Comfort Food

Mango and Cider-Roasted Ham

by liz · Apr 9, 2018

Brown sugar, apple cider and mango nectar turn this ham into a delicious dish, worthy of a place at the Sunday dinner table. Try this ham for a special family meal or for entertaining. A great choice for Easter or Holiday meals.

Mango and Cider-Roasted Ham

Recipe Ingredients for 14 servings:

1 (8 to 10-pound) fully cooked smoked ham
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/3 cup mango nectar
2 tablespoons apple cider or juice
1 1/2 teaspoons ground mustard
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1 head red or green leaf lettuce (optional)
1 (20-ounce) can pineapple chunks, drained (optional)

Cooking Directions:

Preheat oven to 425°F (220°C). Place ham fat-side up on rack in large roasting pan.
Bake, uncovered, for 1 hour. Combine sugar, nectar, cider, mustard and cloves in small bowl. Remove ham from oven; brush with 1/2 cup glaze.
Bake, brushing frequently with remaining glaze, for an additional 35 to 45 minutes. Remove ham from oven. Transfer to a large platter lined with lettuce leaves; arrange pineapple around ham.

Mango and Cider-Roasted Ham

Recipe type: Main

Prep time: 10 mins

Cook time: 1 hour 45 mins

Total time: 1 hour 55 mins

Serves: 14

Brown sugar, apple cider and mango nectar turn this ham into a delicious dish worthy of a place at the Sunday dinner table. Try this ham for a special family meal or for entertaining. A great choice for holiday meals.

Ingredients

1 (8 to 10-pound) fully cooked smoked ham
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
⅓ cup mango nectar
2 tablespoons apple cider or juice
1½ teaspoons ground mustard
⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
1 head red or green leaf lettuce (optional)
1 (20-ounce) can pineapple chunks, drained (optional)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 425°F (220°C). Place ham fat-side up on rack in large roasting pan.
Bake, uncovered, for 1 hour. Combine sugar, nectar, cider, mustard and cloves in small bowl. Remove ham from oven; brush with ½ cup glaze.
Bake, brushing frequently with remaining glaze, for an additional 35 to 45 minutes. Remove ham from oven. Transfer to a large platter lined with lettuce leaves; arrange pineapple around ham.

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Secrets of a Sharecropper: Southern-style Buttermilk Biscuits

by liz · Sep 14, 2012

The Sharecropper is one of the most interesting members of my community. He shows up in the dark of night to build fires and cook dinners for large gatherings. No one knows where he lives or when they will see him next; he just appears, ready to lend a hand and drink a glass. And bake biscuits. Sometimes he’s gone for weeks on end, only to resurface with a new tattoo, driving a strange new vehicle (or motorcycle) we’ve never seen before, and we may never see again. He has a magically never-ending beard and a huge heart. And the best biscuit-making skills in the region.

The first time I had his biscuits, he pulled the freshly made dough out of a compartment on his black motorcycle, strode into the kitchen in all leather and asked politely for a rolling pin. They were buttery, flaky and layered with just the right amount of density and lightness. They were perfect.

Here are some of his biscuit flavor combinations:

Cracked pepper and sea salt
Smoked Andouille sausage and Cotswold cheese
Parmesan and herb
Bacon, green chile and sharp cheddar
Duck fat, Parmesan and capers
Prosciutto and smoked Gruyère

But, if you’re gonna make traditional southern biscuits, here are some guidelines…or more accurately — closely guarded biscuit secrets — to follow:

you have to use real buttermilk, no substitutes allowed
the butter should be full-fat, unsalted, herbed and frozen
self-rising flour is best, but you can use whole-wheat and other flours (but then you have to use more butter, in fact, mad amounts)
getting the ratio of liquid to flour to butter is key, and takes practice — not something you can get from a recipe
you must exercise patience, using just the right amount of rolling, resting, flattening and folding (and sometimes back again) to coax the right result out of the dough — much like the attentions paid to a woman.

Well, I don’t have the Sharecropper’s secret recipe, his dough-coaxing skills or any tattoos, but I know I’ll see his leather-clad tribal-decorated self soon, and he’ll be bearing his gift: the best southern-style buttermilk biscuits I’ve ever had.

Culinary in the Country: Gourmet Food & Wine in North Carolina

by liz · May 28, 2012

There’s at least one winery in every state, but that doesn’t mean you should taste the local wine when you’re driving through Oklahoma.

But in North Carolina, they’ve been slowly converting tobacco crops to grape vines over the last 10 years, thanks in part to an incentive by the state government to do so. In this state, the wines go gloriously with the local gourmet cuisine. You can find gourmet food and wine in North Carolina’s Yadkin Valley.

Yes, I found some lovely things to eat in the boonies of North Carolina. One place was Twenty One & Main in Elkin, a bistro serving up some incredibly tasty lunches and dinners in these here parts. On this day, the lunch special was a salmon tartare sandwich, with edamame paste, grilled pineapple, and wasabi cabbage, shown above. And it pairs perfectly with a crisp, white Italian wine from Raffaldini vineyards.

