Ham - Not Just for Easter (plus my ham and bean soup recipe)

It's Easter weekend, which means many people will be preparing a ham for the big meal.  For a lot of people this will be one of maybe 2 times they'll make a ham this year, but why just once or twice a year?  Hams are a great way to stretch your budget without really making it seem like you're eating on a budget.  At any time of the year you can pick up an unsliced half ham, 6 or 7 lbs for about $14-$16, this time of year you can usually grab one even cheaper (I stay away from the fancy spiral sliced hams for the most part, they're more expensive and I like being able to control how I cut the ham up).

You're probably wondering what my point is.  Well, for that $16 plus a few more... I can stretch it out for 5 meals, and no... they don't have to be all in a row.  I start on a Saturday with the baked ham (simple stuff... put it face down in a baking dish with a little water - or beer, beer works great! - cover it with foil and just let it bake at about 250º for a few hours until warmed through.  No need for fancy glazes or preps, it tastes great just like this).  After dinner I'll cut the ham up into more manageable pieces, store part in the fridge and some in the freezer, the bone gets wrapped in plastic wrap and a freezer bag and goes into the fridge or freezer for soup.  Now you have some ham in the fridge for sandwiches, or a casserole... there's another meal or two.  You can take the bone, place it in a large pot of water with some onions, garlic and bay leaf... simmer it down for a few hours and you have a great ham stock for soup.. which will get you another 2 meals (I often freeze the stock in a freezer bag to make the soup later).  If you separate some of the fattier end pieces that are too gristly to eat on their own and throw those in the freezer, you'll have it on hand to flavor a pot of beans or maybe some greens if you're southern at heart.  So... here's the breakdown of the last time I bought a ham:

Day 1: Baked ham with sides ( roasted potatoes and butter peas)
Day 2: leftovers from day 1
Day 3: Grilled Ham and Cheese Sandwiches and Tomato Soup
Days 4 and 5: Ham and Bean Soup

Cost for 25 servings (5 meals for a family of 5, not including the pieces of ham saved for seasoning):
Ham - $14.00
Potatoes - $2.00
Butter Peas -  $2.29
Bread for 5 sandwiches: $1.00
Cheese for 5 sandwiches: $1.00 (this will vary depending on your choice of cheese)
2 onions for soup (1 for stock, 1 for the finished soup): $0.50
garlic, bayleaf and seasonings for soup - I don't count these as I consider them on hand pantry items
15 bean soup mix - $2.79
10 oz can mild Rotel - $1.00
cream sherry - a whole bottle costs about $5, but you need very little and it's optional, so we'll call this about $1.00

Cost per serving:  $1.02

Shan's Ham and Bean Soup

1 package 15 bean soup mix with ham flavoring
8 cups ham stock (if you don't have 8 cups you can supplement with water or chicken stock, you need enough to cover the beans by about an inch)
1 onion, chopped
1 Tbs minced garlic, or to taste
1 can mild rotel (you can use the regular or hot too if you prefer)
onion salt, cajun seasoning, salt and pepper to taste
1 1/2 tsp brown sugar
about 1/4 cup of cream sherry (I don't really measure this, it's to taste)
1 1/2 cups chopped ham

Wash and soak beans according to package directions.

Place soaked beans, onions, garlic, rotel, ham stock, sugar and seasonings in a large pot.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until beans are tender, usually about an hour and a half.  Add in cream sherry and allow to simmer another 20 minutes.  Add ham and heat through.  Adjust seasoning to taste.

Dawn's Crockpot Mexican Chili

As a single parent I understand all too well how difficult it can be to stay within your grocery budget and still manage to feed your family a decent meal each night.  Over the years I've found little tips and tricks that not only save me money, but also time.  From now on, along with my normal posts, I'm going to start featuring some money/time saving recipes, and I've asked a few of my friends to share their ideas with me as well.

