Coldcut loaf

Here's a kinky bit from my repertoire. It's construction is very straight-forward and it's ingredients are entirely negotiable. Here are some choices: some or all - mortadella, salami, boiled ham, pressed turkey or chicken breast, bologna, pepperoni, prosciutto, and some cheese. I would like to have used capicola but couldn't get it at my Giant. I used some Mexican queso fresco which is much like mozzarella. Grease up a glass loaf pan and layer in the meats and cheese in any order you prefer. Cover with foil and place a weight on top. Bake in a 300 degree oven for about 40 minutes. Let cool and then refrigerate for a couple of hours before slicing and serving as an appetizer, an amuse bouche, or a filling for a rollup or a sandwich. It's fun, it's tasty, it's me.

Haiku ham and rice

A dangerous theme has developed here. I used to write haiku a lot. I used to write limericks a lot. I love doggerel (and dogs). I just had to look over my shoulder to see where Scooper (the King Charles Spaniel) was. He’s sacked out on a papasan chair next to me. He’s adjusting to the time change. It’s so dark by the time we finish dinner and do the dishes that his interest in an evening walk has waned. I take him out anyway – he just needs it at the age of 12+. But enough about him. Back to me.

I love those slices of ham you can find in every supermarket. You know, the oval ones with the little round bone in the middle. That’s the inspiration today.

Sometimes I just dream stuff up. It usually doesn’t result in a nightmare. In this case something unusual happened: the resulting repast tasted exactly the way I had imagined it.The onset of fall weather has me in a comfort food mode. Time for poetry.

Ham slice in baked rice
As leaves drop and wind is chilled
Eat well - take comfort

Haiku ham and rice
1 tbsp olive oil
½ medium onion, cut into half moons
1 green bell pepper, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
black pepper
pinch salt
pinch black pepper
½ tsp each garlic powder and onion powder (or to taste)
1 slice ham, bone and excess fat trimmed away, otherwise left whole
1 cup white rice
2 cups chicken stock

Heat the olive oil in a large sauté pan. Add onion, green pepper, garlic and onion powders, pinch salt and pinch black pepper. Saute just until the onion and pepper begin to soften, 3-4 minutes.

Add the rice and stir to coat with the contents of the pan. Lay the ham slice on top. Add the stock. Bring to a boil. Lower the heat to a slow simmer. Cover and took 20-25 minutes until all the liquid has been absorbed. Serve with an additional vegetable.

Ham burgers with artichokes

I got creative yesterday and came up with this. It’s not a typo, it is “ham burger” because it’s ham mixed with mashed potato and made into a burger,. It’s fluffy and delicious. The slice of ham I refer to is one of those available all the time at the market.

As for the artichoke hearts, I use frozen ones which are darn near as good as fresh and I don’t have the time or the inclination to deal with those spike heads of goodness. Personally I would not make this with canned artichokes, though it certainly could be done.

My apologies, but my measurements are approximations. You want about equal parts of chopped ham and potatoes. As for the milk and butter, add enough to make the potatoes nice and creamy. The meat and potatoes are both just sticky enough to hold together in the sauté pan. You could add an egg, but I think it would be too wet. Maybe just a yolk – up to you. You could also dredge the burgers in bread crumbs. I thought about doing it but decided not to.

I put the artichoke hearts into the microwave for 3 minutes covered (no added water in spite of what the package says). Then stirred them and microwaved them another 3 minutes uncovered. Peter made a streusel of bread crumbs, salt and pepper, parmesan cheese and olive oil which we topped the artichokes with and broiled for 2-3 minutes until browned. Yum.

Ham burgers (4 servings)
For the burgers:
2 medium red waxy potatoes
¼ cup milk
2 tbsp butter
1 slice ham, usually around 1 lb. or a little less
2 tbsp capers
2 tbsp Dijon mustard
black pepper
1 tbsp olive oil

Cut the potatoes into 1-2” pieces and put in a pot. Cover them with water. Bring it to a boil. Add salt, and let them cook for 10 or so minutes until mash-worthy doneness. Drain and return to the pot. Add the milk and 1 tbsp butter and mash thoroughly. Oh, I don’t like to peel my potatoes, but that’s up to you.

