Faux Cracker barrel casserole

Copycat Cracker Barrel Hashbrown Casserole via  Cincy Shopper
1 bag (about 30 oz) Frozen Hash Browns, thawed
1 stick Butter, melted
1 can Cream of Chicken Soup
1 small Onion, chopped
8 oz Shredded Cheddar Cheese
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp Black Pepper
1 cup Sour Cream

Grease 9x11" baking dish. Preheat oven to 350. In a bowl mix onion, soup, pepper and all but 1c cheese. Add sour cream and mix well.Add hash browns and melted butter. Mix well. Transfer to prepared dish. Bake 45-55 min til bubbly.

Bourbon Cider Ham

Bourbon Cider Glazed Ham via Cooking In Stilettos
4-5 pound fully cooked, spiral cut, bone-in ham
2 cups of Apple Cider, divided
1/3 cup of light brown sugar, firmly packed
1/3 cup of Dijon Mustard
1 clove of garlic, finely minced
1 cup of Bourbon

Heat oven to 350 F. Line roasting pan w foil. Place ham, cut side down, in pan. Pour 1 c apple cider over ham and place in the oven. roast  45 min while prepare glaze.in a heavy bottomed pan, add remaining cider, br sugar, mustard, and garlic.  Whisk to combine. Let mix come to boil, then turn off heat. whisk in bourbon and return to heat. Bring bourbon cider glaze to boil and reduce to simmer til mix reduced by half. When reduced, set aside sm amt for serving.After 45 min, remove ham from oven and flip ham so it is resting on side. Glaze ham w bourbon cider mix and continue to baste every 15 – 20 min til ham is fully heated through and glaze has formed a nice, crisp coating.
Remove  ham from oven and let rest 15 min  before serving.

It's a good thing we like potato soup

I decided to make scalloped potatoes and ham from Pioneer Woman with the remainder of our

 leftover ham from Easter.

MMMMM! Doesn't that look scrumptious?

Except for one thing...

Yeah. That's not supposed to be like that.

I guess it's my fault that the dish turned out so soupy.  I used skim milk and evaporated milk instead of cream and half and half.  Apparently, the fat in the dairy was essential in getting the darn thing to set up.

Oh well.

The main thing was that it tasted amazing.  Ah. May. Zing.  Soupy soup and all.  I'll be making this again the next time we have leftover ham.  And maybe, just maybe I'll actually use cream and half and half!

Scalloped Potatoes and Ham from Tasty Kitchen
3 pounds Russet Or Yukon Gold Potatoes, Washed Thoroughly
2 Tablespoons Butter
1 whole Yellow Onion, Diced
3 cups Diced Ham
1½ cup Half-and-half
1½ cup Heavy Cream
¼ cups Flour
Black Pepper To Taste
1 cup Grated Cheddar Cheese
1 cup Grated Monterey Jack Cheese
Chopped Parsley (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a large casserole dish.Heat 2 T butter in a large skillet. Add onions and cook 1-2 min, til translucent. Add ham, cook 3-4 min until thoroughly heated. Remove from heat and set aside.

Combine half-and-half and cream in a microwave-safe container and nuke for a minute or so, until no longer cold. Whisk in flour and black pepper until totally combined. Set aside. (You may add salt, but cheese and ham are salty, so add sparingly.)

Combine the two grated cheeses. Set aside.

Using a mandoline or slicer, slice potatoes into 1/8"slices (very thin.) Layer 1/3  potato slices in prepared dish. Sprinkle 1/3 ham/onion mix, then 1/3 cheese, then pour 1/3 cream mix.Repeat twice. Cover with foil and bake 40 min. Remove foil and bake 20 min or til bubbly and hot.

Cut into squares and serve. Sprinkle on chopped parsley if you’d like!
(Note: To speed along the process a bit, you may boil sliced potatoes for 3 to 5 minutes before assembling the casserole. Just drain and slightly cool before assembling.)

Pasta Cordon Bleu

This is the first of many things I'm making with the tasty tasty Ham with Maple and Mustard Glaze we had for Easter.

I can't remember the last time I actually had Chicken Cordon Bleu.  It's been at least 8 years.  At Least.

