Paula Dean's Recipe for Cooking Fresh, Uncured Ham

My pregnant daughter craves ham for Christmas dinner and shouldn't eat the nitrites in store-bought, pre-cooked hams. This Paula Dean recipe will hopefully create a tasty main dish.

Ham Seasoning Ingredients

• 1 (uncured) whole fresh ham, 10 to 15 lbs
• soy sauce
• Paula Deen's House Seasoning (recipe below)

Preparation

Preheat oven to 325º.

Rub ham well with soy sauce and then thoroughly coat with House Seasoning making sure to cover all surfaces. Sprinkle seasonings liberally until the ham is completely covered (don't worry about over-seasoning). Place uncovered in the oven for 18 to 20 minutes per pound, or until the internal temperature reaches 160º on a meat thermometer. When done, let the ham rest for a few minutes before slicing.

House Seasoning Ingredients

• 1 cup salt
• 1/4 cup black pepper
• 1/4 cup garlic powder
• Onion powder (optional)

Preparation

Mix ingredients together and store in an airtight container for up to 6 months.

Optional: Add onion powder to your liking.

Ham Storage Chart 


Fresh (uncured) Ham, uncooked

Refrigerate 3 to 5 days

Freeze 6 months


Fresh (uncured) Ham, cooked

Refrigerate 3 to 4 days

Freeze  3 to 4 months

Beet-tacular Recipe

The term "heart" in the Bible actually refers to a region that includes the gallbladder rather than the actual heart. To get the physical sludge out my gallbladder, a year ago my husband found this beet concoction on the Internet that claims to "keep the bile thin and moving" by cleaning sludge from the gallbladder. It has a refreshing, tangy taste.

Beet-tacular Recipe

1 large organic beet or beetroot (raw, washed, not peeled unless not organic and finely grated in a food processor)

juice of 1/2 lemon

2 T flax oil

Use this mixture to add to your salads or eat alone as above 2 or 3 times a week. Note: If you cannot find organic beets, be sure to peel them. It is best to buy organic beets and use the peel as well. (Hyvee and the health food store both carry organic beets)

For intensive, 3-day sludge cleansing:
1)  Day one: take one teaspoon of mixture every hour throughout the day.
2) Days two & three: make a fresh batch. Take one teaspoon of mixture 3 to 4 times a
     day or more.

Artichokes help stimulate the gallbladder to increase bile and keep digestion going. Don't just eat the artichoke hearts... the leaves are beneficial, too.

Healthy Nachos with Chicken & Black Beans

Link to Women's Health Recipe:   Healthy Nachos with chicken and black beans

We've never found a nacho worth recommending in the restaurant world. The sad truth is that the tortilla chips are rendered a helpless vessel for thousands of calories of cheese, sour cream, and oily ground beef. And besides, who wants to dig through soggy nacho detritus in search of a chip crisp enough to bring from plate to mouth? This version ensures that every chip is evenly covered with protein-packed chicken and fiber-rich beans, plus enough salsa and lime-spiked sour cream to keep your mouth watering.

Ingredients

Serves:  Prep:  10min |Cook: 15min |Total: 25min
              

• 6 oz tortilla chips (round chips are preferable)
• 1 can (16 oz) black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 cup chicken breast, cooked and cubed
• 1 1/2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese
• 1/2 red onion, diced
• juice of 2 limes
• 1/2 cup light sour cream
• chopped cilantro
• Salsa (either fresh, or your favorite bottled salsa)
• Pickled Jalapenos

Directions

1.

Preheat the oven to 425F. Arrange the chips in a single layer on a large baking sheet. Spoon the beans evenly over the chips, then top with the cheese, chicken, and onion. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until the cheese is fully melted and bubbling. Remove.

2.

Combine the lime juice, sour cream, and cilantro. Spoon over the nachos. Top with the salsa and jalapenos.

Roasted Brussel Sprouts with Bacon & Garlic

1 large bag of brussel sprouts or a stalk (they sell them like this at most grocery stores)

1/4 C EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)
1 T. minced garlic
salt & pepper to taste
7 pieces of crispy bacon.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Toss the sprouts, EVOO, garlic, salt and pepper.  Bake the sprouts for 20-25 minutes until charred.  Do not over cook or they will be mushy and most people do not like them this way.  They should be like biting a nectarine…not hard like an apple and not soft like an overripe peach.

