Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Soooooey! Here ham, ham, ham!

Unlike the many applications I have up my sleeve to deal with the 40 lbs of turkey that are inevitably left over from my inability to buy anything less than a 600 lb genetically altered bird come Thanksgiving, I'm not that good with the ham that remains after Jesus rolls back the stone and the Easter Bunny goes home. This year my mom found an interesting Frankenstein of a recipe that mixes ham with the unlikely likes of apple pie spice, bourbon, biscuit dough and cayenne pepper. The end result is a delicious coffee cake that never made it out of the pan at our house because people kept sneaking fork fulls all day long. It will only help you dispose of 2 cups of your remaining ham, but if you're a rational shopper that may be all you need. I'll chase the Maple, Ham and Apple Coffee Cake with a quiche recipe for those of you who are like me and need to dispose of a little more pig than the coffee cake can handle.

Maple, Ham, and Apple Coffee Cake

1 (12 oz.) can refrigerated flaky biscuit dough
2 cups chopped cooked ham
2 cups apple, peeled, cored, and chopped
1/4 cup raisins
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp apple pie spice*
1/3 cup maple syrup
1 egg
1/4 cup chopped pecans
1/4 cup chopped walnuts

Glaze:
1/3 cup confectioners' sugar
2 Tbs bourbon (the rest is for you)
1/4 tsp apple pie spice
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

Preheat oven to 350. Generously spray a 9-inch square baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.

Cut each biscuit into 4 equal pieces; set aside. Sprinkle 1 cup ham, 1 cup apples and raisins over bottom of prepared pan, spreading evenly. Arrange biscuit pieces, pointed ends up, over mixture. Sprinkle evenly with remaining ham and apples.

In a small mixing bowl, combine brown sugar, apple pie spice, maple syrup and egg; blend thoroughly. Stir in nuts, then spoon evenly over biscuit pieces and ham/apple mixture.

Bake for 35 to 45 minutes (my mom ended up keeping in almost an hour b/c it seemed to need more time to set up--test yours (which is a fancy way of saying pick at it with a fork and then smooth over the gaping hole you've left behind) before serving), or until nicely browned. Cool for 5 minutes.

For glaze: In a small bowl whisk together confectioners' sugar, bourbon, apple pie spice and cayenne pepper until a drizzling consistency is reached (more bourbon or milk may be added if necessary to achieve desired consistency. Drizzle glaze over warm coffee cake.

copyright 2003 Sparkle Market

*a reference card from Better Homes and Gardens that has been plastered to the side of my fridge for years tells me that if I don't have apple pie spice, I can make 1 tsp by mixing 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon, 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg, 1/8 tsp ground allspice and a dash of ground ginger. Or you can just send my dad to the grocery store.


Still got ham?

Quiche

frozen pie crust (There is seriously no need to make your own here. I go with the deep dish b/c it seems like I'm always slopping egg mixture all over the place when I use the regular)
1 ish (throw in some more if you're feeling swineish) cups of ham made small by chopping, shredding, or dicing into tiny cubes
1 cup shredded swiss cheese
1/3 cup finely chopped and browned onion
4 lg eggs
2 cups half & half or whipping cream
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/8 tsp cayenne
(I usually throw in either a package of frozen spinach (thaw and make sure you drain it really well) or some chopped broccoli, too.)

Preheat oven to 425.

Sprinkle ham, cheese, onion (and spinach/broccoli) in the bottom of the pie pan.

In mixer beat eggs and remaining ingredients, pour on top of ham mixture.

Bake 15 mins at 425. Reduce oven to 300, bake 30-40 mins longer.

If you have any other recipes that would help people out with their ham leftovers, send them to me at JustBarelyMail@gmail.com and I'll post 'em. Enjoy eating your kids' chocolate eggs while they're napping--I know I am!

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4 comments:

  1. I'll have to give that a try! My cousin is coming into town next week and I needed a special treat to make her. I am not the biggest fan of ham but I know everyone else will like it!

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  2. You can't even really taste the ham--there's too much other crazy stuff going on in there!

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  3. Quick! Someone schedule my triple bypass. I feel my arteries clogging...ok...clogging more. Its those Cadbury creme eggs from the bunny. I hate him.

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  4. ham cake....sounds nasty, tastes yummy! thanks!

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