Traditional ham tops for Easter

By KATHIE SMITH

Traditional ham tops for Easter

Some things seem to stay popular, but additional dishes can spice up a banquet.

Whether you celebrate the Easter holiday with brunch, lunch or dinner, the season is filled with food traditions that include family favorites and ethnic dishes.

But two traditions stand out.

Throughout the day, the classics, hard-cooked Easter eggs and a regal ham, often find their way to the table. Not only is there a new take on these favorites, there’s also new ideas for the holiday meal.

More than half of the public selects ham to serve for Easter as the centerpiece dish, according to a survey by the National Pork Board.

It’s a lean dish, it’s easy to prepare, and ham tastes good.

Ham became a tradition thanks to farming communities. In pre-refrigeration days, hogs were slaughtered in the fall and cured for six to seven months, just in time for Easter dinner.

Eggs have been part of Easter for many centuries. The many-colored Easter eggs are hard-boiled and decorated. The Easter egg symbolizes new life and is used for children’s egg hunts. The hard-cooked eggs can be used in countless ways, on salads, in egg salad, and the ever popular deviled eggs.

For some families, the Easter celebration is at breakfast or brunch.

Brunch

An Easter Brunch classic is a spiral-cut ham, scrambled eggs, potatoes and bacon, pastries, and other dishes.

Another option is crepes. The paper-thin pancake can be made from plain or sweetened batters. A savory crepe filled with fresh asparagus and mushrooms makes a lovely platter for the buffet table. Best of all, the crepe pancake can be made in advance and assembled and baked for 15 minutes before serving.

Long, fresh asparagus spears are perfect to fill a crepe. The sauce is a delicious Gruyere cheese-cream mixture.

“Crepes are always easier than you think,” says Kay Lynne Schaller, who tested the Asparagus and Mushroom-Filled Crepes recipe. “The proportions [for the sauce and crepes] were perfect. It’s a perfect recipe to yield 8 to 10 crepes.”

ASPARAGUS AND MUSHROOM-FILLED CREPES

1 pound fresh asparagus, ends trimmed

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided

8 ounces button mushrooms, thinly sliced

1 small yellow onion

2 tablespoons all-purpose four

3‚Ñ4 cup chicken or vegetable stock

1‚Ñ4 cup heavy cream

1‚Ñ4 cup Gruyere cheese

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

8 savory crepes (using recipe that follows)

1‚Ñ2 cup Gruyere cheese for topping

For the crepes:

1 cup all-purpose flour

1‚Ñ8 teaspoon Kosher salt

3 large eggs

1 cup milk

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Additional unsalted butter for frying

To make filling: Bring a large saute pan of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add asparagus and cook until tender crisp, about 2 minutes. Transfer the asparagus to a colander, refresh under cold running water to stop the cooking, and drain well. Set aside.

In a medium saute pan, melt 1 tablespoon of butter over medium high heat. Add mushrooms and cook until moisture has evaporated and mushrooms are golden brown. Set aside.

In a medium saucepan melt remaining 2 tablespoons butter over medium high heat. Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until translucent, about 3 minutes. Add flour and cook, stirring, until light golden brown, about 2 minutes. Add stock; bring to a boil, stirring briskly, and cook until thickened, about 1 minute. Remove from heat. Add cream and 1‚Ñ4 cup Gruyere cheese, whisk until smooth. Season to taste with salt and pepper; set aside.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 13 by 9-inch baking dish; set aside.

To assemble crepes: Place 2 tablespoons cheese sauce down the center of a crepe and top with a spoonful of cooked mushrooms. Arrange 3 asparagus spears down the center of the crepe so that the tips extend just beyond the edge of the crepe. Roll and place, seam side down, in the prepared baking dish. Repeat with remaining crepes, sauce, and filling. The crepes should fit snuggly in the dish. Sprinkle remaining 1‚Ñ2 cup grated Gruyere over the tops for the rolled crepes.

Bake, uncovered, until crepes are warmed through and the cheese has melted, about 12 to 15 minutes. If you prefer a browner top, place under a heated broiler just until golden brown. Serve immediately.

To make crepes: In a medium bowl, combine flour and salt; whisk to combine. Make a well in the center of the flour and add the eggs; whisk just the eggs until thoroughly mixed. Slowly and steadily whisk in a little more than half of the milk, while incorporating more and more of the flour from the edges of the batter. Once you have incorporated all the flour, whisk in the melted butter and enough of the remaining milk to make a batter the consistency of heavy cream. Let rest at room temperature for 30 minutes or cover and refrigerate overnight.

If you refrigerated the batter, bring to room temperature before proceeding; you may need to add a bit more milk if it has thickened too much overnight.

