Friday, October 5, 2007

Like Sands Through The Hourglass...

So are the days of our lives. Wednesday dinner? No clue. I'm thinking Alex brought something home, but I was largely unconscious. This was my dinner, because I had one of my (thankfully increasingly rare) migraines:
migraine / This is Today 52

And since my bad headaches usually involve 36 hours or so of debilitating headache and being largely unconscious from the medication, and then another good half-day of narcotic hangover, Alex also provided dinner Thursday night, in the form of stopping by the Heavenly Ham store in Little Rock, where he had an appointment that day.
Thursday dinner courtesy of Alex

It was great, but now we have ham for days. So, Brilliant Internets! What are your genius ideas for an interesting ham-based dinner for tonight? I'm making omelettes or a quiche tomorrow morning, so don't suggest that (although, if you have a really good quiche recipe, I'd LOVE to have it).

I'm making headway on the current project, and WILL have that done by the weekend, hopefully before the Razorback game on Saturday, which I may be attending, though it's not a done deal. Speaking of the current project, did you guys read my mom's comment here? She's pretty much a super-genius, and a lot to live up to. And she has two daughters who live with Laundry Monsters, much to her chagrin. How did someone like THAT raise someone like ME? As far as housekeeping goes, anyway, it's a mystery.

So, let's have it: Ham for dinner! What say you?

10 comments:

lauredhel said...

I like quiche made with a mashed potato crust. Pressed leftover mashed potato into a greased quiche dish (I use a silicone one so it doesn't stick), and bake it till it goes nice and crusty.

Load it with vegies, ham, whatever else you're using (I like spinach, chives, feta, mushroom, bacon or ham), then pour over your mix (six or eight eggs, a cup of cream/milk mix, pepper, salt, nutmeg, a good sprinkled of parmesan). Bake for 45 minutes or so on a slightly cooler than moderate oven, taking it out as soon as it's set.

But that's for tomorrow. Tonight, just chop up the ham into a well-peppered white sauce or gravy with something green (broccoli? Fresh asparagus?), and serve it over the mash (making extra and reserving it for tomorrow's quiche). Some sort of salad on the side, or maybe corn on the cob.

Anonymous said...

Peel and slice some potatoes and carrots, mix with chopped ham. Combine a can of cream of celery soup with 1/2 can milk and some pepper. Layer half the ham/veggies, half the sauce, repeat. Cover and bake at 375 for an hour. Open and sprinkle with swiss/parmesan/whatever cheese and bake 10 minutes more. Yummy!

Rhi said...

Please forgive me, but this recipe is from Sandra Lee, who bugs the you know what out of me. The cookbook is in storage, but it's this one: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0696232642/semihomemade-20

This is pretty darn close to the recipe, if I can remember correctly, except I used Cream of Mushroom instead, as well as some white onion: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Cheesy-Ham-and-Hash-Brown-Casserole/Detail.aspx

I made this for dinner and ate it for several days afterward. It was very yummy.

Anonymous said...

Oh I forgot, the original recipe called for chopped onions too, but my family isn't wild about onions. Also, slice the taters as thin as you can. Enjoy!

Anonymous said...

Thanks Rhiannon, I did not know the origin of the recipe. Now I do!!!

Avalon said...

Belinda~~ I like any one of several versions of sweet-n-sour or Hawaiian ham:
http://www.homeschoolzone.com/cook/ssham.htm
http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,168,132177-245195,00.html

Sheryl (papernapkin) said...

What about jambalaya, minus the sausage? Or soda jerk beans?

If you have a waffle maker, you can make ham and swiss waffle sandwiches. Mmm...

Anonymous said...

How about beans and cornbread? Cheap and you can cook the ham in with the beans.

Loralee Choate said...

I usually use pancetta for this recipe, but in a post-new years day dinner pinch, I used extra ham and it rocked.

I never measure when I'm cooking so I'll just give you an ingredient list if that is ok?

Pasta-use whatever you like, but thicker is better since you'll have a cream sauce. I usually go with Linguini.

Bag of baby spinach

Heavy Cream

Ham or Pancetta (You can also add sliced link sausage to it. MMM)

Oil, butter

Salt, pepper.

REALLY good Parmesan cheese


Prepare pasta

Take bagged baby spinach and cut it into ribbons (or tear it or if its small enough, leave it whole)

Take your ham and either cube it or cut it into slices or strips (Whatever you like best)

Put it in a frying pan with some oil and a little butter and cook it till it browns somewhat (We're going more for bacon here, but don't fry it to death). Your ham probably won't have as strong a flavor as the pancetta so you may want to add seasoning or herbs at this point. Sage would be really good, so would rosemary. Onion wouldn't suck, either...

Add heavy cream to the pan. Do NOT boil, just cook it at a light simmer until it reduces.

Pour cream over pasta and toss in spinach.

Dish up and THEN pile Parmesan cheese on (If you do it before it will clump and stick and be hard to serve).

Don't leave off the cheese or it won't be that great.

Salt and pepper to taste. MMM...

Sorry this is so rambling. It's 2 am and I'm beat.

Anonymous said...

ham and scalloped potatoes, madam! easy, tasty, filling. my mom taught me that if you use evaporated milk, they'll never cook over and make a mess in your stove. she's right. dunno why.