I used to buy those little frozen breaded things at the grocery store.  They came in individual little packets.  They were great when I was just whipping up something for myself. (I thought that was cooking in those days.)  The chicken always turned out a bit on the rubbery side.  And now that I CAN cook, I won't eat rubbery chicken even if it starts raining donuts.

Don't really know why I haven't attempted to make Cordon Bleu before.  Maybe the memory of the rubbery processed stuff has lingered in my mental taste buds?  Or maybe I thought it was too much work and involved handling raw chicken.

Handling raw chicken is super icky.  I try to use a fork when possible.  You can't really get around it if you have to stuff or roll up a piece of raw chicken. That, more than anything is probably why I've never made the darn dish.

Oh ho!  But then I saw pasta cordon bleu from Amy's New Kitchen.  There's no wrapping or anything to do with raw meats.  The recipe even uses pre-cooked diced chicken and ham.  How is that for speedy awesomeness?

As is my M.O, I did not follow the recipe to the letter.  The recipe didn't get the best reviews, but I was certain I could improve on it.  I made a few changes here and there, including nearly burning the panko and breadcrumb topping under the broiler! 

It looks a lot worse than it is.

See, you can't even tell when it's all mixed together.  And what's most important, there was zero burnt taste.  In fact, until Mrblocko looks at this post, I'll wager he had no idea how "cajun" the breadcrumbs were right out of the oven.

Pasta Cordon Bleu adapted from Amy's New Kitchen
3/4 lb. Pasta (I used penne)
1 cup Chicken Breasts, cooked and cubed
1 cup Ham, cooked and cubed
1 T olive oil
1 small diced onion1 1/2 cups Milk
8 oz. Cream Cheese (softened)
2 T spicy or Dijon mustard
Salt and pepper to taste
1/8 t nutmeg
1/8t cayenne
2 cups Gruyere, shredded
2 cups defrosted peas (I only used 1 c. but it wasn't enough, and this is me who doesn't like peas saying this.)
3/4c combination of breadcrumbs and panko
1/4 cup Butter, melted

Cook pasta per package instructions. Drain and add meat to the pot, tossing to combine.  Meanwhile, in a medium sauce pan saute onions in oil.  When onions begin to brown, add milk, cream cheese and mustard. Stir until smooth, about 5 minutes.  Add salt, pepper, cayenne and nutmeg.  Add sauce to noodles and combine, then stir in cheese and peas.  Pour into 9x13 baking dish. Combine breadcrumbs/panko with melted butter.  Evenly sprinkle breadcrumbs over top of dish.  Place under broiler for 4 minutes, watching carefully so it browns and doesn't burn.

Ham with Maple and Mustard Glaze

Ham. Nothing beats a good ham. We're experts on ham in this house.

 This is just a representation of what 90% of the pictures of my beloved child look like.

But we aren't talking about that kind of ham.  We're talking about bone-in ham shanks.  Over Easter they were on sale for 89¢ a pound.  I bought two and stuck one in the freezer for later.  I would have bought more but they were standing at the door with clubs if you tried to buy more than two.  I probably could have taken them on, but I left my cast iron skillet at home.  Alas.

The last ham my husband prepared was tasty, but as we rarely eat the same thing twice, I had to go searching for a new recipe. I settled on this recipe for ham with maple and mustard glaze from Cook, Shoot, Eat.

Mrblocko and his knives of fury, carving up the ham like a maniac, maniac-woah-oh-oh.

Of course, not one to want to let anyone down, I made a few minor changes to the recipe.  The recipe called for champagne vinegar.  Well I didn't have that, but I did have white wine vinegar.   I thought that would work out just as well.  Except for the fact that when I went to use it, I noticed it had this huge floating disk of yuck in it.  I didn't know that vinegar could grow funky junk.  Guess you learn something new every day.

I decided to use cider vinegar.  Cider is made from apples, and apples are a nice complementary flavor to ham.  And, as it turns out, I had EXACTLY the right amount for the recipe.

