Ham and Gravy

Thanks all for sticking with me!  I enjoyed the time that Kris and I got to hang together.  She starts her new job on Monday and me, I go back to the grind I have been at for 5 years.  That is good over all, She is starting on a new adventure (OK maybe calling work an adventure is a  bit much).  At least I have the familiar for now, I can live with that.

This weekend we are going to Kris' best friend's house for Easter, this is where I get to the good part(for me anyway).  What we are bringing, the three requests from her friend, they were...

Baked Ham and Ham Gravy

Green Bean Casserole

Kris' Scalloped Potatoes

This post is about the Ham and Gravy, Green Bean Casserole to follow in a bit, for the Scalloped Potatoes you will have to ask Kris.

Ham and Gravy have been in my basket for quite a few years, I made it for Christmas dinner this year just so I could post it a little before Easter.  It is one of those comforting dishes that even if you have never had it you will curl up like a baby when you do...

"Comforting, How much so?" you ask. Here is a true story, when my ex wife and I were getting to the end of our marriage both of us had found separate places to live, the court papers were about to be filed. She called her best friend and the following conversation took place:

Ex Wife R: "Mrs. A, it is over... Bryan and I are getting a divorce, it is for real this time, there is no way to fix it."
The infamous Mrs. A: "I don't believe it, you have ruined Easter!"
Ex Wife R: (not expecting that) "What?"
The infamous Mrs. A: "Who is going to make Ham and Gravy at Easter now? We might as well have bologna sandwiches."

I heard this story, more or less the same from both parties involved, I kind of always thought thought it funny that the conversation didn't go something like "Thank God... I don't know why you didn't leave that jerk years ago!" or "What, are you crazy? He is Mr. Wonderful." The conversation went right to my cooking... at least I do something well.

All that being said here is how it is made:

One ham, this time I used a bone in spiral sliced ham but whatever ham I have used the gravy has always rocked.

2 TBS Grey Poupon Mustard
3/4 cup white wine
1/2 cup Honey
Juice from 2 Oranges
3 cups Chicken Broth

Put the ham, open side down in a roasting pan, mix the next four ingredients together into a slimy mixture and pour/spread over the ham. Pour the chicken broth into the bottom of the pan. Cover tightly with foil and cook, this was a nine pound ham so it was in a 300 degree oven for an hour then a 375 degree oven for another hour. I basted about every half hour. When it is all done take some of the drippings off the bottom of the roasting pan and put into a saucepan (I did about 2 cups) add a little bit of roux and bring to a simmer until thickened.

Taste... then just try to put the spoon back for your guests... it takes willpower but once they taste it you will be the cooking superhero that you always wanted to be.  I understand that you may not be familiar with this dish but once you try it... well just see what happens!


Have a great holiday my friends!

I know that it is kind of dorky... but here is a summer project for the kids that is a lot of fun with this weekend's leftovers, just give it a try!

Happy New Year!

My dad is a Southerner, born in Kentucky, a self acclaimed red-neck and proud of it. When I asked him for a pot and pan set for the sandbox (I would have been about 5 then) he told me they were girl toys, quashing my nerdy foodieness for a time. He was a normal man with a regular blue collar job. My mom did most of the cooking, we had a pretty normal household for the 60s and 70s when I was a kid. One of the things that my mom couldn't stand is Black eyed Peas... there is a Southern tradition that eating black eyed peas on new-years day is good luck so dad was pretty insistent.

This January 1 I made them for me and my family, I did a little research and about black eyed peas I found that they are a southern tradition for good luck and prosperity and eaten with pork to symbolize moving forward (a chicken walks backward when it eats, a cow stands still but a pig roots forward). I made the black eyed peas to highlight a dish from my youth, now I am going with they really are good luck.

This New Years Day I made a family breakthrough, it probably wouldn't sound that big if I went into all the details but it was. Miss El (my 11 year old) had a great time too which is what it is all for. I had a chance to see her playing with Miss Lu and Mr. Man, we haven't been able to do that in a while. The way their laughter filled our little house while she was here... well it is hard to describe but really nice.

The Good Luck Featured Dish
Ham and Black Eyed Peas:

1/2 pound of dried Black Eyed Peas
Ham Bone and end pieces left over from Christmas (see last post)
1 Onion
2 Cloves Garlic
4 cups Chicken Stock
1 bunch of Mustard Greens washed really well and chopped
Salt and Pepper to taste

Start by soaking the beans overnight in the refrigerator
The next day trim the usable portion of the ham off the bone put the bone, the onion cut into large pieces, and the garlic into the chicken broth and let it simmer for about 3 hours. Take the bones and the big hunks of onion out and add the Black Eyed Peas add some water or chicken broth if you need too I didn't this time simmer for another half hour or so then add the greens (the tradition says that represents more money in the next year we will see). Then simmer for another 20 minutes add salt and pepper to taste.

Happy Christmas Everyone

About two and a half months ago Kris' best friend Rochelle got Pneumonia it was a bad case. She ended up in the hospital with it, the first two weeks in a medically induced coma. She is much better now but just got out of the hospital on Christmas Eve so it was a long fight for her. Up until about three weeks ago she couldn't eat at all, then she was on the "mechanical soft" and "ground" diets in the hospital. Can you imagine eating pureed bread? On top of that every day that she could eat she had chicken or turkey in some form that is hospital cooked chicken or turkey understand. When she decided that she was getting out of the Hospital on Christmas Eve Kris and I decided that we were going to make her and her family Christmas Dinner.

