The After Easter Ham Bone Proves Its Worth

This year for Easter dinner, we  bought a smoked pork picnic shoulder with a bone.  I made   a glaze of currant jelly, coarse mustard and brown sugar, and a chutney of rhubarb, dried cranberries, vinegar and spices.  Incredibly good. 
Ham, Glaze and Chutney recipes

The only changes I made was parsley instead of watercress, which I couldn't find, and I substituted craisins for currants in the chutney because I was out of currants.  We loved the chutney.  We had a 7 pound ham, as we were only four people .


Rhubarb, by the way,  can be hard to find in some supermarkets.  The clerks don't know what it is and even the people in the PRODUCE department may be unfamiliar with it.  Chances are your grandparents grew it if they had a garden..

The reason I got a ham with a bone (besides flavor) was that a ham bone with bits of meat is a wonderful flavor enhancer for bean, pea or lentil soup.  I made bean soup, using the ancient Better Homes and Garden recipe from an old cookbook I found at the book drop at the recycling center.  It was straight forward and I added fresh thyme instead of dried, and added a few tablespoons of chopped parsley.  Did not add potatoes.  Aren't beans starchy enough?  Used some leftover chicken broth and the rest water.  Cooked the beans (after soaking) with the ham and thyme, as well as a bay leaf, then added onion, garlic, carrot and celery and cooked for half an hour until the beans were done. I browned 2 strips of thick cut bacon and added it to the soup for extra flavor.   Add parsley before serving.  I could have added the ham skin when I first cooked the beans if I hadn't already ditched it.  I'm sure it adds a lot of flavor and never knew about this possibility because so few hams actually have the skin anymore.  Another virtue of the old fashioned ham.  Naturally we had ham sandwiches and ham and eggs before the soup

I was out of Bisquick, so I made biscuits from scratch, using buttermilk.  Yesterday to serve with the soup on the 2nd day (it was even better), I bought a package of "baby grands" biscuits at the supermarket.  Yikes!  Those suckers are pricey.  We decided we actually like the Bisquick biscuits best.  Maybe I'm just used to them. 

The soup tastes better on the second day.  Made salad out of the leftover asparagus and green beans and even garnished it with a leftover hard boiled egg.  You can never eat too many veggies.  The leftover chutney tasted wonderful on cottage cheese. 

The ham extended Easter another few days and gave good value.  I got 14 servings out of a $9.00 ham or 64 cents for a serving of quality protein.  Not bad. 

The Cheeseparer

Chicken Soup From a Nail

Not chicken soup for the soul, but rather a belly-warming nourishing soup for practically nothing.

I started with the reduced broth I used to cook some chicken breasts that had both bone and skin, so there was some substance to it. I always cook chicken breasts or pieces with aromatic vegetables for more resonance. I had a small piece of pork tenderloin that I chopped up and added to the chicken.

Apropos the chicken, I always have a cup or so of white meat "scraps" in the freezer. Bits and pieces not used in another dish. Could be trimmings or just extra.

O.K. Chop up something from the onion family. I used three scallions, but anything will do as well. I chopped up some carrot, celery, and one clove of garlic and set them to cook in a mixture of butter/olive oil.

I added some peas that that been defrosted and a few chopped grape tomatos. Then I added the broth and some thyme, marjoram, a pinch of rosemary and some dehydrated chives. A goodly sprinkle of sweet paprika. Salt and lots of pepper. Add chicken and cook until the veggies are tender.

In a separate pot, cook 1/3 cup of rice in some water. When the rice is done, add to the soup and cook a few more minutes. Correct seasonings and serve.

I made some biscuits from low-fat Bisquick and 2% milk. They were delicious, especially with softened whipped butter. Yum!

The taste is good and believe it or not, it sticks to the ribs. I made the soup from stuff on hand, bits and pieces. It was like free food.

We ate the leftover biscuits for breakfast with butter and honey. I love Bisquick. They have a recipe for "onion cheese supper bread" that is the best. Google it.

Regards from the Cheeseparer