Instead of using Apricot jam, I used peach-mango preserves.  Wow.  Awesome substitution.  I've made a peach glazed roaster chicken before that was to die for.  Peach-mango kicks regular peach's butt.  Of course, I might just be a tad bit biased as I LOVE peach-mango stuff.

Oh, one more thing, we left off the cloves.  Neither Mrblocko nor I particularly care for cloved ham.  The ham had plenty of flavors going on, that even if you were a clove fan, I don't think you'd miss them.

This ham was super moist.  I can't stand it when a ham gets over cooked.  It's so sad to see the tender goodies turned into pork chewing gum.  Bleck.  Sometimes glazes can be über sweet, but not this one. This glaze had a nice balance of flavors.  It was salty from the mustard, sweet from the maple and jam, and tangy from the vinegar and mustard. An all around winner.

Ham with Maple and Mustard Glaze adapted from Cook, Shoot, Eat
ready-to-eat, cooked ham, bone-in, uncut (not spiral cut), shank or butt end, 8-11 lbs.

Glaze
 ½ cup cider vinegar
¾ cup maple syrup
½ cup Dijon or spicy mustard
2 T peach  mango preserves
Salt and pepper to taste

Remove ham from the refrigerator still in its wrapping a couple of hours before you’re planning to cook so as to bring it close to room temperature.

Make a diamond pattern on the ham by cutting straight lines into the fat with a sharp knife about ½ inch deep parallel to each other. Score another set of lines at a 45 degree angle to the first to create a diamond pattern.

Preheat oven to 325° F. Place ham, fat side up in a roasting pan lined with aluminum foil. Cook ham in oven for one hour.

While ham is cooking, make glaze. In a small saucepan, heat vinegar over medium heat until reduced to 2 T.  Add maple syrup, mustard, jam and salt. Cook, whisking, until well combined, about 2 minutes. Season with pepper to taste and set aside.  Remove ham from oven and brush top and sides generously with one third of the glaze.

Return to oven. Remember that the ham is already cooked so you don’t have to cook to an internal temperature of 140° F as is often instructed. The ham will need about another 30 min of cooking to achieve an inner temperature between 110° and 120° F. It will be very warm, if not hot, and is more likely to retain its moisture.

Baste every ten minutes with the glaze. Don’t baste ham with its own juices as the glaze might wash off. Take the ham out of the oven, cover with aluminum foil and let rest 15 minutes before serving.

Easter Meringues

I don't know why it is, but we have no Easter traditions in our family. Oh sure, the Easter bunny visits, and we cook up a ham, but that's it. I thought that was particularly odd considering all the little quirky things we do for Christmas.  It's even more odd, when you think about it, that if there was no Easter (I'm referring to the Christian holiday, not Ostara), there'd be no Christmas.

Anyhow, when I saw this fun recipe for meringues over at the blog Mommy's Idea Cookbook, I thought it would be a fun thing for all three of us to do together as a family, and possibly start a new Easter tradition.  This recipe incorporates Scripture into the baking steps, each relating to the death and resurrection of Jesus.

Even though we were all exhausted from all the yard work we'd done during the day on Saturday, and we were getting up for the 6AM service on Easter Sunday, we made these Easter meringues right after dinner.

Goldfish crackers optional

I'd never made meringue cookies before, and with last year's Resurrection Roll Flop, I was a bit worried they wouldn't turn out as planned.

But they did!  The centers were hollow like they were supposed to be!  And they tasted light as air.

Mrblocko thought the cookies were too sweet, but Blockette and I loved them.  I plan on making these again next year!


Easter Meringues from Mommy's Idea Book
1 c. whole pecans
1 tsp. vinegar
3 egg whites
pinch salt
1 c. sugar
zipper baggie
wooden spoon
tape
Bible

Preheat Oven to 300 F. (Note: Do this first, don’t wait until you are half way done with the recipe!) Place pecans in Ziploc bag and let your children beat them with the wooden spoon to break into small pieces.

Explain that after Jesus was arrested he was beaten by the Roman soldiers.

Read John 19:1-3.

Let each child smell the vinegar. Put 1 tsp. vinegar into mixing bowl.

Explain that when Jesus was thirsty on the cross he was given vinegar to drink.