While the potatoes cook, trim the ham of excess fat and remove the little round bone in the center. Cut into 1” pieces and put it into the food processor. Add capers and mustard and some pepper. Pulse until finely chopped. Remove to a large bowl.

Combine the ham mixture and the potatoes and fold together. Form into 8 burgers. Heat 1 tbsp olive oil and remaining tbsp butter in a sauté pan. When the butter has melted and foam has subsided, add burgers, 4 at a time, and sauté 3-4 minutes per side until browned and a little crisp on the outside. Handle them carefully as they will be delicate.

Maple-glazed ham

This was a comforting and tasty meal. The sides include braised curly endive with tasso ham and a condiment of homemade kim chi. You read that right, kim chi. The 3 ingredients married very well. The potato salad was an excellent palate cleanser to balance between the greens and the salty, slightly sweet ham.

A nice slice – shown whole, and with the fat and bone trimmed out.

I’d been wracking my brain (hard to do sometimes) for new ideas. The wok smoker has me slavering for more smokey protein. I’ve seen recipes on the net for both pork chops and chicken (and of course salmon). But, for the moment, I went with one of those nice ham slices you can get in any supermarket. This couldn’t be easier.

Maple-glazed ham
1 ham slice, about 1 1/4 lbs.

1 tsp unsalted butter
maple syrup
black pepper

Remove the little round bone from the ham and trim it of most or all of its fat. To do so you will be reducing it to various sized pieces. No matter.

Heat the butter in the pan over medium-low heat until the butter has melted. In the meantime, brush the top of the ham pieces with maple syrup and sprinkle them with pepper. Put the ham in the pan glazed side up. After 3 minutes, turn the ham and glaze the top side and add pepper. Continue warming it for 3 more minutes. That’s all. Serve and enjoy.

Real Man's Ham and Cheese Quiche

This is, I think, one of the finest things I ever made.

I decided to trot this out again from long ago. In doing so I essentially rewrote the whole recipe.

Don't think less of me for using store-bought crust, I'm not a pastry person. I'm perfectly happy with Pillsbury! I made this with homemade ham which just finished curing yesterday. Don't think I'll post a recipe for it; one of those supermarket ham slices will serve nicely.

Real Man's Ham and Cheese Quiche

1 pie crust, thawed if frozen, at room temperature

4 large eggs, beaten moderately

1 tbsp olive oil

2-3 scallions, chopped

1/2 green bell pepper, diced

1 cup cream

1 cup diced ham

1 cup grated cheese (you choose the cheese)

salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Put the crust in a 9" pie plate and crimp the edges. Add a circle of foil and pie weights or beans. Bake for 12 minutes. Remove weights (carefully!). Brush the crust with some beaten egg. Allow the crust to cool completely.

Reduce oven temperature to 375 degrees.

In the meantime, heat the oil in a saute pan. Add scallion and green pepper and cook for about 3 minutes, just until softened slightly. Set aside to cool.

Whisk the scallion, green pepper and cream into the eggs. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

When the crust is cool, put the ham and cheese in the bottom of it. Pour the custard mixture into the crust. Place the pie plate on a baking sheet and put it into the oven. Bake 25-35 minutes until the center has just set.

Set aside to rest. Serve warm 0r at room temperature with a salad.

A soup

Here’s another soup composed partly of leftovers and additions to round it out. As my e-mail pen-pal, Jen, put it, recipes are about “ideas.” Couldn’t agree more. Visit Jen’s blog; a link is just above this paragraph.

I would make a bet with anyone who cooks regularly that I could rummage through his/her fridge and freezer and find the basics for a soup. I mean, gosh, can’t you make a soup out of almost anything?

Ham and black bean soup
1 tbsp olive oil
¼ medium onion, diced
1 or 2 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
Leftover black beans plus a 14.5 oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed
4 oz. hickory smoked ham, diced
1 14.5 oz. diced tomatoes
2 cups chicken stock
2 corn tortillas, torn into pieces
1 dried pasilla pepper
½ Serrano pepper (or jalapeno), seeded and minced
salt and pepper to taste
1/8 tsp smoked Spanish paprika

Remove the seeds from the pasilla pepper and reconstitute it in hot tap water for 30 minutes. Put it in your food processor with 1/8 cup of the beans and enough chicken stock to form a puree. (The pureed beans will lend texture to the soup.)