Remove from oven and mix with bacon pieces.  Serve immediately


Giada's Bacon & Brussel Sprout skewers

Glaze:
Brown butter for 2 min
Add cayenne & salt
Brown Sugar
1/3 C bourbon NOT I will instead add Beef Broth


Boil brussel sprouts for 3 min, slice in half and cool
Slab of bacon, cut into squares... cook in oven 10 min.

Alternate onto skewers brussel sprouts and bacon
Put onto grill and brush with glaze

Blueberry Pie

     What home-made dessert can one make when roads are too icy for a store-run, one egg is too few to bake a cheesecake, and three apples are too few for a pie? I baked a blueberry pie using frozen blueberries! It was SCRUMPTIOUS for a December get-together, and maybe even somewhat healthy.

5-6 C of frozen blueberries (frozen blueberries have as much antioxidants as fresh. Keep a bag handy in the freezer)
1 C Sugar (add in 1/2-cup increments--refer to steps 2 & 4 below)
1/8 t salt
6 T Corn Starch
Unsalted butter
A squeeze of lemon (optional--I did not add)
1/2 t nutmeg (optional--I did not add, but spices allow you to decrease the amount of sugar)
1/8 t cinnamon (optional--I did not add, but cinnamon does improve sugar digestion)

Prepare a Martha Stewart Butter crust (recipe below), mixed in a food processor OR use a Pillsbury pie crust

1. Slowly heat blueberries in a pan until just thawed (use a very low heat) as you prepare the crust
2. When berries are thawed, gently stir in 1/2 cup of sugar to macerate berries for 5 minutes encouraging juices to extract a bit more (lest the filling will be too wet)
3. Drain berry juice into a small bowl. Don't waste this healthful juice. Strain the juice to use as an eye-popping blueberry paste for pie-slice dazzle (heat & add 1/2 packet of unflavored gelatin to thicken. Cool and pour into a recycled honey squeeze dispenser). *Note, if you don't first strain, berry clumps will annoyingly clog the dispenser!
4. Mix 1/2 cup of sugar, corn starch, and salt... gently stir into berries
5. Pour berry mixture into prepared (Martha's or Pillsbury) pie crust
6. Add a few dabs of butter
7. Top with lattice crust
8. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour 15 minutes

Serve topped with Cool Whip or ice cream. Artistically squeeze blueberry paste on either side of each pie slice for added (ridiculously frugal) WOW & YUM -factor.

Prep time 45 minutes.


Martha Stewart Butter Crust (makes 2 crusts)

2 1/2 C all-purpose flour
1 tsp coarse salt
1 tsp sugar
1 C (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1/4 to 1/2 C ice water

Place flour, salt, sugar, & butter in the bowl of a food processor for a few seconds until the mixture resembles coarse meal, about 10 seconds. Add ice water in a slow, steady stream, pouring it through the feed tube just until the dough holds together. Do not process for more than 30 seconds.

Turn dough out onto a work surface. Divide into 2 equal pieces,  Wrap and refrigerate at least 1 hour before rolling out. While crust chills, prepare the apple filling.

Triple-Spice Carrot Cake

Prep time, about 30-45 minutes (which varies, depending on your culinary fitness)

Carrot Cake

"Wet" Ingredients:
3 C grated raw carrots (6-8 carrots grated in food processor, disk only, shred side up)
4 unbeaten eggs
2 C sugar
1 t vanilla
1 1/2 C salad oil*
*1/2 C applesauce (optional, allows you to reduce oil to just 1 C, or keep oil amount as-is for extra yum)

"Dry" Ingredients:
2 t soda
1 t salt
2 C all-purpose flour
2 t cinnamon (healthy cinnamon helps liver deal with insulin )
1/2 t ginger (ginger helps reduce digestive inflammation)
1/4 t cloves
1 C chopped pecans or walnuts (nuts are just plain good for you!)

