The Charmed Kitchen

Ham and Swiss Calzones

Of course, ham makes a great sandwich, but there are a lot more things you can do with it.

If you enjoyed a ham over the holiday, you may find yourself with leftovers. Here are some recipes for all that ham.

Ham is versatile and can be used in all sorts of dishes. Added to soups, stir fry, breads, salads and omelets, it adds a wonderful smoky flavor to every dish. And of course, the ham bone can flavor a whole pot of soup.

So here are ten recipes you might want to try.

Swedish Yellow Split Pea Soup

1 lb. yellow split peas, rinsed

2 qts. Boiling water or stock

1 bay leaf

2 c. chopped onion

2 c. sliced carrots

1 tsp. dried marjoram

1/4 t. ginger

dash nutmeg

1/2 t. pepper

1 T. salt, or to taste

2 cups diced ham

Note: you can use 1 teaspoon liquid smoke if omitting meat.

Combine peas, boiling water or stock and bay leaf and simmer, covered, about an hour, stirring occasionally. Remove bay leaf. Add remaining ingredients, except diced meat and salt, and cook, covered, over low heat for about 30 minutes. Add meat and cook 1 hour more, stirring occasionally. Season to taste. Serve with a pumpernickel bread. Freezes well. Serves 6-8.

Ham and Asparagus Quiche

1 (9-inch) unbaked pie crust

1½ c. shredded cheese – I used Havarti

4 t. flour

1½ c. diced cooked ham

12 oz. asparagus, trimmed, cut in ½- inch pieces and steamed 3 minutes

4 eggs

1 c. milk or half and half

2 T. fresh chopped parsley or 2 teaspoons dried

¼ t. salt

1T. Dijon mustard

1 t.  hot sauce

Toss cheese with flour in a bowl and place in pie crust. Sprinkle the ham and asparagus over the cheese and set aside. Combine remaining ingredients in a small bowl beating well to combine. Pour over the ham and asparagus mixture and bake in a preheated 400-degree oven for 15 minutes. Turn down heat to 350-degrees and bake until knife inserted off-center comes out clean, about 30 minutes more. Makes 1.

Note: This quiche freezes well. After adding the fillings just wrap in heavy foil and freeze solid until ready to bake. When ready to bake unwrap and allow to sit at room temperature for 30-60 minutes. Bake as with the fresh version, but add another 10-15 minutes to the baking time. If you don’t want to freeze the pie pan, you can line the pie pan with foil before you add the crust. Once it is frozen you can remove the frozen quiche from the pie pan and wrap, returning to freezer. When ready to use unwrap and put the quiche back in the pie pan before baking. Or, if you are planning on freezing it, you can use a foil pie pan.

Deviled Pickled Eggs

I was looking for a fun way to serve my pickled eggs for Easter dinner and I thought of making deviled eggs with them. They came out so pretty- and colorful.

The eggs were pickled with beet juice, for the bright pink color.

The rest of the dish, I made just like I would normally make deviled eggs.

I started with 12 eggs. I cut them in half and carefully scooped out the yolks.

I used a fork to smash up the yolks. Then I added 1/4 cup of mayonnaise, 1 tablespoon of honey mustard, salt and pepper to taste and a pinch of cumin.

I used a small cookie scoop to place the yolk mixture in each of the eggs.

Then I just placed them on the plate, with some pretty purple micro greens underneath. Simple and very pretty.

Of course, you don’t need to serve them just on Easter. These eggs would make a nice addition to any Spring or summer meal.

Here are the directions for making the pickled eggs.

Pickled Eggs

1 c. beet juice (cooking liquid)

1 c. apple cider vinegar

1 c. sugar- you can use less

1 onion, sliced thin, optional

1 T. pickling spice

2 t. salt

6-12 hard cooked eggs, peeled

In saucepan, heat all ingredients together, except the eggs. Bring to a simmer and cook 5 minutes on low heat. Cool mixture down. Place eggs in a jar or other container with a tight fitting lid. Pour over the beet juice mixture. Cover jar and place in the fridge. Wait one day before eating. Eggs will keep a few weeks.

