Easter for a small group--going Whole Hog

If you have a small crowd, well, hardly even a crowd, but 4-6 people eating Easter dinner at your house, you may not want to deal with a whole ham, or even half a ham.
What is the definition of eternity?  Two people and a ham.  My mother, who loved ham, did not think that funny.

When the group for Easter dinner is small at chez Grapeshot, we eat Smoked Pork Butt and Spinach Gratin.   Serves 4-6.  Recipe is so old (from the New York Times of yore), that it's not even on the Internet.  Fancy that.  I have to freakin' key it into ye olde blog.  The New York Times had dynamite recipes when Craig Claiborne was food editor.  Nowadays,  I   really pick and choose, but the  upside down rhubarb cake was to die for.                   

 Smoked Pork Butt  and Spinach Gratin

1 1/2 pound smoked pork butt, soaked in warm water for 15 minutes and the netting removed.

For the spinach mixture
1 onion, minced
2 10 oz. pkgs frozen leaf spinach, cooked, drained squeezed dry and chopped.  I start off with the chopped.
1 cup (or less) heavy cream

1/2 cup dry white wine combined with 2 T. minced fresh parsley leaves
1/4 fine fresh bread crumbs
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan
melted unsalted butter to taste

In a large saucepan, cover the pork but with cold water, bring to a boil and simmer for  1 hour and 30 minutes.
Drain the pork, let it stand for 15 minutes and cut it into 1/2-inch slices.  Save the ends for ham and eggs later in the week.
Make the spinach mixture:  In a skillet, cook the onion in the butter over moderate heat, stirring, until it is softened. 
 Add spinach, tarragon, salt and pepper, and cook the mixture, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes or until the mixture is thick. Add salt and pepper.   Spoon the spinach mixture into a buttered 2-quart gratin dish or shallow casserole.
Arrange the pork slices over the spinach mixture, bush them with the mustard mixture and sprinkle them with the       bread crumbs and the Parmesan,   Drizzle  the butter over the dish and bake the gratin in a preheated 350 degree oven   for 35-40 minutes or until the top is golden.  Serves 4 - 6.

This recipe is made with inexpensive ingredients and tastes delicious, even a little French. 

If you absolutely cannot resist a  large ham, you can make the following week seem less like eternity with  a ham, broccoli and potato casserole, (see Cooks.com)   or a broccoli and ham gratin. (Food.com).  There's always ham and eggs and various delicious ham sandwiches, like a Croque Monsieur. (Simply Recipes)   Chipped ham on toast?  Well, maybe that's going too far.

Cheap Chinese

What do you do with one pork chop?   This was my quandry.  It was a meaty boneless chop, and I decided to make an Asian dish.  Didn't get around to cooking the rice until late, but I did fry up two  pieces of bacon and scramble an egg.  I had a few chicken scraps that I had leftover from a rotisserie chicken, what our supermarket calls Five Buck Cluck, because on Thursday, it's reduced to $5.00.  
We had some mushrooms, celery, various kinds of onions, and I bought some green beans for 99 cents a pound, the remainder of which will be used tomorrow.  Cooked up the rice and started sauteing.    And slicing and chopping.  Started to smell really good.  Added some sesame oil.  Parboiled the beans, yada, yada.  Made a nice salad of romaine and oranges.   Concocted some broth from the pork chop frying and the bottom of the chicken container.  Thickened with a bit of cornstarch.  Added a dash of Chinese hot pepper sauce and some soy.  Final touch was the bacon, egg and a few sliced almonds.  Yum!  Enough left for lunch. 


I saved a few mushrooms to put into the Swiss steak tomorrow.   We do eat well, but I am finding it difficult to buy a week's groceries for under $100.00.  We are all stocked up on frozen items now, and have some meat in the freezer.  Plenty of pasta and canned soups.   Company coming for a week the first of the month, so some extras have been purchased.  Still . . 


Round steak on sale for $3.39  per pound.  I  pound it, flour it, and saute it in some canola oil.  Add an onion, the mushrooms (remember the mushrooms), an 8 oz. can of tomato sauce, some dried marjoram, and plenty of salt and pepper.  We'll have asparagus, green beans, mashed potatoes and a salad.  Good deal on romaine today.  My sales slip said I saved $35.00.  Not too bad.  


It's a struggle, isn't it?  I spend a lot of time looking at the specials and planning menus.  Of course it pays off in the long run, but the effort isn't fun.   We splurged on fresh rhubarb.  I'm taking an upside down rhubarb cake to a party on Saturday, and we'll have some rhubarb cooked with strawberries, raspberries and cranberries.  


In Europe in the summer, esp. in Germany and Austria, there's a red fruit dessert called "rote gruetze" or red groats.  Very healthy and nutricous.  We never find red currants here, but we concoct our own take on the dessert and it's invariably delicious.  


I worked in the garden today.  Almost 80 degrees and a beautiful day.     The beds are ready for planting, and I'm doing just that tomorrow:  mesclun lettuces, spinach and dill.  The lilac that took a direct hit from a big oak during Hurricane Irene is looking pretty good.  My wild ginger is spreading and the heath has bloomed all winter, a first.  Crocus blooming and daffodils ready.  Forsythia coming soon.  I never remember a spring this early.  Somebody steals the suet out of the bird feeder every night.  Ants in the house.  Spring!  




The Cheeseparer


The orange cat constantly escapes but is pretty good about coming home soon. 

First Grilling of the Season

The Boston area and all New England has experienced a mild winter and an early spring.  Tonight we are grilling some chicken breasts--a BOGO (buy one get one).  I'm grinding up some dried chili peppers and various seeds--cumin, corinander and kummel (can't think of the English word, only the German) along with garlic, olive oil, and kosher salt. 


I have a parsnip, 1/2 turnip, carrots and boxed mashed potatoes which I will make into a root vegetable puree.  Cherry tomatoes gratinee (on sale, natch) will round out the vegetable selections.   You can never eat too many veggies.  Serve two or three every night.  You won't eat as much meat.  Shop the sales, naturally, and buy something that can be spread over several meals or used as "ingredients."  


After this we're having a soup of red lentils.  Lentils are nutritious and reasonable and although most recipes are vegetarian, yours does not have to be.  A bit of chicken sausage, bacon or kielbasa is all it takes.  Think "meat as flavoring."   


With shrimp on sale I made a fab shrimp bisque with rice as a thickener.  Not bad calorie-wise and tasty with white wine, brandy, and part of a fennel bulb.  Also leeks.  I used my immersion blender to make a nice puree.  Think about this when shrimp are on sale.  Complex flavors and a nutrition for less than fast food prices.