In the research that I did, they suggested that it was best to begin by scoring the ham. Scoring allows the glaze not only to coat the outside of the ham, but also to seep inside and add its scrumptious flavour to the meat inside. Use a small knife (you don’t want to actually cut through the ham and slice pieces off) and make shallow slits diagonally across the ham in one direction, then the other (forming diamond shapes as you go). If you like, you can then push whole cloves into each of the X’s where the scoring lines meet. This is decorative and adds the clove flavour to the ham and glaze.
Remember to glaze only during the final 30-60 minutes that the ham is baking. If you add the glaze any sooner than that, it may burn. If you like to garnish the ham (such as with the traditional pineapple rings and maraschino cherries), do so prior to basting with the glaze. Brush the glaze all over the garnished ham and then repeat every 15 minutes.

Cranberry-Pineapple Glaze
Empty 1 can (16 oz.) whole berry cranberry sauce, 1 can (14 oz.) undrained crushed pineapple in juice, and 2 tablespoons of Dijon mustard into a blender or food processor. Cover and blend until smooth. Use half of this mixture as the glaze for the ham. The remaining ham can be heated over medium heat until warmed all the way through and served along with the ham as a sauce.

Orange-Pineapple Glaze
Drain 1 can (14 oz.) sliced pineapple in juice. Mix the reserved juice with 1 cup orange marmalade and 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard. Again, use half of this mixture as the glaze for the ham. Heat the other half until warmed through and use as a sauce to be served alongside the ham. Obviously the pineapple slices can be used to garnish the ham and orange slices also make a nice garnish for this one.

With the ham that I made, I served a ginger-pear sauce as an accompaniment. I just mashed up some canned pears and mixed in some fresh grated pear and some crystallized ginger. It was delicious!

Ingredients:
1 11×17 inch sheet of frozen puff or phyllo pastry, defrosted
1 lb. wheel of Brie cheese, about 5-6 inches in diameter
3 tablespoons of jam (we used raspberry in ours last night, but it is also delicious with apricot jam or cranberry sauce)
1/4 cup of sliced or chopped nuts, toasted (almonds, pecans, and walnuts all make nice choices)
1 egg + a splash of water beaten together

Makes about 10-12 servings

Preheat oven to 350 degree Farenheit.
Lay out the puff pastry or phyllo sheet and roll it to a thickness of 1/8 inch if needed. Trim the dough to square it off but save the leftover bits of dough. You can cut it into shapes to garnish the finished dish (for example, you might want to cut out holly shaped leaves if using this dish during the holiday season). Cut the Brie in half lengthwise (so that you have two thinner circles of Brie). Place one half on the pastry sheet, cut side up. Spread on the jam or sauce on the cheese and sprinkle on the nuts. Place the top half of the Brie back onto the bottom. Wrap the dough up and over the Brie, making little tucks as needed. Using a pastry brush, brush the egg wash all over the “Brie package”. This will make it turn a lovely golden brown and will help to hold the pastry together as it cooks. If desired, place cut designs from the leftover dough around the Brie package to decorate it and brush again with the egg wash to hold the designs in place. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until golden brown. It is quite tasty on various types of crackers or breads but my personal preference would be water crackers.
Note: To toast the nuts, place them in a dry frying pan over a medium-high heat. Cook them for about 5-8 minutes, stirring and tossing them frequently, until the nuts are a light golden colour. Make sure to remove them from the pan as soon as they are toasted or the heat from it will continue toasting them and they may burn. You can also toast nuts in the oven on a baking sheet at 350 degrees Farenheit, stirring several times to ensure even toasting.

Yummy baked ham image courtesy of http://free-stock-photos.com/

We tried this recipe for the first time this year.  It was a small, quiet nuclear family Christmas this year, meaning just my boyfriend, my daughter, and myself.  My boyfriend and daughter are both “well yeah we can have turkey…it’s ummmm, you know, ok” and with such a lack of enthusiasm and the prospect of being faced with huge amounts of leftover turkey going to waste (I LOVE turkey sandwiches but even I get sick of them after a while), I decided to go with something we all liked better – a baked ham. 

The only hesitation I had came from a memory of Christmases gone by.  When my daughter was younger and my dad was still with us (oh how I miss him), we would spend Christmas afternoon and evening at his house.  My dad was never a fan of turkey so my step-mom would make both a ham and turkey (with a house full of hungry mouths to feed it was a practical solution too; I am not sure that we could have fit a big enough turkey into the oven for all of us.  Oh how everyone raved over her baked ham, especially my daughter who informed me that Grandma’s ham is the best ham in the whole world and then promptly refused to eat ham again unless it was made by Grandma.  Sigh. 