The menu was easy to plan; she had a tough couple of months so she needed comfort food, not just your regular comfort meal, but one on steroids. The menu:

Glazed Ham and Gravy
Sweet Potato Hash
Scalloped Potatoes
Mashed Potatoes
Green Bean Casserole
Bourbon and Brown Sugar Cranberries

I will probably pick at a few menu items above in the next couple of weeks... today however it is Ham and Ham Gravy that I want to talk about. I have found that a lot of people have never made or even tried ham gravy, which is a crime. Even if you have never had it there is something so warm and wonderful about the thick, salty, silky, slightly sweet sauce that makes you want to just curl up on the sofa and not let anyone near.

"Comforting, How much so?" you ask. Here is a true story, when my ex wife and I were getting to the end of our marriage both of us had found separate places to live, the court papers were about to be filed. She called her best friend and the following conversation took place:

Ex Wife R: "Mrs. A, it is over... Bryan and I are getting a divorce, it is for real this time, there is no way to fix it."
Mrs. A: "I don't believe it, you have ruined Easter!"
Ex Wife R: (not expecting that) "What?"
Mrs. A: "Who is going to make Ham and Gravy at Easter now? We might as well have bologna sandwiches."

I heard this story, more or less the same from both parties involved, I kind of always thought thought it funny that the conversation didn't go something like "Thank God... I don't know why you didn't leave that jerk years ago!" or "What, are you crazy? He is Mr. Wonderful." The conversation went right to my cooking... at least I do something well.

All that being said here is how it is made:

One ham, this time I used a bone in spiral sliced ham but whatever ham I have used the gravy has always rocked.

2 TBS Grey Poupon Mustard
3/4 cup white wine
1/2 cup Honey
Juice from 2 Oranges
3 cups Chicken Broth

Put the ham, open side down in a roasting pan, mix the next four ingredients together into a slimy mixture and pour/spread over the ham. Poor the chicken broth into the bottom of the pan. Cover tightly with foil and cook, this was a nine pound ham so it was in a 300 degree oven for an hour then a 375 degree oven for another hour. I basted about every half hour. When it is all done take some of the drippings off the bottom of the roasting pan and put into a saucepan (I did about 2 cups) add a little bit of roux and bring to a simmer until thickened.

Taste then just try to put the spoon back for your guests... it takes willpower but once they taste it you will be the cooking superhero that you always wanted to be.

Thanksgiving at our house pt 1

I may have mentioned before that my wonderful wife Kris is a bit picky about what she will eat, while we were dating she told me some of the foods that she just doesn't like; all seafood (smells bad) most pork (too dry and not much flavor) most casserole dishes (too many things in one pan) turkey (too dry, too gamey) were all on the list. I am a pretty good cook so I have convinced her to try some new things or old things prepared well and she has changed her mind about some of them. Still on the list; all seafood (I usually cook any fish outside, I have to admit it does have an odor) and Turkey. I have tried Turkey in every way shape and form and she just doesn't like it.

Add to the fact that Kris isn't a big fan of Turkey, Thanksgiving is usually the Holiday I have to work so Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday I will be getting up at 3:15 so that I can be on the South Side of Chicago by 4:45 to open up. We decided to do two things different than most. First, Thanksgiving took place on Wednesday in our house. Second, this year Turkey and Stuffing were off the menu completely they were replaced by Beef and Polenta. I recently read a statistic that suggests 90% of Americans eat Turkey on Thanksgiving day, really I don't know how that statistic was arrived at or if it was just made up but I am going to run with it for now. If you figure 90% of us are eating Turkey on Thanksgiving then take into account that about 5% of Americans are Vegetarians that puts me and my family in the small 5% of us that forsake the bird on this day. So the Thanksgiving menu in our house was:

Beef Tenderloin with a Red Wine Reduction

Mashed Potatoes

Green Beans

Grilled Polenta

Brown Sugar and Bourbon Cranberries

The Sauce:

1 TBL Vegetable Oil

6 Green Onions Coarsely Chopped

2 Portobello Mushrooms Diced

1 TBS Brown Sugar

2 TBS Balsamic Vinegar

2 Cups Red Wine

1 Cup Beef Broth

1 Cup Chicken Broth

2 sprigs Fresh Thyme

2 Sprigs Fresh Rosemary

1 tsp Peppercorns

1 tsp Flour

1 tsp Butter

Heat oil in sauce pan the add the Onions and Mushrooms and saute over medium heat for about 10 minutes then add the Brown Sugar stir until that has melted then add the Balsamic Vinegar and Saute until all the liquid has evaporated (a minute or two).

Add wine, both broths, herbs and peppercorn and cook over medium/low heat for about 45 minutes. When the sauce is done put the butter and flour in another saucepan and make a roux then strain the sauce into that pan cook until thickened (maybe another 1o-15 minutes)

The Beef

1 1/2 pounds of Beef Tenderloin

2 TBS Olive Oil

2 Cloves minced Garlic

1 very small Onion diced

Salt

Pepper

a little bit of Butter

Preheat oven to 350 then heat the olive oil, saute the garlic and onions for a couple of minutes then brown the beef on all sides (I deglazed the pan with chicken broth and cooked my green beans in that liquid) Place beef on baking pan and top with salt, pepper and about 3 pats of butter then put in the oven for about 35 minutes. Until it registers 120-125 on a thermometer for medium rare, or if your daughter "looks at" your thermometer for only a few seconds and returns it broken into several pieces, guess. Let it rest on a cutting board for about 10 minutes then slice 3/4 of an inch thick and top with a little sauce. You can see in the picture that we were having a little fun with edible flowers