This week's recipe comes from my good friend Dawn, she and I go back a long way... but I'm not telling how long :)  Dawn is a busy mother of 3 who works along side her husband in their tattoo business.  She shared this super easy crockpot recipe with me that I got to try tonight... it's good stuff and my kids loved it.

1 package of stew beef  (got a large package on sale at Sam's for around $10 and split it in 2, so $5 for this portion of the recipe, it was about 1.25 lbs)
1 large can of beans (I used 2 smaller cans, 1 chili beans, 1 red beans - total cost $1.90)
1 can stewed tomatoes (didn't have those, so I used rotel chili fixins - on sale $0.88)
1 jar salsa, any kind ( about $2)

Lightly coat the meat in flour and brown in butter or oil in a skillet.  Place in crockpot and add remaining ingredients. Cook on low around 4-5 hours (I ended up letting mine cook about 8 hours because I was at work, so I just added the beans for the last 30 minutes). Season to taste with salt and pepper at the end, depending on the salsa you use you may or may not need additional seasoning.  Serve with your favorite chili toppings.

Total work time: about 10 minutes
Total cost: $9.78 for about 5 servings or around $1.96 per serving.  Can't beat that!!

Thanks so much for the recipe Dawn!

Smoked Sausage, Butternut Squash and Spinach Soup

This soup is the perfect autumn dish... it's hearty, a little sweet... a little spicy and just overall "cozy".  The original recipe is by Emeril, but as always I had to add my own little touches. 

This is definitely not a quick soup to make, unless you roast the squash before hand, but it's not by any means difficult or too time consuming in the hands on department. 

2 medium butternut squash, about 3 to 4 pounds, cut in half and seeded
2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
8 cups chicken stock
1 cup chopped onions
12 oz smoked sausage, diced
2 cups fresh corn kernels (frozen is ok)
1 Tbs brown sugar
Cajun seasoning to taste
10 oz pkg frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
1 1/2 cups half-and-half
1 pkg long grain and wild rice, prepared per package directions

Preheat the oven to 350º F.

Drizzle the squash with 1 tablespoon of the oil, season with salt and pepper. Place on a baking sheet and roast, covered with foil for 2 hours or until tender. Remove from the oven and cool completely. Spoon squash from skins. In a blender or food processor, puree the squash with 2 cups of the chicken stock. Puree until smooth and set aside.

In a large saucepan, saute the onions, fresh corn and sausage until onions are soft.  Add in squash puree, and remaining 4 cups of a chicken stock.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. 

Stir in brown sugar, cajun seasoning, spinach and half and half, simmer an additional 10 minutes.  Add rice and heat through.  Taste and adjust seasoning.

Serves 10.

Potato Leek Soup

It's officially Fall, and if you know me, you know that I've kicked into soup mode... even if the Fall temperatures haven't quite hit FL yet. We've had a rainy, gloomy week and I've been sick... all good enough reasons for me to make this, a quick, creamy, warming soup that happens to be my son's favorite.  You really can pull this off in about 45 minutes, so it's definitely feasible for a weeknight... just serve with a tossed salad and some garlic bread or rolls. 

A little background on how I came up with this recipe:  A few years ago I took my son and his best friend to Epcot for my son's 17th birthday.  Toward the end of the day, the kids wanted one more ride on Soarin', but being MUCH older than they are, I just wanted to sit for a bit before the drive home.  While they hit the fast pass line I wandered over to Sunshine Seasons (the counter service restaurant in The Land pavilion) and found that one of the soups of the day was potato leek.  I ordered and sat down with this HUGE bowl of perfection... much much more than I expected from a counter service place.  The flavors were perfectly combined, yet still defined... it was creamy, but still a bit chunky to make it heartier than the potato leek soups I'd had before that were blended to death.  I found myself taking note of each flavor I could place... the brightness of thyme, the subtle bite of just the right amount of black pepper, slight sweetness of carrot, and a depth of flavor from chicken stock and cream sherry.  When I got home I checked all of my Disney cookbooks and online resources, but could only find the recipe from The Rose and Crown... which is good, but a bit more mild in flavor.  I started working on my own recipe and after several tries came up with this one.  Give it a try and let me know what you think!