Heat a traditional, seasoned steel crepe pan or 8-inch non-stick saute pan over medium high heat. Using a pastry brush or paper towel, brush or wipe the pan with a thin film of the melted butter. Add a scant 1‚Ñ4 cup batter and immediately rotate pan, lifting it off the heat, so that the batter swirls and forms a thin even layer to cover the surface of the pan. Place the pan back on the burner and cook until it begins to brown underneath and the top surface looks set, about 1 minute. Using the edge of a spatula, loosen the edge of the crepe from the pan and flip (your fingers may work best at this point). Cook just until browned light, about 1 minute. Transfer crepe to a plate. Repeat with remaining batter, stack crepes directly on top of one another when cooked.

Crepes will keep tightly wrapped in refrigerator for three days or frozen for one month. Let frozen crepes come to room temperature before separating form the stack.

Yield: 4 servings (two crepes per serving)

Source: California Asparagus Commission

Easter buffet

Hard-cooked Easter eggs make delicious deviled eggs for any meal. In Paula Deen Celebrates, Savannah, Ga., restaurant owner and Food Network chef Paula Deen writes that no picnic is complete without deviled eggs. What better way to use up Easter eggs than to make deviled eggs?

As for the classic Easter ham, boneless hams will yield roughly four to five servings per pound. Bone-in hams are available in a variety of shapes: whole, shank or butt half, and serve two to three people per pound.

Through the years, various glazes have been popular, from those made with Vernor’s and Coca Cola to Dijon mustard glazes.

A honey-glazed ham has become a favorite because the glaze helps lock in moisture and taste as the ham bakes. Brushing on a honey glaze during the last 20 to 30 minutes of baking gives ham a beautiful golden brown color.

While some guests prefer conventional ham flavor, new to the flavor profiles this year is the savory glaze. Adventuresome cooks are adding ingredients such as balsamic-soaked figs in Honey Balsamic Fig Glaze; pink peppercorns for a delicate pepper flavor in Pink Peppercorn Peach Honey Glaze, and fresh ginger and Chinese five-spice powder in Honey Ginger Five-Spice Glaze. Test the flavor combination before you put it on your Easter ham to make sure it will appeal to you and your guests.

HONEY GINGER FIVE-SPICE GLAZE

1 cup honey

1‚Ñ4 cup orange marmalade

1‚Ñ4 cup orange juice

2 tablespoons soy sauce

2 tablespoons freshly grated ginger or prepared ginger

2 teaspoons Chinese five-spice powder

2 teaspoons smooth mustard, such as Dijon

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan. Heat gently and whisk to combine. Remove from heat and let cool. Refrigerate overnight for best flavor.

As a glaze or basting sauce: Brush glaze over roast or ham during the last 30 to 40 minutes of cooking, basting every 10 minutes or so. Warm remaining glaze to spoon over meat when serving.

As a marinade: Add a pinch of salt before marinating your pork, ham, or poultry for up to half a day.

Source: National Honey Board

Side dishes, leftovers

Spring vegetables and fruits bring flavor and color to the holiday table, from asparagus and fresh peas to pineapple to adorn the ham, to strawberry and mango desserts. Luscious, light salads and desserts bring wonderful flavor to the table.

Strawberry trifle, mango cheesecake, and coconut cream or lemon meringue pie also are flavorful.

When the day is over, there’s often leftover Easter eggs and ham.

Maple-Apple Upside Down Ham Loaf is a great way to use leftover ham. Made with fresh maple syrup when available, the ham loaf is packed in the pan on top of slices of tart apple covered with the syrup. Once baked, the ham sits for five minutes before it is turned upside down on a platter.

Leftover ham can also be added to omelets, fresh green beans, pasta salads, red beans and rice, scalloped potatoes, and quiche. Make ham salad for sandwiches and hors d’oeuvres.

Use up leftover Easter eggs by crumbling them over Cobb salad, sliced across spinach salad, and chopped in pasta salad. Hard-cooked eggs are portable enough to put in a lunch box with a cold pack, and great to eat as an after-school snack.

Fill your Easter table with simple foods reminiscent of spring.

MAPLE APPLE UPSIDE DOWN HAM LOAF (for leftover ham)

1 pound ground cooked ham

1‚Ñ2 pound ground beef

1‚Ñ2 cup dry baked crumbs

1‚Ñ2 cup chopped celery

1‚Ñ4 cup chopped onion

2 eggs

3‚Ñ4 cup milk

1‚Ñ2 teaspoon tangy mustard

1 tablespoon savory or basil

1‚Ñ4 cup maple syrup

1 tart apple, peeled and sliced thin

In large bowl, blend ham, beef, bread crumbs, celery, and onion. Add eggs, milk, spice, and mustard. Mix well. Butter 8-inch loaf pan. Arrange apples in bottom and cover with syrup. Pack in meat mixture. Bake in 350 degree oven for 1 hour 15 minutes or until crusted. Let stand 5 minutes and turn upside down onto platter.

Yield: 4 to 6 servings

Source: Vermont maple sugar