I knew I needed a stellar recipe that was delicious enough to rival my step-mom’s.  I also knew that given my health limitations I needed something that was simple to prepare.  Where to go, what to do?  So, I took a little journey through the Internet for inspiration and found this wonderful recipe from Martha Stewart’s 2004 Holiday Guidebook.  It sounded scrumptious and looked very simple to prepare. 

I got the ham all ready for the oven and began the cooking of it but then my daughter (seeing how tired I was and that I was not feeling very well) took over and made the glaze.  Being the wonderful cook that she is (her specialty is baking), she played with and tweaked the recipe until it was just the way she wanted it to be.  I have never tasted a better ham – it was moist and delicious and tastes just as good cold as it does hot making it great for leftovers and an ideal choice for a buffet.  So, without further ado, here it is.  Cyn’s – or maybe I should call it Sam’s (my daughter’s name) Super Delicious and Super Easy to Make Glazed Christmas Ham with a nod of thanks to Martha.

1 smoked bone-in ham (ours was about 6 and 1/2 pounds)

The total cooking time for the size ham that we used was about 2 1/2 hours – when cooking anything but especially pork products it is so important to make sure that they are thoroughly cooked.  I went out and bought a new digital meat thermometer just to be sure.  If the Christmas of 1991 taught me nothing else, it was to be sure to cook ham thoroughly as the whole family ended up sick eating under-done ham at a friend’s house.  So please use a meat thermometer and make sure to cook the ham to an internal temperature of 160 degrees Farenheit.  Do not glaze the ham before it first goes in the oven.  Glazing should take place during the last hour of cooking and should be done about every 15 minutes.   Cooking temperatures for ham should be between 325 and 350 degrees F.  We cooked ours at 350 and it was perfect.  Be sure to cover the ham while cooking.

The glaze:

1/3 cup of apricot jam

2 1/2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

1/2 cup pure maple syrup (readily available from local producers here in Canada but if you are in a region where it’s difficult to find or cost prohibitive I have found that just regular old pancake syrup works as a substitute)

2 garlic cloves, minced

Melt the jam in a small pan over low to medium heat.  Once melted, pour into a bowl and stir in the remaining ingredients.  Glaze away!

Anyone with some good ideas for garnishes for this?

It has become a yearly tradition that I make this for my father’s birthday on December 20. I’ve tried my best to approximate, over the years, my grandmother Zona’s version. She was his mother, and the best damned cook ever.  

Make this. It is so ding-dang good. No, it’s not the healthiest fare I make, but it’s culture and tradition, and for special occasion. Yay, and whoo!! 

ALMOST ZONA’s ICE BOX FRUIT CAKE

2 boxes graham crackers
1 lb. mini marshmallows
1 stick butter
2 cans Eagle Brand sweetened condensed milk
1 bag sweetened coconut
1 lb. pecan halves & pieces, toasted
2 lbs. mixed candied fruit (green & red cherries, pineapple) (I used 1 lb red glaceed cherries & 1 lb dried cherries plumped in hot water)
1/2 lb candied pineapple
2 jars maraschino cherries w/ juice

Bust up graham crackers into crumbs– I squished them in wrapper packs, then used a potato masher; it is not necessary to pulvarize them into itty bitty crumbs. Put this in a giant bowl. Add all dry ingredients.

Over medium-low heat, melt marshmallows w/ stick of butter and cans of condensed milk.

Pour wet ingredients over dry. Mix. When it’s cool, use your hands. Press mixture into big buttered tupperware (or two) and refrigerate at least over night.  (I pressed into several small tin foil bread pans for gifts.)

Each time you wish to eat some, pull cake out of fridge and cut into hunks or pieces. It’s craaazy good, craaaazy dense.