2 Tbs butter
1 Tbs olive oil
3 leeks, chopped and washed well
2 stalks celery, finely chopped
1 large carrot, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
2 tsp minced garlic
1 finely minced shallot
4 cups chicken stock
6 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed
1/4 cup cream sherry
1 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp Tony Chachere's Creole seasoning
1 Tbs dried parsley
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
salt and pepper to taste
shredded Gruyere cheese for garnish (optional)


Saute leeks, celery, carrot, onion, garlic and shallot in butter and olive oil over medium low heat until vegetable are very tender.  Add chicken stock, sherry and potatoes;  bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes or until potatoes are very soft.  Mash potatoes with potato masher; add thyme, Tony Chachere's and parsley.  Simmer a few more minutes, stirring occasionally.  Puree soup with hand blender and add heavy cream.  Taste and season with salt and lots of freshly ground black pepper.

Homemade Chicken Soup

Early Spring seems to be the time my kids get colds. They survive the winter without so much as a sniffle, but bring on the change in the weather and excess pollen... and BAM, we have sick children in this house.

When I was a kid, if you got a cold you were almost guaranteed to be having chicken soup for dinner, and my parents didn't mess around... Campbell's was not an option. If you were sick, you were getting the real deal, a whole chicken, onions, celery, garlic and herbs simmered until cooked through, the meat removed and the bones returned to the pot until a rich stock was created. The aroma coming from the kitchen could cut through the worst stuffy nose and begin to comfort you long before it was ready to eat. To this day I still crave this soup when I need some comfort, but now I have to make it myself, and I gladly do so. My kids have picked up on just how comforting this soup is and without fail will ask for it when they don't feel well.

This is another one of those recipes I was taught to make by eyeballing ingredients, and it's very forgiving... so you can't really mess it up by adding more of this or less of that... it's just done to your taste. I'm just going to give you the basics, and let you take it from there.

1 whole fryer chicken, about 4 lbs
water to cover the chicken
4-5 cloves of garlic, smashed
2 large onions, quartered
3 large carrots, cut in large chunks
2 celery stalks, with leaves, cut in large pieces
1 bay leaf
1 tsp dried thyme
1 cup white whine
1 lb baby carrots, cut in half inch pieces
1/2 bag frozen green beans
1/2 bag frozen peas
1/2 bag frozen corn
16 oz bag medium egg noodles
salt and pepper to taste

Remove giblets from chicken cavity an rinse chicken. Place chicken, onions, garlic, celery, carrot chunks, wine, thyme and bay leaf in large stock pot with water to cover by 2 inches. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 1 1/2 hours or until chicken is tender and falling off the bone. Remove chicken from pot and remove as much meat as possible, chopping into bite size pieces, cover meat and set aside in refrigerator until ready to use. Return chicken carcass to pot with white wine, and continue to simmer until stock is reduced and becomes a nice golden color, about 1 more hour. Strain stock through a fine mesh sieve into a bowl.

Return strained stock to pan and add baby carrots, simmer for 5 minutes. Add in egg noodles and continue to cook 5 minutes. Add remaining vegetables and seasoning to taste, let simmer until vegetables are tender but still retain some of their color and noodles are cooked through. Add reserved chicken. Season to taste with salt and pepper, allow to stand covered for 20 minutes and serve.

Corn Chowder

One thing I'm always on the lookout for is a recipe that's inexpensive, quick, makes enough for leftovers. and still tastes GOOD as leftovers. These types of recipes seem to be difficult for me to find for a few reasons, mostly because with 4 kids in the house, a recipe has to make a lot for there to be leftovers (which can cut into the inexpensive requirement) but also because I'm not too crazy about the way a lot of foods taste reheated. Soups, however, fit the bill nicely, and I tend to make them year round (central a/c is wonderful if you're a soup lover in the middle of the FL summer!).

