(MarieFinds) Ham

This post is partly inspired by Jess' menu planning saga.

I meal plan best when we're broke, and boy, have we been broke. We've all been there. Weeks where due to whatever factors, you start the week with less than a $100 in the bank, and you know it will be that way until payday. And you haven't bought groceries yet. Hopefully, payday is soon. This time payday was 10+ days away.

Solution? A big-ass ham. I cooked an 11 pound ham on Sunday. For the four of us. A good ham, though no Smithfield Country ham. We eat city ham. One of these days I'll mail order a good country ham. (Cook's brand ham's are the best city hams, as decreed by the Cook's Illustrated people. And they can be bought cheaply at WinCo. My 11 pound ham was $18. bought a couple of weeks ago before Easter. Ham is super cheap then. And it keeps in the fridge forever.)

Back to my point. On Sunday, I made a crazy big ham for 2 adults and 2 young kids. Made a half-sized order of scalloped potatoes and green beans. Ham was glazed with a maple syrup / orange marmalade glaze.

Monday was leftovers of above.

Tuesday was a ham and cheddar cheese quiche, with some broccoli and mushrooms thrown in. broccoli served on the side as well. (Squirrel proceeded to eat the ham out of the quiche, some of the "egg" and the broccoli on the side. No egg covered broccoli for her. She only likes it straight. with salt and maybe lemon.)

Wednesday was ham and cheese sandwiches.

Thursday was pizza slices. Yay, payday!

Friday was a ham pot pie. which was surprisingly good. really good, actually. I just added a handful of cheese to the recipe at the link. other than that, followed it exactly.

Saturday breakfast was home made biscuits, with fried ham, sausage and eggs.

Saturday lunch was grilled cheese. And mine had ham in it.

Saturday dinner will be ham and split pea soup. and maybe I'll make more biscuits. I have the world's easiest biscuit recipe.

And then, I think we are done with the ham. For a while. We'll make enough split pea to freeze, because frozen soup is the answer to many nights when we get home at 7pm and still need to feed the kids.

(MarieFinds) Adventures in Archaic French Cooking

First: Baby Boy loved his birthday party. He got trucks, and new crayons to chew on, and he got to eat all the fat drenched beans he wanted, and then there was cake! Sweet, sweet cake. Which he ate very daintily. I will post pictures when I have the pictures near me at a time I have time to post...

Now, for the cassoulet. That was a blast to cook. Seriously. A double batch was truly obnoxious, and I won't do THAT again, but a single batch? Sure. The Lawyer was all, we are doing a casserole for EVERY dinner party from now on! Seriously... it was in the oven, with nothing for us to do, and we actually got to hang out with our guests!

Auntie Lola and I cooked on Saturday, and cooked tons of pig fat, layered it all up, and called it yummy. Squirrel helped me bake cakes on Sunday morning, and then we drank wine with friends. My idea of a good party, anyway.

I will post pictures of cassoulets when they came out of the oven and the obnoxious amount of leftovers we had. As well as the cake eating.

Oh, and he started walking. On his birthday.

(MarieFinds) Ambitious Birthday Plans

Baby Boy's birthday is this weekend. And what fabulously kid-friendly menu do we have planned? Casssoulet and brussel sprouts. Hahahaha. Seriously. I think the kids will love it. Well, at least Baby Boy will. Squirrel will probably hate it. She doesn't like beans. But, she will groove on the bread and cheese. And I'll let her have juice. In a small wine glass. It will make her feel like big people.

This is the recipe at Saveur.com. And Jess, there is no vegetarian substitute for duck fat.

There will be family, and cassoulet, and wine. And cake. I am making two. It is also my dad's birthday, so there will be a sugar free applesauce cake for him, and chocolate cake for the boy. I will post an update as we go along... my sister is making the confit, and coming over tomorrow to help cook. Then we eat on Sunday. Mmmm... anything that takes three days to cook damned well better be good!

(MarieFinds) Food dilemmas

I have been in a cooking quandary. The Lawyer and I do our level best to cook real dinners most nights. When we are sick this becomes even more of a challenge. On a typical night, we don't get home from work until 6:45. And we need to have dinner on the table in less than an hour.


I am bored with my food routine. I recently acquired "The Martha Stewart 52 Quick Meals" book. On my first perusal, it seemed good, but not what I needed at the time. It arrived in the mail at a particularly funds-challenged time for us, and didn't seem too handy for the cheap cook.


I need to get back to weekly menu planning. It is more economical, less wasteful, easier and faster if you have a plan for the week.


I am looking for suggestions. Real meal (shortcuts OK) suggestions that can be on the table in approximately an hour, that are mostly healthy, and don't break the bank.


And I will revisit Martha.

(MarieFinds) Cleaning / Stocking the Freezer

I have a dirty secret. It's my fullsize freezer in the garage. It is old and inneficient, and as such is a hoary mess. It needs to be defrosted. I have been trying to gradually clear it out. Instead, over the weekend, I did bonus cooking and stocked it fuller.

The Lawyer and I both have full time 8-6 jobs. (Since when is that the new 9-5, anyway?) We get home at 6:30 on a good night. Kids start bed time routinte around 8:15. That doesn't give us a lot of time to round dinner up and get it on the table. Leftovers and pre-made frozen dinners can be the salvation on many a night, especially when the budget starts to run thin. No money to go to dinner, need something fast? Pull it from the freezer and throw it in the oven.