The next night for dinner, my hosts served me another local wine (or was it cider?) on the deck as the sun was setting over 12 acres of green crops and wooded fields. Then they proceeded to fix a grilled romaine salad, with a chipotle-caesar dressing, alongside grilled beef and buffalo with a Cabernet reduction sauce.

But the best thing I ate in the North Carolina countryside was fried okra straws, with produce picked straight from the garden just moments before. I never liked okra as a child…it seemed like everyone in the Midwest breaded and fried okra the exact same way and then smothered it with ketchup. It’s one of the worst things I’ve ever eaten.

But these were glorious. My hosts sliced them thinly, lengthwise, to look like straws. Then, they dipped them in spicy corn meal mix, and flash fried them in a deep fryer.

These spicy fried okra straws were the best okra I’d ever eaten! I never thought someone could fix okra for me that I actually liked! And now it was fixed…along with the best summer evening, in the woods, on a deck, I’d had in a long, long time.

The Ham & High: Locally Sourced Ingredients in Montgomery

by liz · Sep 1, 2011

Montgomery Alabama is, as one would expect, full of down home cookin’ and it certainly doesn’t disappoint. Being from a central mid-western state myself, I loved the barbecue, mashed potatoes with mounds of butter, baked beans and hot dogs with all the fixin’s. And don’t forget the grits!

But I was very excited to find a new-fangled restaurant in town that uses local produce – sourced from its neighborhood farm just across the street – and a fresh approach to Southern cooking. The Ham & High, in the new Hampstead urban living space (you may have read about it in Food & Wine) changes their menu every day, and serves brunch on Sundays…with grits on the menu.

My brunching partner and I decided to kick it off with cocktails, above. Him: Ham & High Farm-Fresh Bloody Mary. Me: Basil Shrug with gin. Who doesn’t love a garden-to-glass basil drink in a jar? (Get a similar recipe here to make it at home.)

We couldn’t resist ordering something Southern..steak and farm eggs over creamy, cheesy grits. I’ve had a lot of grits in my life and these were perfectly cooked: a delightfully red-necked rendition of risotto.

Next was the French toast Monte Cristo sandwich with maple syrup and strawberry preserves, served with shoestring fries and smoked ketchup, shown above. Gruyère, ham, French toast, syrup and fries? I can’t think of a better heap of grub for one dish.

And to round it out, we had to try the house-made sausage of bacon and jalapeño, which was easily the best thing we ate that Sunday.

But the best thing we did that Sunday was what we did next: head home in the heat and humidity – bellies full, gin settled in – and hit the hay for a long afternoon nap.

If I get the chance to eat my fill in Montgomery again, I’ll be back here for a proper dinner. Right after my afternoon cocktail. And a nap.

The Power of Love & French Macarons

by liz · Mar 30, 2011

On my latest trip to Europe, a birthday eating/drinking tour across Rioja, Basque country and Bordeaux, with romance provided by the Baker, I received the most perfect birthday gift of all: French macarons.

A box of classic, assorted macarons by a well-known maker purchased in the Paris airport is not cheap. It’s gorgeous in its silky brown covering, tied with a ribbon, holding its precious contents elegantly. Patiently concealing its perfect rows inside.

And once you open it: such pretty colors! Then take a bite: the airy, crispy ookie plus creamy middle embodying the perfect essence of chocolate, lavender, pistachio, coffee. It’s so rich and lifelike, you have to give half to your partner, so you can watch his face while he takes a bite and tastes this sensation. Doing it with someone you love is much better than solo; this experience has to be shared.

You can whip the box out and share another flavor over espresso in Madrid, again with the cava in your hotel room before dinner, and on long drives through the Spanish countryside.

It’s heartbreak when the last macaron is eaten and all that’s left are crumbs, colorful crispy pieces of their former glory. But even days-old macaron crumbs are fulfilling when shared with the right person in the right place.

The perfect gift.

Birthday Dinner Party for Girls

by liz · Mar 28, 2011

Birthdays are less painful when you have friends to cook for you.

As I planned what I wanted to do for my birthday this year (a big one!) I remembered what one friend recently did for her wedding. To make it more affordable, and more personal, she rented a historic meeting hall for the reception and asked each guest to make something for dinner to share with the entire group. What a lovely idea! We would all be eating food made by those who loved them. Baked with love. Ok, some folks just bought cheese plates (they must not love them as much as others).

So I decided to do it too, a birthday dinner party for girls.

Some guests volunteered their specialty, and we assigned courses to others, and everyone came through. The girl who brought the cheese plate actually flew it here and surprised us all at the door! One guy showed up (he’s like one of the girls) and we forced him to make deviled eggs. And one girl had previously trained in France in the pastry arts, so we gave her dessert.

And, boy did she do dessert. She brought a coconut pineapple cream cake, shown here, as well as a mixed fruit tart (I love her crusts!) and some crack pie (a copy of the Momofuku one). It was heavenly dessert overload, and I enjoyed my sugar high for days. I’m now addicted to my friends.

They really did bake me some love.

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