Corn Chowder is a recipe I grew up on, it's a bit of a New England staple I suppose, great on a cold night or even on cooler summer nights when the local corn harvest is readily available. My Mom made this frequently, probably for many of the reasons I do, and I've never grown tired of it. There are a lot of "fancier" recipes out there for corn chowder, but to me this simple version stands up to all of them and is still my favorite.

6-8 slices of bacon, cooked crisp and crumbled
2 Tbs butter
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cans creamed corn (or 2 packages frozen)
1 bag frozen corn (not creamed)
4-5 large potatoes, cubed and boiled in salted water til tender
2 cups half and half
whole milk
1/2 tsp onion salt
1 tsp sugar
salt and pepper to taste
chopped green onions (optional)

In a large, heavy pan (I use a 6 qt) cook bacon until crisp. Drain on paper towels, and crumble when cool. Set aside.

Drain off some bacon grease, leaving enough to coat the bottom of the pan. Reduce heat to medium if you cooked the bacon at a higher temp, and add butter. When butter is melted add chopped onions and cook until soft. Add frozen corn and saute until heated through. Add in creamed corn and potatoes, mix well. Stir in half and half, sugar, crumbled bacon (reserving some for garnish if you like) and onion salt, stirring until heated through. Add milk to desired consistency (this should be a bit on the thin side) and salt and pepper to taste. Heat through but do not allow to boil. Let stand covered for at least 10 minutes and up to 30 minutes (this allows the flavors to develop a bit more). Garnish with green onions and remaining bacon when serving if desired.

Easy Cheese Soup

If you're a parent, you more than likely run ito the same problem I do on some weeknights... you either forgot to defrost what you had planned to make, or you just have so much going on that you never even thought about what to make for dinner. That's where this soup comes in. I almost always have all of the ingredients on hand, none of the ingredients require long defrost times or cooking times and because you can prepare several of the ingredients at once, this comes together fairly quickly (around 30 minutes total). Of course there are other advantages to this as well, like it makes a good amount of soup (no cooking the next night!) and it's very kid friendly, even with the veggies... let's face it... there's very little you can't get kids to eat if there's enough cheese involved :) So, in the spirit of supporting busy, absent-minded parents of picky kids everywhere... I give you my Easy Cheese Soup.

10-12 slices bacon
4-5 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
14 oz bag frozen broccoli
1 Tbs canola oil
1 small onion, chopped
16 oz block of velveeta
2-2 1/2 cups low sodium chicken broth
10 oz can creamed corn
pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400ºF.

Line a cookie sheet with foil and place a cooling rack on it. Lay the bacon slices on the cooling rack and bake for 15-20 minutes until the bacon reaches the desired doneness.* When bacon is done, chop. (you can also take the easy way out and use the pre-cooked bacon)

Cook cubed potatoes in boiling, salted water until tender.

Prepare broccoli according to package directions. (note: these 3 steps can be done simultaneously).

When the potatoes are done, drain into a collander and rinse the pan lightly to remove any starch stuck to the pan. Return the pan to the burner over medium heat. Add canola oil and onions and saute until onions are tender and transluscent.

Cut the Velveeta into chunks and add to the pan with the onions. Add just enough chicken broth to aid in the melting (about a cup), stir occasionally. When Velveeta is melted, add the creamed corn, chopped bacon, potatoes and broccoli and another 1 to 1 1/2 cups of broth to get the soup to the consistnecy you like. Heat through and serve.

*This is a great way to make large amounts of bacon with very little effort or mess. For thick sliced bacon, add another 5-10 minutes.

Shan's Guinness Chili

Is there anything that starts the fall off better than the beginning of football season? Personally, I crank up the a/c, light some autumn-y smelling candles and start cooking on the first Sunday of football season. Ok, I know.. I'm weird... but hey, we poor New Englanders stuck down here in FL have to do some crazy things to get our fix of autumn :)

Chili is definitely a personal taste sort of dish. Some prefer the Texas version, some the Cincinnati version, so and and so forth. This one has beans and tomato, so it's definitely not a Texas style, I guess it's kind of a New England Irish girl's take on it (blasphemy, I KNOW!), but I promise, it's REALLY good and worth the work. Another advantage, it's always even better as leftovers and makes a great sauce for onion and cheese enchiladas (coming soon!).

