clevermanka | Yesterday's Menu

Uncle Bruce's Ham
Shank half ham (preferred over butt half)--I bought a 12-pounder because ham leftovers are the best
Glaze:
1 c brown sugar
2 t dry mustard
3 T balsamic vinegar
3 T red wine

Place ham, cut side down, in large roasting pan. Cook, covered with foil, at 325F until internal temperature reaches 140F (I use one of those electronic meat thermometers. They're invaluable.). Mix the last four ingredients in a bowl. This is the glaze. When the ham reaches 140, remove the foil and pour the sugar mixture over. Baste every fifteen to twenty minutes until internal temperature reaches 165 (I use a bulb syringe baster--so much more efficient than a basting brush). This can sometimes double the last part of the cooking time, because you're losing a lot of oven heat with the frequent basting. It's so worth it. Ham is fine served at room temperature, so I just make it first and don't worry about keeping it warm.

Spiced Green Beans With Almonds
1 lb. fresh green beans, cut into 1" pieces
1 T butter
2 t Penzey's Brady Street Cheese Sprinkle
1 t dried minced onion
1/4 c water
1/3 c slivered almonds, toasted
1/4 c grated Parmesan cheese
1 t smoky paprika

Melt butter in pan. Add Brady Street Sprinkle, onions, and water. Stir to combine. Pour in beans and cook until tender. Toss toasted almonds, cheese, and paprika together in large serving bowl. When beans are done, pour all into bowl and mix to combine.

Gingery Sweet Potatoes
~2 lbs sweet potatoes
1/3 c cream
1 t dried ginger (fresh ginger would be lovely here--I didn't have any)
1 T real maple syrup
1/2 t salt
3 T butter

Bake the potatoes until very soft, almost mushy. Cut in half and let cool slightly. Scoop out innards into a large bowl (I used my stand mixer). Pour rest of ingredients over the top and beat until it reaches your desired smoothness. Pour into lightly greased casserole dish and bake at 350 for 30 to 40 minutes.

Pumpkin Pie
The dessert recipe, a mostly sugar-free pumpkin pie, is not my own (or a relative's) personal recipe creation (or heavily modified version of an existing recipe theme), so I'll just link to it here. I did modify it just a bit: I used 3/4 c Splenda and 1/4 c real brown sugar to give it a little more depth of flavor, and since I had no molasses (which surprised me), I used heaping teaspoons of all the spices except the cloves, of which I used a full quarter teaspoon. And I skipped the pecan crust.

I used to make a more egg-heavy version of this as a breakfast pumpkin custard thing. It was incredibly tasty. I wish I could find that stupid laptop with all my old recipes. =(

Wines
Rioja Vega, Rioja, 2006
Este de Bodegas Alto Almanzora, 2006

Both were good. I am not a wine connoisseur. My judgement of a wine usually falls into one of two categories: "I would drink this again" vs. "I would rather chew off my arm than finish the bottle." I would drink both of those bottles again. Thanks to Jeff at Jensen's Liquor for hooking me up with what it so far a fantastic case selection of vino.

Yesterday's Menu

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