Lamb with Lemon Egg Sauce

I am not sure which I love more in this recipe- the lamb that is cooked to tender perfection- or the Greek lemon egg sauce.  Both are very special. I love lamb and have cooked it lots of different ways. This preparation will always be a favorite.

The recipe uses lamb shoulder, cooked with onions and Romaine lettuce- yes lettuce. The lamb is browned and then cooks gently until tender. The lettuce also cooks down and adds a nice green flavor to the dish.

The real magic is the lemon egg sauce, used to top the lamb once finished. It is creamy and has just the right amount of tang from the lemon juice.

You could make this dish with pork or even chicken, but my favorite version is with lamb. I also use the lemon sauce with meat and rice stuffed zucchini. My dear friend Amy, had the dish on a trip to Greece and we made it often.

Fricassee of Lamb with Lemon Egg Sauce

2 1/2-3 lbs. lamb shoulder, or use pork

3 medium onions, chopped

2-3 heads romaine lettuce, washed and sliced thin

1/2 c. olive oil

Egg and Lemon Sauce -recipe follows

Cut the meat into serving pieces. Heat the oil in a pot and sauté the meat. Add salt, pepper, the onions, lettuce and a small amount of water. Cover the pot and let the fricassee simmer for about an hour. Prepare the egg and lemon sauce, pour it over the fricassee and serve.

Lemon and Egg  Sauce

1-2 c. stock

2 eggs

juice of 1 lemon

flour, about 1-2 tablespoons, depending on how thick you want the sauce

Bring stock to the simmer. Beat eggs well. Mix the flour with the lemon juice.

Add to the eggs and keep beating. Add the hot broth slowly while you keep beating. Pour the egg and lemon sauce in the pot and bring to a simmer, stirring constantly. Makes 1-2 cups. For a thinner sauce eliminate the flour.

Shrimp and Soba Noodle Salad

Whenever I make soba noodles, I wonder why I don’t eat them more often. I really love their flavor.

Soba noodles are made from buckwheat flour. They have a wonderful, almost nutty flavor. I picked these up at a recent visit to the Asian market. You can find soba noodles in some grocery stores, too.

I have enjoyed soba noodles in cold salads, hot soups and stir fries. This time, I decided to use them in a salad that fell somewhere between hot and cold. It made a great meal for a rainy evening.

Warm Shrimp and Soba Noodle Salad

12 oz. soba (buckwheat) noodles
1 lb. raw shrimp, shelled and de-veined
2 T. oil
2 cloves minced garlic
½ c. chopped sweet peppers
½ c. chopped green onions
Dressing:
¼ c. oil
2 T. Rice wine vinegar
1 t. sesame oil
1 t. soy sauce, or more to taste
1 t. hot sauce, or more to taste
1 t. ginger

In pot of boiling, salted water, cook noodles according to package directions. They only take a few minutes. Be careful not to overcook them. Drain and set aside. Heat a skillet and add the oil. Add the shrimp and garlic and stir fry until shrimp are just cooked through. Time will vary based on the size of the shrimp you are cooking. Place soba noodles in a bowl. Add the cooked shrimp and veggies. Make dressing by placing all dressing ingredients in a jar with a tight fitting lid. Shake until mixed well. Pour dressing over the noodle mixture and toss to coat evenly. Serve while still warm. Serves 4-5.

Duck Fat Bread

For a recent family function, my cousin Laurie, asked me to make this bread. My mother was famous in our family for this bread. She made it throughout the year. and always around Easter. It makes a great bread with dinner- and a wonderful ham sandwich.

The recipe uses butter. She was a very frugal person. One day, she decided to render the skin from a duck she was using in soup. She didn’t want to just toss it. Too wasteful.

Once it was cooled, the duck fat looked like butter. She was making her sweet bread and substituted the duck fat for the butter in the recipe.

When my brother-in-law, Bob, tasted it he declared it was the best bread yet. My Mom told him what the secret ingredient was, and from that day on, we always called it duck fat bread, even when it was made with butter. Here is the recipe- wonderful even if made with plain old butter.