2 slices bacon
2 - 3 lbs coarse ground chuck (chili grind)
3 medium onions, chopped
1 Tbs minced garlic
1 - 2 fresh jalapenos, seeded and finely chopped
2 tsp minced chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
2 Tbs ground cumin
1 Tbs ground coriander
1 Tbs beef bouillon granules
1 1/2 tsp adobo seasoning
2 tsp dried cilantro (or 2 Tbs fresh, chopped)
3 Tbs chili powder
3 Tbs ancho chili powder
1/2 tsp onion salt
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1 tsp sweet paprika
15 oz can chili ready tomatoes, undrained
12 oz bottle Guinness Extra Stout
14.5 oz can beef broth
2 28oz cans crushed tomatoes with puree
2 tsp sugar
kosher salt to taste
1 large can pinto beans, drained
1 small can dark red kidney beans, drained

Render bacon over medium heat in a large dutch oven until almost crisp. Remove bacon with slotted spoon and discard or save for another use. Add ground beef, onions, garlic and jalapenos, cook stirring often until beef is browned and onions have begun to soften. Add minced chipotles through paprika and stir well to combine. Add all remaining ingredients except beans and simmer 1 1/2 - 2 hours, stirring occasionally, or until desired thickness is reached (if you like very thick chili you may want to add some tomato paste). Add beans and cook an additional 20 minutes. Serve with sour cream, green onions and shredded cheese if desired.

This recipe, as is, uses ground beef, but sometimes I use shredded beef as well. Making the shredded beef is easy enough, just season a boneless chuck roast with chili powder, salt and pepper and brown on both sides in a dutch oven. When both sides are browned add 1 bottle of Guinness stout and enough beef stock to cover. Cover and place in a 300º oven and just let it cook for 2-3 hours until the meat comes apart easily with a fork. To use the shredded beef, skip the ground beef instructions and add the beef in the last 30 minutes of cooking.

Lamb Stew

Yes, I know it's August... and yes I realize I live in FL and I even know that it seems pretty weird for me to making lamb stew in August, but I did it anyway. Actually it worked out rather well as it was the perfect, comforting dish to eat through that nasty Tropical Storm Fay. It was windy and rainy and there was more water out there than I can even begin to tell you. Because I work for a 24 hour technical support call center I had to go to work in all that nastiness, and I came home rather soaked 2 days in a row... so this cold weather comfort food was more than welcome this week.

This isn't quite the most traditional Irish lamb stew out there (I use white wine in it), but it will certainly warm you up once the days start getting cooler. At first glance this may seem like a rather expensive recipe, but it costs me around $25 to make (check your local discount club like Sam's, BJ's or Costco for the lamb, it's usually MUCH cheaper there, I normally manage to pick up boneless lamb roasts for about $16) and feeds my hungry family of 6 for 2 days... AND it's one of those dishes that's even better the second day, so it won't seem like sloppy leftovers (ok, hopefully I'm done with the run-on sentences for now)! I like to make this on a Sunday and save the leftovers for a busy night when I need something quick.

1/2 lb thickly sliced bacon, diced
3-4 pounds boneless lamb leg, cut into 1 inch pieces
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 large onion, chopped
1/2 cup water
4 cups beef or lamb stock
2 bay leaves
1 cup dry white wine
2 teaspoons white sugar
4 cups baby carrots
3-4 potatoes, peeled and cut in chunks
1 teaspoon dried thyme
2 cups frozen green beans
1 can peas, drained

Saute bacon in large dutch oven until crisp, reserve fat in the pan and set bacon aside.

