Maple Glazed Ham

This ham is fantastic, and you can make it a day or two ahead. Just follow the cooking instructions, then take all the ham off the bone and place it in the pan you want to serve it in. Pour some cooking juices over it and refrigerate. Then just reheat the meat as you are ready to serve it. Easy!

Ingredients

• 1 (9-pound) store bought bone-in spiral ham
• 3/4 cup water

For the glaze:

• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons whole-grain Dijon mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

 

Directions

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.

Place ham in a roasting pan and pour about 3/4 cup water into the bottom of pan. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 1 hour and 40 minutes or until heated through, soft and tender.

 

Make the glaze:

 

Whisk all ingredients together in a saucepan until smooth and heat over medium-low to medium heat until simmering. Simmer for 2 minutes and remove from heat.

 

When ham is heated through, remove the aluminum foil, and pour or brush the glaze over the top to cover completely. Raise oven temperature to 400 degrees F.

 

Return the ham to the oven and cook, uncovered, for 20 minutes or until glaze is caramelized and bubbly. Let rest for 10 minutes before slicing. Serve with desired fixings.

 

Food Network Recipe, David Leiberman

Bacon Wrapped Dates

Okay…these might be the best appetizer in the world. I mean, what isn’t better when wrapped in bacon?! My sister-in-law Carol (who is a fabulous cook) gave me this recipe…

• 1 pound pitted dates
• 2 pounds bacon
• 1/2-1 link Spanish chorizo (There is a Spanish chorizo (pre-cooked) and a Mexican chorizo (raw). Be sure to get the Spanish version!)
• brown sugar
• toothpicks

Slice the chorizo into tiny pieces and stuff each date with the meat. Cut the bacon pieces into thirds and wrap each date with a bacon piece. Secure with a toothpick. Place the bacon wrapped dates on a jelly roll pan and cook at 350 until almost done (about 15-20 minutes). Remove from oven and sprinkle each date with a bit of brown sugar. Place back in the oven and cook for another 5-10 minutes. Aahhh…heavenly.

Sausage Rice Breakfast Casserole

This has been a staple around my mom’s house for celebration breakfasts for about as long as I can remember. Chrismas morning? Sausage casserole. Special guests for brunch? Sausage casserole. Birthday celebration? Sausage casserole. As a result, it’s made it onto my table a time or two. Everyone seems to love it (except my semi-vegetarian sister, of course, who gets her own meat-free version made for her–which is just not nearly as good, by the way.) You can definitely play around with the amount–add more veggies, an extra package of sausage, use turkey sausage, etc. Without further ado…here’s the recipe!

• 1 pkg Jimmy Dean sausage, regular (of course, the kind and amount of sausage can be varied to your tastes…I do prefer the addition of the hot variety)
• 1 pkg Jimmy Dean sausage, hot
• 1 cup green pepper, chopped
• 1 cup red pepper, chopped
• 1 cup celery, chopped
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• ½  pound mushrooms (VERY optional in my opinion…though I do know people who actually like these fungus things)
• 2 cans sliced water chestnuts
• 2 large pkg Uncle Ben’s Wild rice
• 2 envelopes cream of chicken Cup ‘O Soup (My mom has been using the chicken noodle variety because she hasn’t been able to find the creamy version lately, and it still tastes just as great.)
• Approximately 3 cups water

In a large skillet brown sausage, drain.

Combine water, rice and soup mix and allow to simmer over medium heat until the water is mostly absorbed and the rice is almost tender.

Meanwhile, on medium heat, saute peppers, onions and celery with olive oil for about 10 minutes. Add the mushrooms and cook an additional 3 minutes.

Place sausage in 9×13” baking dish. Spread vegetables over sausage. Arrange the water chestnuts over the vegetables. Once the rice is finished cooking spread the rice mixture over the water chestnuts.

Voila! You have a nice layered sausage casserole. Bake covered for about 45 minutes at 350, and then an additional 10 minutes uncovered. You can easily prepare this ahead of time. If you do, plan at least 60-75 minutes of baking time total.

Sausage and Red Cabbage Rolls

This is a surprisingly good recipe. I wouldn’t call it our all time favorite, though can a recipe including cabbage ever even qualify as an all-time favorite recipe? I didn’t think so. Anyway, it’s adapted from a cooking light recipe. It’s very similar to a calzone, in style but doesn’t really have the pizza flavor. Maybe you could call it a stuffed sandwich?! Try it and let me know what you think!

• 1 pound hot sausage–I used pork, but turkey or chicken would work, too. I do think you do probably want the ‘hot’ version, though.
• 1  cup  diced red onion
• 4  cups  thinly sliced red cabbage
• 1  cup  apple cider
• 2  tablespoons  dark brown sugar
• 2  tablespoons  red wine vinegar
• 1/4  teaspoon  salt
• 1/4  teaspoon  dried thyme
• 1/8  teaspoon  black pepper
• 1  bay leaf
• French Bread dough or some kind of store bought dough

Preparation

Prepare the french bread dough through the first rising. While the bread is rising, prepare filling.

Remove casings from sausage. Add sausage and onion to pan; cook until sausage is browned, stirring to crumble. Add cabbage and remaining ingredients; bring to a boil.

Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes or until cabbage is tender, stirring occasionally. Discard bay leaf.

Preheat oven and stoneware to 350.

Roll out your risen dough onto your work surface and cut into 4 inch squares. Drain the excess liquid off of the sausage mixture. Place a large spoonful of sausage mixture on each square, then pull up all the corners and join them together. Seal the seams and place face down on your preheated pizza stone. Cut a slit in the top of each.

Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the bread is done. Brush each roll with melted butter, if desired.

Makes 8-10 rolls depending upon the size. Or do as I did and make 6 and use the leftover bread dough to make rolls for dinner the next night!

The Only Marinade You’ll Ever Need

I found this on Epicurious.com and it is really very tasty. I needed a light, flavorful marinade for chicken for a chicken salad that I wanted to make and this was perfect. It’s easy, flexible and pretty tasty.

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon hot pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon cracked black pepper
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt (kosher or sea), or to taste
4 strips of lemon zest
3 cloves garlic, crushed with the side of a cleaver or minced
1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh parsley
1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh basil, cilantro, dill, oregano, or a mix of all four
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

Preparation

Combine the lemon juice, hot pepper flakes, cracked pepper, and salt in a nonreactive (glass, ceramic, or stainless steel) bowl and whisk until the salt crystals are dissolved. Add the lemon zest, garlic, parsley and basil. Stir or whisk in the olive oil. The virtue of this marinade is its freshness: Use it within 1 to 2 hours of making. Stir again before using.