An Easter post. Not the Easter post.

by

Short version: I suddenly have to be the one to prepare a ham for Easter dinner. It’s going into the oven in about a half hour to an hour from now; it’s precooked, honey glazed and just under 10 lb, so it defaults to being relatively straightforward. Dinner’s somewhere around 5:30 PM, subject of course to the ham’s status.

Assume that I have a reasonable spice rack, including honey and pineapple, but that anything that would require a supermarket trip is Right Out. Anyone have any suggestions on how to spice this bad boy up? Bear in mind that I’m not used to dealing with pork products in this quantity.

Suggestions on fixing’s on the side welcome, too. That I might be able to hit a supermarket for.

10 thoughts on “An Easter post. Not the Easter post.”

  1. Since its already honied, pack all sides of the ham in 1 pound of brown sugar. If you like, pour a bottle of dark beer over it. One hour before its done, begin basting with a slurry of dijon mustard and more brown sugar. Add bourbon to this mixture if you wish. I wish.
    Skip the above and just pour a fifth of good Madiera over the ham. Cook it. Eat it.
    Happy Easter. I’ve gotta go and check the bunny stew.
    Skip the pineapple. Consider studding the thing with cloves.

  3. Even though you’ve already started, you can still baste towards the end with mustard, brown sugar, and/or bourbon.
    My Easter started in grand fashion. My dachshunds discovered a real live bunny in the back yard. No chocolates and Easter eggs for us, I guess. Good thing we don’t have kids. Can you imagine? “You killed the Easter Bunny!”

    1. 1950’s style: dot the ham with whole cloves. 1/2 hour before done: decorate with pineapple rings studded with cranberries or cherries. Glaze in 425 degree oven.
    2. Country style: baste with cider. 1/2 hour before done dust with black pepper, corn meal, brown sugar. Glaze in 425 degree oven.
    3. Julia Child style: coat with mixture of dijon-style mustard and soy sauce

    The Madeira suggestion is a good one–it’s a natural match for ham.
    In any event bake at 325 degrees for 15-18 minutes per lb. (18-24 if a half-ham). It’s ready when the internal temperature is 140 degrees. Use a thermometer! Once done if your oven is good enough reducing the temp to 140 degrees will keep it warm without over-cooking.

  7. “So how did the ham turn out?”
    Fairly well: I kept it simple – pineapple rings – and a slow heating. Coupled with the pineapple stuffing somebody brought and a nice onion/green bean casserole, things went nicely. Not spectacularly, but nicely.
    I’ll be playing with a slow beef roast later this week, though (one of those seven hour jobs). Onions, quartered potatoes and a pepper rub, unless I decide to try a different spice this time…

  8. “I’ll be playing with a slow roast beef…”
    Well, stop it!
    If you feel like it, do this instead, though I don’t know the cut of saucy beef your playing with.
    First make a wild mushroom/ancho chili ragu:
    2 tablespoons unsalted butter
    1/2 medium red onion, diced
    2 tablespoons finely chopped garlic
    2 cups red wine
    1/2 pound shiitake mushrooms
    1/2 pound crimini mushrooms
    1/2 pound portobello mushrooms
    (remove stems on all and slice)
    31/2 cups canned chicken stock
    2 tablespoons honey
    salt and freshly ground pepper
    3/4 cup Ancho puree (prepared earlier)
    Ancho Puree
    6 ancho chilis (ask your grocer or speci-
    alty food person)
    8 cups boiling water
    1 tablespoons minced garlic
    2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
    Place the chilis in a bowl and pour boiling
    water over them; let sit for 30 minutes or
    more. Drain, remove seeds and stems. Process
    all ingredients to a paste in a food
    processor.
    Back to ragu:
    In a large saucepan over medium heat, melt butter
    and sweat onions and garlic for three minutes. Raise heat to high, add wine and boil until reduced to dry. Reduce heat to medium, add mushrooms, cook until soft. Add stock. Raise heat to high boil, and then reduce heat to simmer for 15 minutes or longer.
    Whisk in the ancho puree and cook for 5 minutes. Add honey and salt and pepper to taste. Keep hot until the beef is ready, though you can do this days ahead of time. Should make 4 cups.
    Now, the beef, if you’re not tired. Take a break and drink the Madiera you didn’t pour over the ham.
    Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
    Spread 6 New Mexican chilis on a baking dish (substitute jalapenos or other) and roast for a few minutes. Remove seeds and stems. Chop coarsly.
    Mix in one tablespoon of coarse black pepper. Place mixture on a big plate or pie pan.
    Dredge the beef in the this mixture. Saute for one minute each on all sides in a pan until brown with a little oil.
    Move to the oven and bake until done at 325 degrees. Use a meat thermometer. Done in my moral universe means medium rare, but go ahead and do what you need to do.
    Let stand for 10 minutes. Slice and serve with the hot mushroom ragu.
    Side dishes too, but I’m too tired to type them in.
    Recipe courtesy of Bobby Flay, with a few alterations.
    Hey, look, just because we’re exchanging recipes, don’t think universes have collided. :)!??

  10. Now that the trauma is over, may I suggest a few films that center around holiday meals?
    Pieces of April
    Home for the Holidays
    What’s Cooking?
    All worth viewing.

Comments are closed.