Good News!

Finally, something we can agree on. This is my third last issue.

Hambone, Hambone, have you heard?

We had a tasty ham for our Christmas dinner this year.  Alton would have been proud.  As always, Chuck stepped in to carve the meat from the bone.  A nasty job that I seriously dislike.   I can crack open a chicken carcass and toss the neck and back in a bag for bulk stock and think it is no big deal but a ham bone makes me squidgy.  So when Chuck asked if he should save the shank bone from the ham I hesitated.  He, on the other hand, slapped it into some foil for later. Smart man there.  

Last week I plunked that nasty bone in a pot along with some aromatics, enough water to cover* and reduced it down for hours.  I knew it was a waste of energy and would probably end up smelling of dirty high school boy socks but I figured Chuck would eat it.  

You see, Chuck's family eats what they call "ham beans", a stew of sorts.  Combine the two obvious players, chopped onion and water, and there you have it.   I use to make it with chicken stock and it was good but not all that great to me.  I have never been a fan of ham stock until now. The ham stock turned those beans into something to sing about.  (get it? huh, huh? beans, beans the musical.... nm) 

I really don't have much of a recipe.  My non-recipe card carrying Mamish would be proud.

Ham Beans 

1.5 liters ham stock, strained

1c pintos, soaked over night

1c black beans**, soaked over night***

1 onion, chopped

2c ham, chopped to about bean size 

salt & pepper

1tsp Tony Catcher's cajun spices

(a bit of horseradish if you are Chuck)

Crockpot it all day or a slow simmer on the stove.  Please make yourself some cornbread to go with it.  And I don't mean that yellow yankee cornbread stuff either.  That is dessert in my house.  If you don't know how to make proper hilljack cornbread then let me know.  I might just help you out.

*I started with about 3qts water and reduced it down by about half.

**You can use another bean but I like black the best.

***If you care about your loved ones then you will rinse those soaking beans and NOT use the soak water.  Fresh water all the way

Greek Salad Love

If you know me at all then you know that I love to cook. I love finding a base recipe and tweaking it until it is my own. Then I like to stuff my friends silly with whatever is my current food obsession. (Yes, I know I have problems.)

Such is the case with the rough chopped simple beauty of the Greek salad. I have tried quite a few recipes then landed on a mixture of several. The outcome is absolutely perfect on my tastebuds.

Ingredients
4T extra virgin olive oil
2T lemon juice
2 cloves garlic, minced
3/4t dried oregano
1/2t kosher salt
1/4t fresh ground black pepper
2 heads romaine lettuce, hand torn to a good size
3-4 tomatoes, roughly chopped
1 English cucumber, quartered, seeded and chopped
1/2 green bell pepper
1/2 red bell pepper
1/2 red onion chopped
4oz feta cheese, crumbled
1/2 cup green olives, drained (for the love of gawd, use good olives)

Combine first six ingredients and set aside. Allow time for the flavors to blend. Plow through the chopping of all of the veggies and crumble your feta. I prefer to crumble mine with a fork. Feta fingers are a special kinda stinky. Toss everything together just before serving. Serve with crusty bread or some homemade crackers. Be still my heart.


Sorry for the crummy picture. I didn't think about taking one until it was too late. That is what remains after I had my way with the leftovers from a small gathering.

The Good Crackers

Give my family one of those famous golden buttery oval crackers and they stare back and ask for "the good crackers". If I had a dime for every time they asked for "the good crackers" then I would be a rich woman and Chuck would be collecting carts at Kroger after hours and asking for payment in dimes.

Knowing that homemade bread is so yummy I can only assume that homemade crackers would be equally satisfying. I finally landed on a recipe for rosemary crackers that sounded tasty and surprisingly simple. Finally a good reason to hack into the new rosemary bush sitting on the window sill.

Crisp Rosemary Flatbread
(yeah yeah yeah I know it says flatbread but its crackers darnit)
Gourmet Magazine July 2008

1 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon chopped rosemary plus 2 (6-inch) sprigs
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup olive oil plus more for brushing
Flaky sea salt

Preheat oven to 450°F with a heavy baking sheet on rack in middle.

Stir together flour, chopped rosemary, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Make a well in center, then add water and oil and gradually stir into flour with a wooden spoon until a dough forms. Knead dough gently on a work surface 4 or 5 times.

Divide dough into 3 pieces and roll out 1 piece (keep remaining pieces covered with plastic wrap) on a sheet of parchment paper into a 10-inch round (shape can be rustic; dough should be thin).

Lightly brush top with additional oil and scatter small clusters of rosemary leaves on top, pressing in slightly. Sprinkle with sea salt. Slide round (still on parchment) onto preheated baking sheet and bake until pale golden and browned in spots, 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer flatbread (discard parchment) to a rack to cool, then make 2 more rounds (1 at a time) on fresh parchment (do not oil or salt until just before baking). Break into pieces.

Flatbread can be made 2 days ahead and cooled completely, then kept in an airtight container at room temperature.

Of course once I got my first batch of crackers into the oven I realized that I was in serious need of something that would go well with the crackers. I cranked out a white bean dip that went perfectly. I snapped these into rustic pieces but next time I may try using a pizza cutter.

One Track Mind

There are times when I really need to stop the multi tasking and just do one thing at a time. This weekend was Kaileigh's dance recital so I was busy making a bouquet for her. Which turned out pretty darn nice I might add. So anyhow, someone in our house mentioned that egg nog really sounded nice so I grabbed Alton's recipe. Always a good place to start imo.

Tides turned when I began to cook the custardy mixture. *sigh* The smell was awesome and then I began to wonder why I smelled scrambled eggs? Lets just say that if you cook your mixture too hard and fast that it will turn to scrambled egg nog. Nothing can be done at this point except dump it. I am thankful that I did not use the Makers though. I would not be able to look Whitaker in the eye ever again.

Please step AWAY from the bag!

Excuse me while I get my rant on. WTF is up with the cashiers that get snippy when you refuse a plastic bag? I am pretty good about taking my reusable bags into the store with me but when I only need one or 2 items then why bother? I really am not a purse carrier so one of the tiny fold and take reusable bags that you toss in your purse does not work for me. I just keep my bags in the trunk and grab whatever I need before I go in. (and no, I am not sticking one in my pocket. My arse is big enough as it is thankyouverymuch)

On Friday, I went into an unnamed store (starts with K, ends in ls and has an OH in the center) just to get a pair of regular ol jeans for Chuck. No need for one of my bags from the trunk right? At checkout, the young plastic pushing clerk decides to get snippy when I inform her that I do not need a bag. I swear I smiled all nice and everything. She tells me that she is not allowed to. Then she shoves the jeans into a plastic bag and hands it to me. I smile again to show that I am a nice person and I understand her minimum wage plight but no way was I taking the damned bag. Three times we went over it.

Finally we ended our conversation when I slipped the jeans out of the bag and walked out the door with my receipt in hand.

I will stop now.