Read John 19:28-30.

Add egg whites to vinegar. Eggs represent life.

Explain that Jesus gave His life to give us life.

Read John 10:10-11.

Sprinkle a little salt into each child’s hand. Let them taste it and brush the rest into the bowl.

Explain that this represents the salty tears shed by Jesus’ followers, and the bitterness of our own sin.

Read Luke 23:27.

So far the ingredients are not very appetizing. Add 1 c. sugar.

Explain that the sweetest part of the story is that Jesus died because He loves us, He wants us to know that and He wants us to love Him as well.

Read Psalms 34:8 and John 3:16.

Beat with a mixer on high speed for 12 to 15 minutes until stiff peaks are formed.

Explain that the color white represents the purity in God’s eyes of those whose sins have been cleansed by Jesus.

Read Isaiah 1:18 and John 3:1-3

Fold in broken nuts. Drop by teaspoons onto wax paper covered cookie sheet.

Explain that each mound represents the rocky tomb where Jesus’ body was laid.

Read Matthew 27:57-60.

Put the cookie sheet in the oven, close the door and turn the oven OFF. Give each child a piece of tape and seal the oven door.

Explain that Jesus’ tomb was sealed.

Read Matthew 27:65-66.

IT”S TIME TO GO TO BED!

Explain that they may feel sad to leave the cookies in the oven overnight. Jesus’ followers were in despair when the tomb was sealed.

Read John 16:20 and 22.

On Sunday morning, open the oven and give everyone a cookie. Notice the cracked surface and take a bite. The cookies are hollow! On Resurrection morning, Jesus’ followers were amazed to find the tomb open and empty.

Read Matthew 28:1-9.

THE LORD JESUS HAS RISEN!!! HE IS ALIVE!! (...yup.)

Failed Resurrection Rolls

Hey everyone, I'm already up to Easter in my horrendously backlogged list of things I made and need to blog about. Yay! Really it's OK because Easter came late this year. You buying that? No? Fine then. Be that way!

Around and leading up to Easter I kept seeing blog entries about these "Resurrection rolls." The concept is that you wrap crescent roll around a large marshmellow. In the cooking process the marshmellow melts, leaving an empty interior to your crescent roll.

Blockette and I made these together and talked about how the Marshmellow was like Jesus and the crescent roll was like his shroud. I explained that the little rolls were like Jesus inside his tomb and something magical was going to happen once they had cooked.

This is what my rolls looked like before they went into the oven. Pretty neat eh
Here is what they looked like when they came out of the oven. Um yeah.

Not so miraculous. I told Blockette what was supposed to have happened, that the marshmellows were supposed to melt and the crescent rolls were supposed to be empty like the Jesus' grave at Easter. We talked about the whole thing some more and came to the conclusion that our Resurrection rolls still "worked" for Easter because the "tombs" couldn't hold Jesus so they split open. Yeah it's a stretch but hey, let's roll with the punches shall we?

So why didn't this work? I blame it on all the chemicals in the marshmellows. The preservatives just don't let the marshmellow melt. Period. If they don't melt in hot chocolate, then they aren't going to melt in the oven. I may give this another try the next time I make marshmellows from scratch. I have a feeling they would melt quite nicely.

If you'd like see if you have more success making Resurrection rolls, I used the recipe over at The Family Kitchen. Please let me know if you have better luck than I did!


Resurrection Rolls from Family Kitchen
1 can of refrigerated crescent rolls
8 large marshmallows
2-3 tablespoons unsalted butter – melted
1/4 cup cinnamon sugar

Preheat oven to 350 F. Unroll crescent roll triangles and place them on a rimmed cookie sheet that has been lined with a silpat {or other silicone mat}. Dip marshmallow into melted butter and then roll all sides in cinnamon sugar. Place covered marshmallow on the widest end of crescent roll. Roll crescent roll over marshmallow, making sure that it’s sealed on all sides{otherwise the marshmallow will leak}. Place on baking sheet. Continue until all are complete. Bake for approximately 10-12 minutes OR until golden. Allow rolls to cool for 1-2 minutes before serving.