Mom’s Butter Coffeecake Braids aka Duck Fat Bread

4 1/2 c. flour

2 T. sugar

1 t. salt

½ c. butter or 1/2 c. cooled rendered duck fat

1 packet yeast

¼ c. warm water

2 t. sugar

1 c. evaporated milk

2 eggs, beaten

Combine flour with sugar and salt. Cut in butter or duck fat and set aside. Dissolve 2 teaspoons sugar in warm water. Dissolve yeast in warm water mixture and set aside. Allow to become bubbly, about 5 minutes.  Combine milk with eggs. Stir in yeast mixture and add to flour mixture stirring well. Knead dough in bowl until smooth, about 10 minutes. Place on lightly floured surface and knead until smooth. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 1½ hours. Divide dough in half and then each half into thirds. Roll dough into ropes and braid three ropes together. Repeat with remaining 3 ropes.  Place braids in 9×5 inch greased bread pans and cover with a towel. Place in a warm, draft-free place and allow to rise until doubled, about 1½ hours. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 25 minutes. If you like glaze loaves while warm with a mix of powdered sugar, a little milk, butter, and vanilla. Toasted almonds or walnuts can be added, if desired. Makes 2 loaves.

Note: You can also refrigerate the dough after kneading it if you would prefer. Just place dough in an oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and chill overnight. Roll and shape dough into braids when cold from the fridge.  Rise, covered, until doubled in bulk, about 2-3 hours. Bake as directed.

Note: You can also place loaves on a greased baking sheet for a longer, flatter bread rather than in loaf pan.

Asparagus Irene

Asparagus will always be one of my favorite vegetables.  I just love it. I grabbed a couple of bunches at a local produce market the other day.

As I started writing out the recipe for this dish, I was thinking about my Mom and how much she loved asparagus. She always wanted the bigger asparagus spears- she said they had more flavor.

I remember her showing me how to break the bottom of the stalks off and how she would cook them until they were just done- but not mushy.

She wouldn’t consider eating canned asparagus- only fresh- so the season was short. It was something to be savored while it lasted.

Most times she just placed the cooked asparagus on a plate, topped with a pat of butter and a sprinkle of salt. One time, though, she made a white sauce and poured it over the asparagus. It was bliss.

Naming a recipe can be tricky. Sometimes, I just list the ingredients in the dish- like chicken with pineapple and honey. That works, but feels a little like cheating to me. I started out calling this Asparagus with Eggs, which was fine. Then I thought of how much my Mom loved asparagus. So in her memory- I named the dish after her.

For this version I used a white sauce, and topped the asparagus with 2 poached eggs, too. It was a lovely dish and made for a great dinner.

It also makes a nice meat-free meal.

Here is the recipe.

Asparagus Irene

1 lb. fresh asparagus, washed and stems trimmed

white sauce- recipe follows

fresh lemon, cut in wedges

2 eggs

vinegar- for the poaching water

salt and pepper to taste

Put the asparagus in a steamer and cook for about 5 minutes- or until almost done. Set aside. Make white sauce, but add some lemon juice to it. I just kept squeezing lemon wedges in until it tasted right to me. Set sauce aside. Boil some water in a shallow pan and add a tablespoon of vinegar to the water. Drop the two eggs in and simmer, covered until the whites are opaque and the yolks are still runny. While the eggs are cooking return the asparagus to the heat and cook until just tender. Place asparagus on a serving dish. Sprinkle with a little salt. Gently place the eggs on top of the asparagus. Spoon some of the white sauce over the eggs. You will have more sauce than you need. Save it for another use. Garnish with lemon wedges and parsley, if you like. Finish with some salt and fresh ground pepper. Serves 2.

Basic White Sauce (Bechamel)

The start of many a classic dish.

2 T. butter or oil
2 T. flour
1 1/4 c. warmed milk
salt and pepper to taste

In saucepan melt butter or heat oil and add flour, stirring until smooth. Slowly whisk in milk, stirring constantly until thickened and bubbly. Turn heat down and continue to cook, stirring constantly for a couple minutes longer. Season to taste. If you are going to store the sauce for later use place a layer of wax paper on top, store in a container with a lid or pour a little milk over the top to prevent a skin from forming. Makes about 1 c.