Heat the olive oil in a soup pot over medium heat. When hot add onion and sauté for 3-4 minutes. Add garlic, stir, and sauté 1 minute. Add tomatoes and stock and tortillas. Simmer until the tortillas dissolve.

Add all remaining ingredients including the pepper/bean puree, and simmer for 10 minutes. Eat. A nice hunk of crusty bread would be fun with this.

Ham and bean soup

I often make soup. The particular ingredients (which I know I've mentioned many times before) just happen to be what is in the fridge.

I on a new diet kick. For the past few years Peter and I have more often than not eaten sandwiches (grilled or on toast) for lunch. Having quit smoking recently my weight is inexorably increasing - about a pound a week. This in spite of no change in my eating habits and gym visits (4 times a week).

It occured to me the other day when Peter went off for the weekend to New Orleans that I should try skipping the sandwiches and getting "soup creative."

The one and only ingredient you absolutely must have for soup is liquid. I prefer low fat/low sodium chicken stock - often on sale at Safeway. Then just rummage around and see what you have. You could do something as simple as open a can of diced tomatoes, saute some onion and garlic, puree that with the tomatoes, add some broth and some seasonings and, voila, it's soup!

On Saturday I took the easy way out and bought one of Safeway's "Signature" soups, Italian wedding soup. I really like it and I was feeling lazy.

Sunday I got creative. I opened a package of ramen noodles and thawed out 4 oz. shrimp, removing their shells. Now, I wanted flavor but less sodium than one gets using the ramen flavor packet. So...I started with 1 cup chicken broth and one cup water, brought it to a boil, added the noodles and, one minute later, the shrimp. Ramen noodles take 3 minutes and the end of which you add the flavoring. I used only half. That's all there was to it.

All right, I'm going on a bit about this. Today's soup is something I dreamed up in a matter minutes early today. Everything that went into this was stuff that was on hand. If you have a trip planned to the store you can, or course, pick up whatever you might want to add to the soup. But I hate to go to the store for just one or two items.

Anyhoo, kohlrabi is unusal. But we had 3 "heads" of it. Also had leftover the jalapeno from a few days ago.

I'd love to take on the challenge of making a soup, Iron Chef style, from a list of ingredients provided by you the readers. (What readers? Nobody comes here.) Bring it on.

Ham and bean soup

1 tbsp olive oil

1/2 medium onion, chopped

1/2 cup chopped celery (with leaves if possible)

1 kohlrabi, peeled and diced

1/2 jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped

1 large clove garlic, minced

1 lb. smoked pork chops

1 14.5 oz. can beans (absolutely any kind)

4 cups chicken broth

salt and pepper to taste

1 tsp chili powder

In a large pot heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add onion, celery, kohlrabi, jalapeno and garlic. Saute, stirring occasionally for 5 minutes. Don't allow the vegetation to take on color.

If your pork chops have bones, remove them and add them to the pot for flavor. Cut the pork up into 1/2" cubes. Add the pork and the beans to the pot. Stir and then add broth. Bring to a simmer and then season with salt and pepper and chili powder to taste. Let the soup simmer very slowly for maybe 10 minutes. That's all there is to it.

Ham and egg cake

I have a wacky idea for something to do with ham and eggs. I think it will go something like this: get a ham slice from market; grind it using the fine blade; lightly beat some egg; mix the egg and ham together, adding, perhaps, a bit of flour as a binder. Pipe the mixture into simmering broth or perhaps into hot oil. Will it hold together?

Next generation of this idea: put the mixture into well-greased muffing tin, first lining the cups with baby spinach; should come out like a quiche; the jury’s still out (in my mind) about the flour idea.

Third generation: bingo, I’ve got it! Looked in the cupboard and, sure enough, there was a box of Bisquick in there…been there for probably a couple of years. AND, on the back of the box was a recipe for an Italian “bake” which included ground beef, frozen peas, and some grated cheese. Now we’re talkin’.