So, Sunday I made lots of individual sized chicken pot pies. Monday a big old double batch of hamburger-macaroni casserole, which my kids both adore. (Go figure. I wouldn't touch it as a kid.)

Set the oven to 400 and you've got dinner.

(MarieFinds) My new favorite blog...

The Hungry Cupboard. Girl can write. And apparently cook. Dude... she mans the grill station at one of the best restaraunts in Portland. She must have big brass ones.

(MarieFinds) Crickets...

It seems Jess and I have both gone strangely quiet. I imagine hers has to do with holy week. I have no such excuse. Work is busier and home has been a lot of prep for the arrival of family. The Lawyer's mom is arriving this week for a three month stay. I love that this gives Super Squirrel a chance to know her other grandparents, but it does take a little prep work on our part.

Baby Boy is going to get his first food this weekend when all the family is over for easter. That should be fun.

(MarieFinds) Chicken was on sale...

I tend to fall into a rut with cooking. Trot out the same rotation of recipes over and over. The Lawyer is a much more imaginative cook. I have a ton of chicken in the freezer. Whole chickens were on sale for $.99 / lb the other day, so I have quite a few. And I wanted to try something new:

Served with a side of soft polenta and broccoli. The Squirrel couldn't get enough.

From "all about braising" (one of my favorite cookbooks)

Makes 4 servings

1/3 cup brined green olives *

3 1/2 pounds chicken legs and thighs

Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper

All-purpose flour for dredging

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 cup dry white wine or vermouth

1/4 cup white wine vinegar

1 garlic clove, peeled and smashed

4 strips lemon zest removed with a vegetable peeler (each about 2 1/2 inches by 3/4 inch) (I used 1/2 cup of chopped meyer lemon - peel and all)

2 whole cloves

3/4 cup plump, soft pitted prunes

Remove the pits by smashing the olives one at a time with the side of a large knife, then slipping the pits out. Dry the chicken thoroughly with paper towels and season generously with salt and pepper. Dredge half the chicken pieces in flour and shake off any excess. Heat the oil in a large deep skillet or shallow braising pan (12 to 14 inches is about right). Place the dredged chicken skin side down in the pan and sear until a nut brown crust forms on the first side, 3 to 4 minutes. Turn the chicken with tongs and brown on the other side, another 3 to 4 minutes. While the chicken is browning, pat the remaining pieces dry and dredge in the flour. Transfer the seared chicken to a platter and brown the remaining pieces. Transfer those pieces to the platter.

Pour off any fat from the pan and quickly wipe out any black specks with a damp paper towel, but leave behind any browned bits. Add the wine, vinegar, garlic, zest and cloves and stir with a wooden spoon to scrape up those flavorful browned bits stuck to the bottom of the skillet.

Return the chicken pieces to the skillet, arranging them in a single layer. Pour over any juices that have accumulated on the plate. Scatter over the prunes and olives. Cover tightly and reduce heat to low. Braise at a gentle simmer, basting occasionally and turning the pieces with tongs halfway through, until the chicken is tender and pulls away from the bone, about 30 to 40 minutes. (If the chicken is simmering too vigorously, reduce the heat or place a heat diffuser under the skillet).

Using a slotted spoon or tongs, transfer the chicken to a broiling pan. Skim any visible fat from the sauce with a wide spoon and raise the heat under the skillet to high; reduce the pan juices for 2 to 3 minutes to concentrate the flavor. Taste and adjust salt and pepper seasoning. Remove and discard the cloves and lemon zest.

Run the chicken under the broiler to crisp the skin. Serve with the pan juices.

(MarieFinds) A new use for ham hocks

As Jess has previously mentioned, I come from blue collar / widwestern farm stock. I grew up on food that is currently not in vogue. Including ham hocks and beans. What a way to stretch a butchered pig. The Lawyer is from the Pacific Islands, and so has his own food theories. These two backgrounds lead to us eating a lot of, um, cheap cuts of meat. Ham hocks. Oxtail (not so cheap any more!), tilapia (which is getting popular now, damnit), pork belly, salt pork (works great in carbonara, despite the dirty looks I get from Italian chef brother in law!)

Anyway, I found a new recipe for ham hocks and beans. And I LOVE it. Given that my previous recipe was not so much a recipe as "boil pinto beans, garlic, salt and as many ham hocks as you have / want until beans and meat are tender", this is an improvement. And instead of the corn bread I usually do, just crusty bread. Credit where credit is due, it is an Emeril thing. And it's still cheap as chips.

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 8 medium smoked ham hocks, about 4 ounces each
• 2 cups chopped onions
• 1 pound dried navy white beans
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 2 bay leaves
• 10 cups water
• Salt

Directions

In a medium Dutch oven with a lid, over medium heat, add the oil. When the oil is hot, sear the ham hocks in batches, until brown, about 4 to 6 minutes. Remove the ham hock and set aside. Add the onions. Season with pepper. Saute for 2 minutes. Stir in the beans and bay leaves. Season with pepper. Saute for 1 minute. Add the reserved ham hocks and water. Bring to a boil and reduce the heat to medium low and simmer for 2 hours, or until the meat falls of the bone and the beans are creamy. Remove the bay leaves and season with salt and pepper

And am I the only one who never gets around to removing the bay leaf?