Lemon: Add zest of a lemon, 2 T. lemon juice and 2 T. butter just before serving.

Fresh Rosemary

I will be giving a talk on herb Gardening at the Richmond Heights Library. This is a free program, but you are encouraged to register ahead of time. So if you want to learn more about growing your own herbs, this might be the time to do it.

The program is on Thursday, April 18 at 7pm at the Richmond Library.  The branch address is 5235 Wilson Mills Road, Richmond Hts., OH 44143 and the branch phone number is 440-449-2666.

Pickled Eggs

Here is the clip from my appearance on New Day Cleveland. As always, David and the whole crew are delightful to work with.

If you are going to have colored eggs after Easter, I hope you fine these recipes fun and helpful.

Spring Salad

I learned at an early age to appreciate a good salad. My mother really knew how to make a salad. Her prepping a tossed salad was a ritual I observed often as a kid.

Mom was a big believer in a tossed salad. She wasn’t fond of salad where the dressing was just poured over the top.

She also was a firm believer that most people over dressed their greens. She said when you tossed a salad properly, there should not be a puddle of dressing in the bottom of the bowl. She was right.

Mom also liked to serve salad on its own, not with the rest of the meal. She said that way you really enjoyed your salad. We always ate salad before the rest of the meal. I still prefer to do that.

When I was making this salad for dinner the other night, it made me remember the first time I bought her a one pound box of Spring greens. She was not a fan of iceberg lettuce and used assorted greens in her salads, along with other veggies. I knew she would love the mix of greens.

The problem was, as she told me later, that she couldn’t empty the box. She said every time she grabbed a handful of greens out to make a salad, the rest would just expand. She said she had made several salads and the box didn’t appear any emptier.

So here is the salad I made the other night. Just the perfect starter for any Spring dinner.

Spring Salad

4 c. Spring mix  greens

6 asparagus spears

4 oz. sugar snap pea pods

1 carrot- shredded finely

3 broccoli stems, shredded finely

1/2 c. diced sweet onion

fresh parsley, chopped

olive oil

balsamic vinegar

salt and fresh ground pepper

4 oz. feta cheese crumbles

Wash and spin dry the greens and place in salad bowl. Trim tough ends off asparagus and steam 4 minutes. Place in cold water to stop cooking and cut into 1-inch pieces. Add to greens. Add remaining vegetables to salad bowl. Drizzle with oil- not too much- and then toss. Add salt and pepper to taste and drizzle with balsamic vinegar. Toss again. Serve in individual bowls and add cheese to taste. Serves 3-4.

Amy’s Easter Hummus

Hummus is always a favorite at parties around here. I’ve made classic hummus and have added roasted peppers and made some with black olives and with garlic scapes.

I always remember the time my dear friend, Amy, wanted her hummus to be really colorful. It was for her Easter dinner. I believe that was the same year she dyed the egg whites for the deviled eggs. Amy really knew how to get the details right.

She and I had talked about how best to make tasty, colorful hummus. She decided to make spinach hummus and beet hummus in addition to her classic hummus. She wanted something that tasted good, but looked like Spring. She ended up with a beautiful array for her dinner that year. Tasty, too.

Here are the directions for making them.

Hummus

1 can garbanzo beans, drained, or about 2 cups cooked garbanzos

1/4 c. olive oil

2 T. lemon juice

2 T. tahini (sesame seed paste)

2 cloves garlic

salt and hot pepper sauce to taste

Combine all ingredients in a blender or food processor until smooth. Adjust seasonings. Chill. Serve with pita bread, crackers or fresh vegetables. Also nice spread in a pita bread with sliced tomatoes, cucumbers and lettuce. Freezes well.

Green Hummus

Make the original hummus recipe from above but add 2 c. fresh spinach and ½ c. chopped cilantro.

Pink Hummus

Make the original hummus recipe from above but add 2-3 small cooked beets.

Note: You might want a little more salt in either of these recipes or a bit more lemon juice.

Miss you, Amy.