A Practice Ham Makes Perfect

Jared and I hosted my family for Easter this year.  The "big" holidays have become an excuse for Jared to engage in what could be described as "cooking benders."  He spends days (and nights) in the kitchen carefully planning and testing recipes.  I was elated when he started talking about the ham(s) he planned on making for the festive occasion.  Oh, and have I mentioned that I totally luuu-uve ham?  And come on, what's better than ham on Easter? 

After researching some recipes, Jared visited a local restaurant supply store for two Cambro containers: one 8 qt. and one 12 qt.  One of the recipes he chose directed him to place the ham in a 12 qt. container and fill it with three 2-liters of Coca-Cola Classic, some fresh garlic, a few bay leaves, salt and pepper.  The ham brined in the refrigerator overnight.  Ham bathed in Coke.  Ahhhhhhhh.  Next, Jared rubbed the ham with a mixture of fresh herbs and garlic.

Then he roasted the ham in a 350 degree oven, stopping every 45 minutes to generously glaze with a maple-orange marmalade.  I know, right?!?!??!

This first ham I'm describing was only one of three hams that Jared labored over that holiday weekend.  He prepared a "practice ham" to ensure he wouldn't let our guests down.  Needless to say, the ham(s) were RE-dic-ulous.  His own worst critic, Jared wasn't entirely pleased with the way they turned out.  I on the other hand, along with everyone else that had the distinct pleasure of savoring the moist, flavorful, food-coma inducing hams, thought they were some of the best I've ever eaten.  I realize I'm a bit biased, but really, how could a ham that was brined in Coca-Cola turn out bad?

Two hams, two glazes: Maple Orange Marmalade & Apple Cider Brown Sugar

Of course he couldn't stop with ham.  Much to my delight, he also made homemade dinner rolls.  They were SO good.

Jared's ham and dinner rolls may have taken "center stage,"  but there were a lot of other dishes that certainly deserve an "honorable mention."

My Auntie's "Heavenly Hash"
(a special request from her favorite niece)

Back left: Berg's Baked Beans; Front left: Mom's Deviled Eggs (with accidental red food coloring);
Front right: My Uncle's Sweet Potato Casserole - YUM!!

 

I made a family recipe - Macaroni Salad (simple but addicting!)

We had a great Easter!  The weather was perfect and the food was fabulous.  What more could you ask for?

Breakfast of Champions

Pecan Rum French Toast (Cooks Illustrated)

Last weekend when his friend came for a visit, Jared prepared a totally delicious breakfast.  I looooooove breakfast... but c'mon, who doesn't?

Glier's Goetta - YUM!

One of the coolest things about the breakfast?  Jared remembered the Goetta.  He picked some up at the store completely unprompted.  He's really becoming a Northern KY guy. 

 

The French Toast is made with Cinnamon Swirl bread!

 

Scrambled eggs with Scallions and Cream Cheese (Jared's signature recipe)

Cinnamon Rolls

For some reason, when everyone around me starts getting sick, I'm never better. But apparently my immune system likes to take a little vacation every time there's a change of season. A few days ago, Spring arrived, and predictably, I'm down for the count. Usually, a hot shower gives me just enough of a charge to propel me to my desk at work. Not today. When I woke at 5 am wide-eyed and hungover from knock-out cold medicine, I knew it wasn't going to happen for me.

I feel no shame in the fact that the next thought to cross my mind, as I was laying in bed staring at the ceiling, was how I was going to use the day to make cinnamon rolls. Maybe not the typical thought process of a young male planning his day away from the corporate world, but for this guy, assuming I could shake the medicine induced hangover, the opportunity was ripe for the picking. This has been a priority of mine for months, but it was never high enough on the list that I was willing to allocate an entire Saturday or Sunday; Too much to get done on those days. And it's not an overly challenging recipe, it's just one of those yeast bread recipes where you need 1-2 hours between steps. In the end, your always glad you did it, but since you have to plan your schedule around it it can be a pain in the ass. Normally, like most folks, I don't have the luxury to do that, but this was something that I needed to try, and now was the perfect time to do it. Everyone loves a good cinnamon roll, so if this went well, I would definitely be revisiting. I need a showstopper breakfast/brunch recipe that I can turn to if we're hosting people. People we want to come back that is. There are a bunch of quick breads, muffins, and other stuff like that I knew would could whip up in half the time. I needed to determine if the effort was justified by the final product.

It was.

Not that I expected less, but if the last step of the recipe - "Serve immediately" - was removed from the text and all you were allowed to do was sit there, look at, and smell them, I would still revisit this recipe - over an over again. If you're invited over for a long weekend and we like you, this is what you'll be waking up to.