» ham

Vegetable Soup

lane — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 16:55:00 +0000

Last night I had the pleasure of dinner by myself with a glass of wine and a book. This is *very* unusual and was most welcome. I’ve always enjoyed dining by myself. I like to go to restaurants by myself as well. Sometimes I really miss the days when I was working and I’d go hide at Houston’s for lunch because it was highly unlikely anyone from my office would come looking for me there. No, I didn’t have any business eating lunch at an expensive restaurant like that. It probably took me the whole day’s pay to make up for my lunch. But it was divine. These days, I make no money and generally travel with an entourage of toddlers. Plus sometimes my husband works from home, and he’d totally bust me for extravagant lunches like that.

Last night while the kids watched Aladdin for the 10 billionth time, I hid in the dining room with my dinner, glass of wine, and book. Which also has totally made me make the jump from vampires to faeries. I finished Wicked Lovely in one day mainly because I am obsessed. Granted it is also a young adult novel, but I love the escapism.

As for the blackeyed peas, you can use fresh or dried that you’ve soaked overnight after cooking them in water for about an hour. Just don’t put them in your ham stock raw. Or you can use canned, but I’d rinse them first.

Vegetable Soup

Leftover shank bone from ham, with some meat still attached

Water

large white onion, sliced

1 lb of carrots, peeled and sliced

6 stalks of celery, sliced

2 c. cooked blackeyed peas

8 small red potatoes, peeled and sliced into thin discs

40 or so ounces canned diced tomatoes

22 ounces canned whole kernel sweet corn

salt

pepper

cayenne

Place ham bone in stock pot, cover with water. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Cook 3 hours or so, the longer the better. Remove ham bones with a slotted spoon. Add blackeyed peas, carrots, celery, onion, cook 30 minutes. Add potatoes cook, 10 minutes, add tomatoes and corn, cook another 20 minutes. Season to taste, serve with grilled turkey and cheddar sandwiches.

Egg White Omlets with Ham, Cheese, and Fresh Herbs

lane — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 03:05:00 +0000

So you know you spend too much time in the grocery store when…

Last week I got busted by the Kenneth type grocery sacker doing a little dance to the bad elevator mix in the laundry detergent aisle. Our neighborhood grocery is two stories, so while I was alone in the aisle, “Kenneth” was looking from above on the mezzanine level. When some one called out, “Hey, I like this song too!” I was mildly embarrassed, but chalked it up to the over exuberance any mother feels on a preschool day.

Today we divided and conquered after nap time. I took the baby, my 2.5 year old bundle of joy little boy, who’d been exhibiting Excorsist worthy post-nap behavior. We did well on the quick drive over, and my spirits were lifted when I pulled him out of his carseat. On our way in the grocery, spring-like, atrium inspired music met my ears, and I began to bounce involuntarily with the beat.

TO MY FLIPPING DISMAY, I suddenly realized – holy hell, this is a Paris Hilton song. Yep, same song in exhibit A and B, Paris freaking Hilton. On a mix loop version. Jeez. I wish I could safely use stronger expletives. I am now the least cool person on the block. scratch that in the city. scratch that in the universe. WOW.

Anyway, when grocery planning this morning, my stomach began to crave food. Good food. And I realized, though I am not a morning person, hey! It’s noon! The stove can be my friend. So I whipped up some omelets including last weeks ham leftovers. And chives from my aerogarden (though bestowing us many fresh herbs, mine doesn’t look quite that balanced). I *might* decide to like breakfast food if it could consistently be made at noon. Heck, we nearly ran out of coffee today and the end result was not pretty, unless you like things thrown at your head.

Egg White Omelet

5 egg whites

olive oil

3 tbsp finely chopped ham

1.5 tbsp chopped sauteed white onion

2 tbsp finely shredded cheddar

1/2 tsp fresh chopped chives

1 pinch Murray River Salt – if you follow the link scroll below, I used to put my thoughts at the end of the recipe

Whisk egg whites with a fork. In a skillet over medium heat, heat 1 tbsp olive oil. Pour egg whites into skillet. Cook for 3-4 minutes until bottom looks firm, yet surface still looks like raw egg whites. Add ham, sauteed onion, and cheddar to one half of eggs, cook for another 2 minutes. Use spatula to loosen non-topped egg side from skillet. Balance and watch. When there is too much oil, you can see the egg bubbling and oil around all the edges. When there’s NOT enough oil, your egg sticks to the skillet and your spatula has troubles sliding underneath. When it’s just right, you see no oil, but the egg is not sticking. Err on the side of too little. When you have to little oil, gently add oil to the edges of egg slowly, then gently squish your spatula underneath to spread the oil. That will gently ease the oil underneath. Gently fold over half onto toppings, wait 30 seconds. Slide the fold side edge to the edge of skillet, use a *fish spatula to scoop omelet onto plate. Top with fresh chives.

*when I went to make the link on this tool, what I have is no longer manufactured. What I’m referencing is a wider than long spatula. I will photograph mine and look for a new site to update purchase options, but I guess mine no longer exists. bummer.

Ready to Cook Ham

lane — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 12:38:00 +0000

Around Christmas and Easter, and a few other times, you can find ready to cook hams in the grocery. They come in a shank portion and a butt portion. I go with the shank portion because it has less gristle and is easier to carve. A ready to cook ham has been wet cured and needs to be cooked to reach an internal temperature of 160.

Ham also definitely falls under my budget meals category. This 8 pound ham cost just over 10$. Sometimes it’s more than that, I’ve paid double or triple, but this is still a good price. An 8lb ham serves about 15 dinner size servings, and the bone provides a wonderful base for blackeyed pea soup or vegetable soup. The price per serving of this meal was literally about $1.25. Of course we’ll need to be committed to eating ham sandwiches for the next while, but who doesn’t love a jambon-beurre sandwich?

8 lb ready to cook ham
water

In a glass pan, place rinsed ham, then add about an inch of water to the pan. Cook in an oven preheated to 325. Needs to cook for about 18 minutes per pound to an internal temperature of 160.

To carve, slice thin slices down to bone, then cut along bone to free slices. Turn ham to other side and repeat. Save shank bone in freezer for later use.