Recipe subject to improvement.

black cake with frosting

black cake unfrosted

Title: BLACK CAKE

Yield: 24 servings

1 lb Raisins; minced
1 lb Prunes, pitted; minced
1/2 lb Currants, dried; minced
1/2 lb cranberries, dried; minced
1 lb Cherries, dried; minced
6 oz Lemon peel, glaceed; minced
6 oz Orange peel, glaceed; minced
(all the minced fruit can be ground in a food processor, so don’t torture yourself)
3/4 l Passover wine
3/4 l Rum, dark
2 lb Sugar, dark brown (this is important) OR 1 bottle burnt sugar syrup & 1 pound dark brown sugar
4 1/4 c Flour, cake
4 ts Baking powder
1 T Nutmeg, grated
1 T Cinnamon
2 tsp cloves
2 T ginger
2 c Butter, unsalted; softened
10 lg Egg
1 T Vanilla
1 1/2 c Almond paste; if desired (i never do this)
ICING (i never do this either)
2 lb Sugar, confectioners; sifted
6 lg Egg white; room temp
2 T Lemon juice
Dragees; for decoration

In a large bowl, mix all the fruits thoroughly with the wine and the rum; let the fruit macerate, covered, at room temperature for at least two weeks.

In a heavy skillet combine one pound of the brown sugar and 1 cup water. Bring to a boil over moderate heat, stirring until the sugar is dissolved, and gently boil the syrup, swirling the skillet occasionally, for a few minutes, or until it is reduced to 1 3/4 cups. Let the syrup cool; reserve.

Alternatively, find a bottle of burnt sugar syrup at an international food store and skip the whole previous paragraph.

Sift the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and nutmeg together into a bowl. In the large bowl of an electric mixer cream together the remaining 1lb brown sugar and the butter until it is fluffy; then beat in the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla, the flour mixture, and 1 1/3 cups of the burnt sugar syrup, reserving the remaining syrup for another use or use the whole bottle of burnt sugar syrup. In another large bowl, combine well the flour mixture and the fruit mixture and divide the batter between two buttered and floured 10″ springform pans plus a bread pan for leftover batter.  Do NOT overfill the springform pans–just make that third cake.  You can also divide into mini loaf pans for gift giving or regular bread pans.

Bake the cakes in the middle of a preheated 350 F. oven for two hours (really. 2 hrs. Don’t think this is a mistake), or until a toothpick inserted in the centers comes out with some crumbs adhering to it. (The centers of these cakes will be quite moist.) Let the cakes cool in the pans on a rack, remove the sides and bottoms of the pans, and wrap the cakes in foil or wax paper. Let the cakes stand at room temperature for a week.

now, here’s where i stop, because i don’t think the rest is necessary, too sweet for my tastes, and the cake is fantastic by itself.
Roll out half the almond paste between sheets of plastic wrap to form a 10″ round and remove the top sheet of plastic wrap. Fit the almond paste layer over one cake, trimming the edge if necessary, and remove the other sheet of plastic wrap. Roll out and fit the remaining almond paste onto the remaining cake in the same manner.

Icing: Using an electric mixer, beat 4 cups of the confectioners’ sugar with the egg whites and lemon juice until the mixture will hold a soft peak. Beat in the remaining sugar, and beat the icing until it will hold a stiff peak. Transfer two cups of the icing to a pastry bag fitted with a decorative tip, spread the remaining icing on the tops and sides of the cakes with a long metal spatula, and pipe the icing in the pastry bag decoratively onto the cakes. Arrange the dragees on the cakes. Makes two cakes or a bunch of small ones.

L. Gloyd (c) 2008

These recipes have been re-copied many times over the 32+ years I have been a vegetarian.  So much so that I have no idea where they might have originated or to what extent I have added my own changes to the original recipe.  

FRENCH FRY PIE

(Children and teenagers particularly love this, as do adults.

A good recipe for those starting to utilize vegetarian recipes for their family.)

1 unbaked pie crust                                                    ½ pound shredded cheddar cheese

1 9 oz package frozen French fries                              ¼ cup flour

¼ cup butter                                                               2 eggs or replacer

3 Tbs minced onion                                                    1/3 cup of milk

3 Tbs diced green pepper                                           ½ tsp salt or kelp

3 Tbs diced red pepper                                              ¼ tsp garlic powder

Cut French fries into ½ inch pieces while still somewhat frozen.  Melt butter in frying pan.  Add French fries, onion and peppers.  Cook until onions are tender.  In bowl, mix cheese and flour.  Place 1/3 of cheese mixture into bottom of pie shell.  Top with half of the potato mixture.  Then layer another 1/3 cheese mixture followed by rest of the potatoes.  Finish with remaining cheese mix.  Combine milk, egg replacer and kelp.  Pour over ingredients in pie shell.  Bake 15 minutes in preheated 425 degree oven, then reduce heat to 325 degrees for another 20 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean.  When reducing oven temperature, cover pie lightly with foil.

