canon of recipes, not to be toyed with or made by anyone under the age of 50. The recipe is often shrouded in mystery and hidden away in some secret grandma hiding place or committed to memory so that no one can take it. These ladies do not mess around!

Family lore goes that my great grandmother would give you a recipe, but with one ingredient missing or changed, so that yours would not turn out exactly like hers.

Well, as the saying goes, necessity is the mother of invention. Thousands of miles away from Miami and with no Cuban grandmothers in sight, I have taken it upon myself to learn how to roast a pig.

Well, not a whole pig. That’s for a caja china, which needs to have its own post at some point.

I used a 4 lb pork shoulder and am now on day 3 of repurposing it. It only cost me about $8 and, for 3 days of dinners, not a bad deal at all!

Not My Grandmother’s Roast Pork:

1 3-4lb pork shoulder or pork butt
Juice of 1 lime
Juice of 1 lemon
Juice of 1 sour orange (or regular orange if you can’t get the sour kind)
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tbsp dried oregano
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp dried orange peel
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp salt
1tsp ground black pepper
1 cup white wine
1 tsp Worchestshire sauce
2 tbsp olive oil

Combine all dried herbs, spices and garlic in small bowl.
Massage the mixture onto the pork and place into a gallon sized zip bag. Pour any remaining garlic/herb mixture into the bag.
Add the juice, wine, olive oil, and Worchestshire sauce to the bag and let out any air before sealing the bag.
Turn the bag around a few times to make sure the meat is coated with marinade and place in the refrigerator overnight, periodically turning the bag.

Preheat your oven to 450.

Once the oven comes to temperature, place the roast with the marinade poured over it in a baking dish and bake for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, lower the heat to 300 and roast for 5 hours, uncovered.

Slice and serve with your favorite sides.

 

 

Lamb and more lamb

I love lamb. Lamb roast, lamb chops, lamb stew, lamb ragu…I could keep going for a while. I think it is a really underutilized protein for home cooks, but I’m not exactly sure why. I mean, it cooks just like beef and is often more tender than many beef cuts. And it’s not necessarily any more expensive than beef. Today I give you two levels of lamb that are sure to impress!

Basic Lamb Chops:

6 double or single cut lamb chops
3 sprigs rosemary
Olive oil
Salt and Pepper

Preheat your broiler or grill.
Let the chops sit on your counter for about 20 minutes.
If using the broiler, arrange the chops on your oiled broiler pan and lightly salt and pepper each one.
Remove the leaves (needles?) from your rosemary sprigs and place a few on the meat side of each chop.
Lightly drizzle each chop with olive oil.
Place in the oven and let them broil for about 10 minutes for medium-rare. Let them rest for about another 10 minutes and serve.

If you are grilling the chops, 5 minutes on each side on a hot grill should suffice for a nice, medium-rare chop.

As you can see, this takes little to no effort and will look really fancy when you serve them. I like to pair them with the potato gratin from a few posts ago or just a nice salad.
Be careful with the broiler. Don’t wander too far away as they will cook very quickly, especially if you are using the single cut chops. Peek through your oven window after the first 5 minute of broiling to make sure they are not burning, as they will cook through extremely fast.

Butterflied Lamb Roast:

1 3-4 lb lamb leg roast, boneless

1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder

3 cloves minced garlic
3 sprigs rosemary

Olive oil

Special tools: Butcher’s twine, roasting pan.

When you buy the leg roast, ask the butcher to butterfly it for you. Or, if you are feeling adventurous, you can do it yourself. Tutorial here. It’s for a pork roast, but it will work with any roast.

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

In a small bowl, combine the salt, pepper, and dried herbs and spices. Stir them together to combine. Set aside.

In a food processor, process the fresh garlic and rosemary with a pinch of salt, until the garlic forms a paste. The rosemary will pretty much retain its shape, so don’t worry about that.

Unroll your butterflied roast and spread the garlic and rosemary paste on the top side.

Roll the roast, with the paste inside, and tie with the twine.

Spread the dried herb and spice mixture on a large, clean cutting board and roll the tied roast through it. The mixture should stick to the meat and coat it.

Place the the roast in your roasting pan and roast in the oven for about an hour and 20 minutes. If you have a larger roast, calculate about 2o minutes per pound for medium rare.

Let the roast rest for 15 minutes before carving and serving.

 

 

 

A tale of two gratins

 

Merriam-Webster defines a gratin as a dish that has bread crumbs or cheese on top and is baked in an oven. While that is, technically, true, a gratin is a much more complex dish than all that. If you google the word gratin, you’ll find myriad interpretations of the dish. You’ll also find the traditional potato, cheese, cream version too. Oh and those godawful boxed ones you find in the rice aisle at the supermarket.

Today, I present to you two variations. One, a more classic potato-leek adapted from an Ina Garten recipe I had found years ago and the other a Southern French zucchini gratin which I was introduced to by one of my favorite French ladies. I hope I can do her gratin aux courgettes justice!

Potato-Leek-Fennel Gratin:
photo on right, above

6 medium-small potatoes, sliced thin
1 large leek, sliced with the top discarded
1 large fennel bulb, cored, sliced and with the fronds discarded
1 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 cup grated gruyere cheese
1 cup grated emmental cheese
2 cups heavy cream
butter or cooking spray for greasing the pan
1 tbsp fresh thyme
1 tsp nutmeg
Salt and Pepper

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Grease an 8×8 or 9×13 glass baking dish. Set aside.

In a large skillet, heat about a tablespoon of butter and saute the leeks and fennel until tender, about 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside.

Combine all three cheeses in a bowl, then sprinkle the bottom of the baking dish with some of the cheese mixture.

Begin to arrange a single layer of the potato slices on top of the cheese. Once you have enough to cover the bottom of the pan, spoon and spread some of the leek and fennel mixture on top. Sprinkle a pinch of the nutmeg and thyme on top of that. Very sparingly add salt and black pepper.  Then, sprinkle more of the cheese mixture on top of that. Make another layer of potato slices and repeat the process above until you are just slightly over 3/4 of the height of the baking dish. Make sure that your top layer is just potato slices. Then, sprinkle any remaining cheese over the top.

Pour the heavy cream over the mixture and let it absorb before placing in the oven for about 45 minutes. You’ll know it’s done when the top is a deep, golden brown. Let it rest for about 10 minutes before serving as it will be extremely hot.

Gratin aux Courgettes:
photo on left, above

3-4 small zucchini, grated
1 medium onion, chopped
8oz diced ham
1 cup cooked white rice
1 cup plain breadcrumbs
1/2 grated parmesan cheese
1 cup milk
1 egg
2 tbsp butter
Salt and Pepper

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Grease either an 8×8 or 9×13 baking dish with 1tbsp of the butter. Coat the bottom and sides of the pan with about 1/2 cup of the breadcrumbs and set aside.
In a large saucepan, heat the remaining tbsp of butter and add the onion and grated zucchini. Saute for about 10 minutes or until the onion is translucent and the zucchini is tender. Stir in the ham, season with salt and pepper and let it cook for another minute or so. Remove from heat.

In a large bowl, combine the rice with the zucchini, ham, and onion mixture. Stir in the parmesan. In a smaller bowl or measuring cup, beat the egg into the milk. Gradually add the milk and egg mixture to the other ingredients. Be sure to do this very slowly as the mixture will be hot and you don’t want to cook the egg in it.

Once you have combined all the above ingredients, pour the mixture into the baking pan. Don’t worry if you have some left over. Top the mixture in the pan with the remaining breadcrumbs and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until the top is a deep, golden brown.

Just like the other gratin, let it rest for about 10 minutes before serving.