I still want to try my idea in paragraph 1 above, but that will keep until another day.

Bear in mind that this recipe uses exactly what I already had on hand. The only thing I didn’t alter was the wet-dry proportions for the Bisquick itself.

Ham and egg cake
1 ham steak, about 1 lb.
1 cup frozen bell pepper strips, thawed and chopped
1 scallion, green and white, chopped
black pepper
3/4 tsp dried tarragon
2 cups Bisquick
2 eggs
1 cup milk (I used 2% along with a bit of half and half)
1 cup baby spinach leaves
1 cup grated cheese (in our case some goat mozzarella and some romano)
1 tbsp butter

Preheat the oven to 400°.

Trim the ham of all gristle, most of the fat, and the bone that’s probably in it. Grind it fine, or chop with some pulses of a food processor.

Spray a medium sized casserole dish with cooking spray. Spread the spinach leaves over the bottoms and sides of the dish.

Add the ham, peppers, pepper, scallion, and tarragon. Salt isn’t necessary because the ham is salty, as is the romano.

Mix together the Bisquick, milk and eggs. Pour over the ham mixture. Dot with little pieces of the butter. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

Top with the cheese and return to the oven for 4-5 minutes. Allow to rest for 5 minutes before serving.


For a free excerpt of my book, “A Year of Food,” in which I opine, report, cook, muse and philosophize about everything that passed my lips for an entire year, write to me at: scrout1944@msn.com.

Real Man's Ham and Cheese Quiche

What a magnificent quiche! I started with a couple of different recipes and then made the one below, which I consider my own.

There are a couple of things about this that might inhibit your making it exactly the way I did. First, I used a 10" Chanterelle glass pie plate. If what you have is 9", fear not. I'll adjust the amounts for you. Second, I just happened to have some asparagus on hand. You don't need to add it and, if you do, your egg mixture might come close to overflowing. I'd suggest roasting or poaching some asparagus separately or making a green salad.

The amounts in parentheses are for the 9" plate.

Ham and cheese quiche
4 eggs (3)
1 1/4 cups heavy cream (1)
2 scallions, chopped
1 cup grated cheese (I used jack and parmesan combined)
1/4 cup roasted red pepper
1 cup ham, diced
1/2 cup asparagus, cut into 1" pieces, blanched for 1 minute and cooled down (optional)
2 pieces Pillsbury pie crust dough (1)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees (375 for a non-glass pie plate).

Whisk one egg lightly with a tablespoon of water.

Lay a piece of aluminum foil out and invert you pie plate on it. Cut a circle of foil about 1" larger than the plate. Fold that in half and cut around the outside, about 1" in from the edge. You will use part of this to shield the edge of the dough while baking and disk shape for your pie weights.

Flour your countertop and lay out 1 piece of dough. Cut a 1 1/2" circle around the outside. Lay out the other piece of dough (remember you don't need this for a 9" plate). Fit the circle you cut around the outside of the complete piece and roll it together to extend the diameter of the dough. You'll need to patch with more of the first dough piece to finish it.

Place the dough in the pie plate and trim as necessary. Place the disk of foil on the bottom and put in pie weights, either beans or regular marble-shaped pie weights.

Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and remove the pie weights and the foil. I did this by simply inverting the plate and dumping the weights out into a bowl.

Apply an egg wash with the egg you whisked. Return the crust to the oven for 5-6 more minutes. When it comes out it might have puffed up in the center. Prick it with a fork and then add egg wash to seal the holes. Allow the crust to cool nearly to room temperature.

Meanwhile make your filling. Blanch the asparagus and then plunge it into cold water. In a large bowl whisk together the remaining egg wash and the rest of the eggs. Whisk in the cream. Stir in the cheese, red pepper, scalliions, 1/2 tsp salt and a good grind of fresh black pepper.

When the crust is cool, put the ham in the bottom and then pour the filling into it. Place the ring of foil over the edges of the crust and crimp lightly. Bake for 25-35 minutes, removing the quiche from the oven when the top is set and lightly browned. Allow to cool. Serve warm or at room temperature.

One last note. I was warned in one of the recipes I consulted to have all ingredients at room temperature before beginning to prepare this.

Enjoy!