Put lamb, salt, pepper and flour in large mixing bowl and toss to coat meat evenly. Brown meat in frying pan with bacon fat. Add onions and garlic and continue to cook a few more minutes until onions begin to soften. Add wine, stock, water, sugar, thyme and bay leaves. Cover and simmer 1 1/2 hours or until meat is very tender.

Add bacon pieces, carrots and potatoes and continue simmering, covered, about 20 minutes, until potatoes and carrots are tender. Add the green beans and peas just before the carrots and potatoes are done. Taste and adjust seasoning.

Lobster Bisque: Heaven in a Bowl

It's a little ironic that my first post is lobster bisque. There was a time when culinary achievement for me was not burning something in my crockpot, my how things have changed! This really isn't a difficult recipe, but it is a bit involved and time consuming.... keeping that in mind, please know that you will not be sorry with the investment. Ok, let's get started!

Meet my friends Ethel and Fred! They're each about a pound and a quarter to a pound and a half.

We're just going to let them hang out in the sink and say their goodbyes while we bring a large pot of water to a boil. When I say a large pot, I mean LARGE. I used an 18 qt stockpot that was about 2/3 full.

Once the water is boiling, take your friends and just drop 'em in head first. Seriously... just drop 'em in... it's ok... you can do it. Once the water returns to a boil, let them cook about 10 minutes.


After 10 minutes, fish out your little buddies and let them cook in a strainer in the sink until they're cool enough to work with. This may take a little longer than you think. Keep in mind that when you crack Fred and Ethel apart they'll be full of hot liquid... so if you think they're cool enough, give it another 10 or 15 minutes. While you're waiting, go ahead and cut a few carrots, some celery, garlic and onions into large chunks and throw them into the water in your stockpot. Turn the heat back on to high til it starts boiling again, then turn the heat down and let it begin simmering.

Now it's time to clean the lobsters. To start, separate the claws and tail from the body, just twist them right off.



The easiest way to remove the meat from the tail is to slice down the middle of the underside shell and then just pry it open with your hands. The meat will come right out in one piece.







Now for the claws. The best way I've found to crack lobster claws is to place the blade of a heavy knife on the flatter side of the claw and hit the top of the knife gently with your hand. This makes a crack in the shell and you can then just break it in half. When the claw meat is exposed, go ahead and grab the smaller claw and pull it out, this will remove the cartilage holding the meat in the claw.







Set the meat aside in the fridge until later. If you want you can go ahead and chop it now, but we don't really need to do that until later. Take the bodies and the shells and put them in your stockpot with the veggies you started simmering earlier. Let the stock simmer for at least 2 hours, I usually let mine cook down for around 3 hours. Strain through a fine mesh strainer lined with cheesecloth. What you'll have when you're done is a wonderful lobster stock that you can use in many seafood dishes. The great thing is that you won't need it all for this recipe, so put the leftover stock in ziploc freezer bags in 2 cup servings and freeze for later use. Just save 1 1/2 cups for this recipe. All of the above can be done a day or two ahead.

Ok, now let's make some bisque!

Start by melting 1/2 cup of butter in a large, heavy sauce pan. Stir in 1 Tbs of sweet paprika and then whisk in 1/2 cup of all purpose flour until smooth. This is what you'll start with:


and this is what you want to end up with:



Keep whisking this over medium low heat for about 3 minutes to cook the flour. Next, get some of this (I usually find it in the soup aisle of the grocery store with the rest of the bouillon):



Measure out 1/4 cup and slowly dilute by pouring in a little of the reserved stock at a time. Trust me, do this slowly or you'll end up with a clumpy mess. Go ahead and mix in 1/4 cup of cream sherry, then slowly whisk the sherry/stock mixture into your roux until well combined.



Next add in 4 cups of whole milk in the same manner, whisking it in slowly.



Heat this mixture through and add in 2 Tbs brandy and 1/4 to 1/2 cup of sugar (start with a 1/4 cup and then add to taste from there). Finish off your bisque with 1/2 cup of heavy cream and your chopped lobster meat. Now comes the hard part... trying not to eat it all before you get it to the table :) Enjoy!