Wonderful with a salad and a green veggie, and followed by:  

SHOO-FLY CAKE

(This is even better the next day.  Make ahead for company then enjoy.)

4 cups flour (any combination of unbleached and whole wheat flours)

2 cups brown sugar                                        1 cup butter

¼ cup blackstrap molasses                             ¾ cup light molasses

2 tsp baking soda

Mix flour, brown sugar and butter until crumbly.  Set aside 1 ¼ cups for topping.  Mix both types of molasses in with 2 cups of boiling water.  Then add baking soda, which will create fizzing.  Add to large amount of crumb mixture and stir gently, just until mixed.  Pour into 9 by 13 ungreased pan.  Gently sprinkle remaining crumbs over top.  Bake 45 minutes in preheated 350 degree oven or until knife inserted in center comes out clean.

Ingredients

1 oz (2 tablespoons) bourbon
1 tablespoon mild honey
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup boiling-hot water

Preparation

Put bourbon, honey, and lemon juice in a 6-ounce mug. Top off with hot water and stir until honey is dissolved.

Brandy or Scotch also work well in a toddy, but the vanilla sweetness of good bourbon is the best.

____________________________________

Hot Buttered Rum

Ingredients

2 or 3 ounces dark rum
Twist lemon peel
Stick cinnamon
2 cloves
Sweet cider or water
1 tablespoon sweet butter
Nutmeg

Preparation

Put the rum, lemon peel, cinnamon and cloves in a pewter tankard or any heavy 12-ounce mug that has been rinsed in very hot water to warm it. Heat the cider or water to the boiling point and pour into the spiced rum. Add the pat of butter and stir well. Grate a little nutmeg on top. A cube of sugar may be added as well.

Some tips from my own experience making this cake here, including how to make table sugar into caster sugar.

Jaffa Cake
By Suzanne Gibbs

Serving size: Serves 10 or more
Cooking time: More than 1 hour

INGREDIENTS
6 eggs, separated
1½ cups (330g) caster sugar (look for superfine sugar in the states, or grind up table sugar in a food processor for a few minutes to get a finer sugar (mind the sugar dust!))
1½ cups (225g) plain flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
185g (6.5 oz) butter, melted, cooled
grated rind and juice of 1 orange

Syrup
¾ cup (180ml) orange juice
2 tablespoons rum or brandy (optional)
2 tablespoons caster sugar

Chocolate topping
200g (7 oz.) dark chocolate, chopped
1 tablespoon strong black coffee
¼ cup (60g) sour cream

METHOD
Preheat oven to 180°C (350° F) or 160°C fan. Lightly grease and line base of a 23cm springform pan.

Using an electric beater, beat egg yolks and sugar until pale and thick. Sift flour with baking powder and fold into egg mixture along with melted butter and orange rind and juice. Using an electric beater or whisk, beat egg whites until soft peaks form. Fold into cake mixture.

Spoon mixture into prepared pan and bake for 50 minutes. Cool for 2 minutes then transfer to a wire rack and cool for 5 minutes, until cool enough to handle but still warm. Wash and dry cake pan.

Meanwhile, make syrup by combining orange juice, rum or brandy and sugar in a jug. Stir briskly to dissolve sugar. Return cake to clean pan. Spoon syrup over warm cake and set aside to cool completely. Transfer to a serving plate.

Make chocolate topping by placing chocolate and coffee in a heatproof bowl. Place over a pan of simmering water on low heat. Stir continuously until chocolate melts. Remove from heat and whisk in sour cream, until smooth and glossy. Cool for 5 minutes before spreading over cake.

Tip: this cake may be made a day ahead and stored in the refrigerator. Once the cake is iced, it’s best not to refrigerate it as the icing may deteriorate.

Meyer Lemon Posset

1 cup heavy cream
One-third cup superfine sugar
One-fourth cup Meyer lemon juice (These are tiny sweet lemons, that are green when ripe and used to make Key Lime pie. They aren’t limes.)

Heat cream and sugar until it simmers. Stir till dissolved. Do not let it burn.
Take off stove and cool. Stir occasionally. This will take about 20 minutes.
Add one-fourth cup Meyer lemon juice.
Stir thoroughly, blending well.
Pour into two dishes (or glasses).
Chill for at least four hours, overnight is better.

The flavor is wonderful, and the texture is mousse-like, but not as airy.
(Not a diet food.)