JBug's Kitchen Antics

Dijon Marmalade Glazed Baked Ham and Potato Apple Gratin

Every time we buy a ham I ask myself why it's normally reserved for special occasions. Really, there isn't a thing much easier or more satisfying than a good slice of ham, never mind there's no problem coming up with ideas for the leftovers either.

My method for cooking last night's beauty is simplicity itself. I scored the ham into 2 inch diamonds and popped some whole cloves into the diamond points, then poured a half cup of triple sec over the whole thing (Grand Marnier works better) covered the pan with aluminum foil and baked my 9 pound shank end ham for 1-1/2 hours before glazing it in an 8 ounce jar of homemade kumquat/orange marmalade mixed with a quarter cup of prepared Dijon mustard and a couple of tablespoons of horseradish. So far so good, right?

The problem with the menu occurred when I insisted on trying a recipe from Real Simple found on myrecipes.com for an apple and potato gratin. I was intrigued by the addition of egg and buttermilk to the mix and figured swiss cheese and apples would be a natural with a good slice of baked ham. Unfortunately we were very unimpressed with the gratin. Instead of a rich creamy sauce, tender potatoes and tart apples, the casserole separated into an unappetizing looking mess.

I won't be making it again. Sometimes you're just better off going with what you know. I've provided the link in case you're interested in checking it out. Thankfully I reduced the quantities and only made 1/3 of the recipe, which is a good thing. At least I didn't have a ton of leftovers to feed down the disposal. 

A year ago - Holiday Dessert Ideas

Two Year's Ago - Sockeye Salmon Club Sandwich

I Blew It

We had friends over for dinner last night and while I spent the better portion of the day in the kitchen yesterday, I've nothing new to report to you. The dinner menu was made up of things I've shared here with you before, some rather recently so I'll not bore you with the details. 

We started the evening with drinks and appetizers but I can't even brag much about those (pictured above). I should have looked back through my own archives to find the best sausage ball recipe but did I do that - oh no. Instead, I followed a recipe from a cookbook that shall remain nameless and the result were dry pellets that tasted somewhat of the Italian sausage that went into them but the ratio of sausage/cheese mix to dry ingredients was way, way off. They required copious amounts of a sauce made up of Dijon mustard, horseradish, mayo, and sour cream to get them down the gullet. What can I say - even JBug has her failures every once in a while.

Needless to say, I'm not sharing any recipes with you today. Oh - in case you're wondering, the amber bowl is filled with roasted red peppers mixed with minced garlic and covered in olive oil and balsamic then sprinkled with salt and pepper. It's covering pearls of cream cheese and makes a darn fine nosh along with some crackers. 

Gotta run folks. Our second new dishwasher arrives today and I've still got a little cleaning up to do from last night. Come to think, it's a little like cleaning up the house before the cleaning lady arrives, huh.

A year ago - Linguini with Bacon and Clam Sauce

Two year's ago - Pork and Apple Pie

 

Don't Do It!

Boy, lately I wonder if I've taken stupid pills instead of allergy medicine. Take last night's dinner for example.

Big Guy wasn't home again for dinner and since my main reason for cooking up a storm is the smile on his face, I decided it was pointless to fuss too much. My advice yesterday was so good I thought I'd take it and made a quiche using hashbrowns as a crust. The problem was I didn't have quite enough hashbrowns.

While the measly little crust was baking in the oven, I cooked up some bacon pieces, then put the quiche together with some grated Swiss cheese and nothing else. Yup, no onion, no spices, no salt and pepper, no nutmeg, no nothin'. Then I whipped up a couple of eggs, added some milk and shoved the whole thing in the oven. 

It was an over baked, tasteless piece of an excuse that can't even be called a quiche and a total waste of good bacon. The moral of the story is - anything worth doing is worth doing well, otherwise don't do it.

 A year ago - Multicultural Chicken Wings

Two year's ago - Grand

Salmon Chowder

You'll notice in the index to your right there's a section called "screw-ups". Well this one's going there although I can't take all of the blame. Obviously the person that developed this recipe from Coastal Living wasn't into the same type as chowder as we are but I suppose there's no accounting for taste is there.

This particular version is more about the broth than fish; in fact I thought the salmon went through on stilts, enough that I added some extra seafood in the form of shrimp and bay scallops to try and rescue the darn thing. As you check out the picture, please don't call me a liar. Most of the salmon went into this bowl...I kid you not. I even added parsley, tons of lemon pepper, and a little tarragon to try and pick up the flavor. All to no avail, and so I apologize.

As you know we work in real time here and this bowl of benign goop was what we actually had for dinner last night.I suppose we're allowed a fiasco every once in a while which is guaranteed to keep us humble. I have to say my favorite part of the whole thing was the gorgeous loaf of jalapeno cheese bread I happened to pick up at the last minute at my local Safeway for a mere $1.99. As for the big guy - well poor him. He's got the leftovers in his lunch box.

I refuse to post a recipe for you that needs so much tinkering, but one of these days I'll rework the darn thing and bring it back to you, new and improved. Meanwhile if you'd like to take on the challenge yourself, here's the link.

 

Lazy Day Casserole

If you're wanting to take a culinary trip back to the 50's, then hop on board. We did last night and if I learned anything, I came away from this adventure absolutely certain I don't want to go back. If this is any indication, they kinda' ate rather boring stuff way back then!

About the only thing this casserole has going for it is that it filled two empty tummies. It has exactly 5 ingredients in it - hamburger, onions, cream cheese, mushroom soup and ketchup...yup that's it and honestly I should have known better but thought it would be fun to have something simple. I ended up adding tomato sauce, tons of spices and as much hot sauce as it is possible to shake out of one bottle of the Louisiana version, and topped it with canned biscuits (yeah...me using canned biscuits???) but nothing could help. It was doomed from the start. 

The moral of the story is - who really wants to go back to the fifty's anyway? Black and white television, rotary dial phones, no computers - what did people do with themselves? I guess the fact the big guy and yours truly were both born in the 50's answers that question, doesn't it?

No recipe forthcoming for this one folks. I'm rather ashamed of myself.