• Using an electric mixer bowl, combine wet ingredients: carrots, eggs, sugar, vanilla, and oil (applesauce, opt'l) and beat until ingredients are smooth.
• In a medium-sized bowl, stir together dry ingredients.
• Add dry ingredients to the the wet ingredients and beat well. 
• Pour into 2 double-oiled & floured 9" layer cake pans (butter pans & flour, then spray with cooking oil & flour again).
• Bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes. Remove from oven.
• After 10 minutes remove cake layers from pans to wire racks to cool. 
• When layers are cooled, ice with cream cheese frosting and stack.

Cream Cheese Frosting
1 8-oz. pkg. cream cheese
1 stick unsalted butter
1/2 - 3/4 t. salt (if using salted butter, add just 1/4 tsp. salt)
1/2 t. Vanilla
3 C powdered sugar

Soften cheese and butter to room temperature, beat together with vanilla and salt until fluffy, and gradually beat in powdered sugar.

Loaded Lasagna, Bright & Beauteous

Ingredients:
1 box (9 oz) Barilla brand, oven-ready, "No Boiling Required" lasagna noodles (bright idea)
2 eggs
1 container (15 oz) cottage cheese or ricotta cheese
4 C (16 oz) shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
1/2 C (2 oz) grated Parmesan cheese
1 lb ground beef: cook, crumble & drain. Cook ahead & freeze to speed up any ground beef dish prep (bright idea)
2- 24-oz jars pasta sauce
Optional Ingredients: Spinach, mushrooms (loaded). Strain frozen spinach.

Preparation:

Spinach & mushrooms will be added to one of the pans, next time.

• In medium bowl, beat eggs. Stir in cottage cheese, 2 cups of mozzarella, and the Parmesan cheese.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. 
• Do not pre-boil the lasagna noodles. 
• Use two 2-1/2-inch-deep baking dishes (rather than one 9"x13" deep-dish pan), for a serving dish at each end of the table (beauteous). If cooking for 4 or less, simply half the recipe and use just one baking dish.

Lasagna layering, for 2 baking dishes:

• First:      Spray baking dishes. 
• Second: Spread sauce on bottom of dishes (1 C split between two baking dishes)
• Layer 1: Uncooked lasagna sheets. 1/2 of ricotta mixture. Half of browned meat. 1 C mozzarella. 1 C sauce (split ingredients between the two baking dishes).
• Layer 2: (Repeat Layer 1)
• Layer 3: Uncooked lasagna sheets. Remaining 1 C sauce. Remaining 1 C mozzarella cheese (split ingredients between the two baking dishes).

Bake, covered with aluminum foil, until bubbling, 50-60 minutes. Uncover and cook another 5 minutes. After removing from the oven, let stand 15 minutes to set or congeal before cutting (premature cutting will cause lasagna squares to muddle).

Color & camo cups for our front-line Administrative Professionals Lunch

Serves 8-10, depending on the number of side dishes.

Suggestion: Serve with lettuce salad, Italian bread, and brownies.

My last-minute luncheon centerpiece was a lettuce salad rather than the bird's nest pictured. I used a tall truffle-like glass container, layered with lettuce, colorful peppers, cherry tomatoes and delicious Feta cheese. Practical and pretty, too.

Delicious Homemade Salsa

   

     You might stop buying jarred salsa once you taste the homemade kind. This is a simple and delicious Kitchen to Kitchen recipe: Chop 5-6 Roma tomatoes,1 small onion and 1/2 cup fresh Cilantro. Mince 2 seeded Serrano or Jalapeño peppers and 1 clove of garlic. Add 2 tbsp. freshly squeezed lime juice and salt and pepper to taste. Mix everything together and let sit overnight for flavors to meld.

Apple Pie Salad

     Cinnamon and honey make this salad taste like apple pie. No major laboring is required to prepare this delicious recipe. It is healthful, and my family and friends love it.

     Apples (and their skins) contain pectin which encourages digestion. My preference is to use organic apples.

Hyvee's Apple Salad (t=teaspoon, T=tablespoon)

1 med. apple sliced & chopped (honey crisp is recommended, but I prefer Granny Smith)
3/4 t lemon juice
2 T chopped walnuts
2 T honey
1 t flax seed
1/8 t ground cinnamon (this ingredient helps sugars digest & creates an apple crisp taste)
1 T salted sunflower seeds (optional)
1 T dried cranberries (optional)

In a small bowl, combine the apple and lemon juice. Add remaining ingredients; toss to coat. Chill until serving. Yield: 2 servings.