Happy almost Easter!
For those of you living in a cave….Easter is this Sunday. I know that everyone’s family has their own
traditions for Easter, and their own favorite dishes. What do you do? Easter breakfast? Brunch?
Dinner?
At our house, along with an egg hunt, we always have Easter
Brunch. Our families don’t live all that
close to us, so over the years, we have started an Easter Brunch tradition with
friends. We all get together, not too
early because I hate mornings, and hunt for eggs, drink mimosas, eat great
food, and have a great time spending the better part of the day together. The kids love it because they get tons of
candy, and I love it because we always do it as a potluck. That means this mama doesn’t have to slave
away cooking. I make a ham and one other
dish, and call it a day. Easy peasy.
This year, like usual, I am making a huge Peach Glazed Ham
and my Cheesy Grits Casserole. I love
making a big ‘ol ham. Mostly because I
like having ham leftovers. I will stick
ham in anything…..ham salad, ham pasta, ham and eggs, ham sandwiches….you get
the picture. I’m like Bubba from Forrest
Gump, but with ham not shrimp. But
enough about that. Today I am going to
show you the recipe for my scrumptious ham, and later I will show you how to
make my grits. I feel southern just
saying the word.
For my ham, I start with a 10 pound smoked, spiral cut,
bone-in ham. You can do boneless if you
want. That part really doesn’t
matter. I get spiral cut because it is
just way easier. I always get the kind
that comes with its own glaze packet.
Don’t hate on the packaged glaze….you can totally use it to jazz up your
ham, along with a few other key ingredients.
My ham came with a “brown sugar” glaze.
Look for that or a honey glaze.
The first thing I do, after unwrapping the fifty two layers
of wrapping, is place the ham in a large baking dish. I cover it tightly in foil and bake it at 325
for about an hour and ten minutes. Go
about your business…..have coffee, take a shower, etc. Just leave that ham alone. Once the ham has about ten minutes left to
cook, I get the glaze together.
In a small sauce pot, I add about a tablespoon of olive oil,
a diced shallot and a minced garlic clove.
I let this cook for a couple of minutes, until the shallot is softened. Then, I add the glaze packet, ¼ a cup of
Dijon mustard, ¼ a cup of chicken broth, salt and pepper, and one jar of
Gourmet Rooster County Fair Peach spread.
This spread has peaches, cinnamon, cloves, allspice, and a couple other
yummy things in it. It tastes like peach
pie filling! If you can’t find it, look
for a spiced peach spread in your grocery store. If you can’t find that, use peach preserves.
I let this all boil together for just a couple of
minutes. Once the ham gets pulled out of
the oven, and unwrapped, I pour the glaze all over the ham. I let the ham cook for an additional thirty
minutes, which gives the glaze a chance to caramelize and give the ham fabulous
flavor. It gives the ham a crunchy,
crusty sweet exterior. It’s like ham
candy on the outside. You will love it,
your family will love it, and your friends will love it.
As for my grits….(there I go, feelin’ all southern again), I
use quick cooking grits chicken broth, butter, chive cream cheese, goat cheese,
Jack cheese and eggs to make the best grits casserole you will ever taste. The grits are creamy, cheesy, savory and
amazing all at the same time. And since
it is a casserole, it holds its shape…it won’t run all over the plate. I don’t like my food touching, but I am weird
like that.
I start by boiling my chicken broth and grits together for
about five minutes. Remember, I’m using
quick cooking grits, so mine cook pretty fast.
Once the grits are thick and creamy, I stir in butter and all the
cheeses, keeping the grits over low heat.
And now it gets a bit tricky…..you have to temper the eggs into the
grits to keep from getting scrambled eggs.
I beat the eggs in a little bowl with a salt and
pepper. Then, I take some of my grits,
about ½ a cup, and beat that into the grits to raise the temperature of the
eggs. Once that’s done, I stir the
egg/grits mix into the pot. Once
everything is blended, it can be poured into a greased 9x13 baking pan.
This bakes for about 45 minutes at 350 degrees. When they are done, they won’t be jiggly in
the middle and the top will be nice and browned.
I promise, this is the perfect side dish for an Easter
brunch….or any brunch! And the ham, oh
the ham…..it is sweet/salty perfection.
I hope you try these recipes! And make your guests bring the rest. Happy Easter!
Peach Glazed Ham
10 pound spiral cut ham with brown sugar glaze
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 shallot, diced
1 garlic clove, minced
½ cup Dijon mustard
¼ cup chicken broth
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 9 ounce jar Gourmet Rooster County Fair Peach Spread
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Place ham in a large baking dish. Cover tightly with foil. Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour 10 minutes.
For glaze:
In a small sauce pan, sauté shallot and garlic in olive oil
until shallot is soft, about 2 to 3 minutes.
Stir in glaze packet, mustard, broth, salt, pepper and Peach
spread. Bring to a boil. Boil for 2 minutes.
Remove ham from oven and unwrap. Pour glaze over ham and return to oven for 30
more minutes. Let ham rest for 20
minutes before serving.
Serves 16 (will give you a lot of leftovers)
Cheesy Grits Casserole
3 cups chicken broth
2 cups water
1 ½ cups quick cooking grits
1 cup Jack cheese, grated
8 ounces chive cream cheese
6 ounces goat cheese
4 eggs
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9x13x2 baking dish.
In a medium sized sauce pot, bring broth and water to a
boil. Stir in grits. Simmer over low
heat, covered, for 5 to 7 minutes, or until thick. Stir in cheeses. Cook over low heat until cheeses are melted.
In a small bowl, beat eggs with salt and pepper. Stir ½ cup of hot grits into eggs. Add egg mixture into grits and stir until
blended.
Pour grits into greased 9x13x2 pan. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees for 45 minutes
or until middle is completely set and top is browned.
Serves 12
mmmmm....ham candy....
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