Honey of a Ham

Easter is a fun holiday. It doesn't come with all the pressure of the "Big Three" (Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's Eve) but it still has a high degree of festivity, with the giving of small gifts, plenty of candy, and even a giant magical bunny that breaks into your house and hides all your eggs. Now that I think about it, that last example is actually kinda creepy and I wonder how much alcohol was consumed before someone came up with THAT idea. I digress....

I have some very fond memories of Easter. When I was little we had the "real" Easter bunny come to visit me at my aunt's house to deliver balloons and candy. One year my mom actually secured a paw print from Mr. Bunny himself to prove he was real when I started asking too many questions. And to this very day my grandmother gives me and all my cousins a plastic egg with our names taped to it written in her cursive on notebook paper, with cash inside. We have to give the eggs back at the end of the day because she reuses them every year, which I get such a kick out of; she is a like a drill sergeant making sure she gets her empty eggs back so she can store them away for the following Easter and repeat the tradition.

This year, for the second year in a row, we got a local ham from Tendercrop Farm in Newbury. We actually got two hams, the second one from Trader Joe's, because A) we had a big crowd B) my family likes to eat and C) everyone likes leftover ham. We ate the Tendercrop ham for Easter Brunch and the Trader Joe's ham was used for leftovers and soup. Now, Trader Joe's generally has some good products, but the TJ's ham couldn't touch the Tendercrop ham in flavor and texture. It was actually quite bad in comparison, but I don't know if it was really a bad ham, or just bad next to the Tendercrop ham. The Tendercrop ham was OUTSTANDING and got rave reviews even among my guests that usually don't touch the stuff. I used the following glaze recipe from Gourmet's April 2009 issue (still mourning the death of Gourmet and go through the old issues frequently in memoriam). I forgot to take a picture of the ham (MUST get better about that) so the hammy photo is also courtesy of them. This glaze is delish - not too sweet, not too overpowering, and compliments the smokey, hammy (my new word) flavor quite well. Even if you can't get to Tendercrop for your next ham, throw the red foil package of sugary glaze away and try this one.

3 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons chopped thyme
1 (12-to 14-pounds) boneless or semiboneless fully cooked ham at room temperature 1 hour
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1/2 cup mild honey
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

Melt butter with thyme and let stand until ready to use.
Preheat oven to 350°F with rack in lower third.
Peel off and discard any rind or skin from ham, leaving 1/4 inch of fat on ham. Score fat on top of ham in a crosshatch pattern without cutting into meat. Put ham on a rack in a large roasting pan. Cover ham with parchment paper, then cover roasting pan with foil. Bake 1 3/4 hours.
Meanwhile, boil vinegar in a small saucepan until reduced to about 1 tablespoon. Remove from heat and whisk in honey, Worcestershire sauce, and thyme butter. Let honey glaze stand until ham has baked 1 3/4 hours.
Discard foil and parchment from ham. If there is no liquid in roasting pan, add 1 cup water (liquid will prevent glaze from burning in pan). Brush ham with half of honey glaze, then bake, uncovered, 30 minutes.
Brush with remaining glaze and bake until glaze is deep golden-brown and ham is heated through, about 30 minutes more.

Fun With Quinoa

Quinoa is my latest obsession. Not only is it very nutritious, but it is so easy to make and it keeps well. Lately I have been making a big batch of quinoa on Sunday, then adding different mix-ins each day during the week for lunch. Quinoa is so versatile that I haven't found a combination yet that didn't work. Here are some of my favorites:

• Diced red bell pepper, diced onion, diced pitted kalamata olives, fat free feta cheese crumbles, olive oil, salt and pepper


• Leftover roasted mushrooms, roasted red peppers, and roasted red onions from dinner the night before


• Leftover roasted chicken with baby spinach and shaved shallots


• A can of drained and rinsed organic black beans, corn kernels, diced red onion and diced jalapeno


• Halved grape tomatoes, mozzarella and basil


• Grilled boneless skinless chicken breast with Cajun rub, can of drained organic kidney beans, diced yellow onion


• Cooked green beans and boiled fingerling potatoes from dinner the night before with some water-packed tuna, olive oil, white wine vinegar, salt and pepper


• A can of organic lentils with diced red bell peppers and dice yellow onion

So easy and quick for hectic workdays - I love the time savings of cooking up a big batch all at once, and the fact that it tastes great mixed with just about anything you have laying around in the fridge or pantry.

Time to Sign up for CSA!

Spring seems to have sprung a little early this year. Perhaps the wonderful weather we enjoyed during the past week is Mother Nature's way of making amends for the unending rain she's been unleashing on us lately. If so, I'd like to give her a high-five for giving us a short reprieve from the torrential downpours (who knew New England had a Monsoon season?). With spring either sort of upon us, or at least just around the corner, it's time to sign up for your local Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program.

For a reminder on how CSA programs generally work, see this previous post: http://christinenurnberger.blogspot.com/2009/06/community-supported-agriculture-csa.html

Last year we participated in the CSA program at Arrowhead Farms in Newburyport and couldn't have been more pleased. Each week (pick up was available Fri, Sat, Sun, and Mon) I'd head down the street to the farm and there would be a bulletin board posting all the veggies you could select for the week's share. The produce was amazing, and the amount of veggies we got was generally too much for two people to eat, so our friends and family got part of the take as we gave away tomatoes, ears of corn, squash, greens etc. I think just about everyone who knows me got a squash last fall.

In addition to picking up the food, I picked up an education as well. The farmer, Dick Chase - super nice guy, was almost always there to tell me about the week's adventures in getting the food from the dirt to my tote bag, what was growing well/what wasn't and why, and to offer suggestions for how to prepare some of the more unique veggies that I hadn't cooked with before (kholrabi anyone?). He's also share the heritage of heirloom vegetables and fruits, local, and farm history. Going to the farm, spending time picking out my veggies and planning meals around them actually became one of the highlights of my week. Please save the comments on how that reflects on what an exciting life I lead ;-) The cost was $575 for a full share, which was way too much food for us, so we'll be signing up for a half share at $350 this year. Unless you are 100% vegetarian, you'll likely have more than enough veggies for the week.

Many of you have voiced interest in CSA programs but haven't been able to find them in your area. This website enables you to put in your zip code and locates farms with CSA programs nearby: http://www.localharvest.org/

For those of you in the Woburn vicinity, check out this one:

http://busafarm.com/BusaFarmCSA/

If you have any questions let me know!

"One The Road Again"...but hoping to be "Home For the Holidays" Soon!

I have been a delinquent blogger. I really do enjoy blogging and had a great time blogging-away this spring and summer, but towards the end of the summer my life took an interesting turn. My normally crazy job leapt from crazy to certifiably insane and I embarked on 3 back to back months of insane travel. Since September, I have slept in my own bed around 6 nights or so. Where in the world has the Nurns been? Well, all over the world basically:

Hong Kong - Week 1
Thailand - Weekend
Singapore - Week 2
Atlanta - Week 3
Munich - Week 4
Spain (paradise) - Weekend
Paris/Amsterdam (without luggage) Week 5
Shanghai (also without luggage) Week 6
Orlando Week 7
Atlanta Week 8
Munich again Week 9....and next week I will be in Munich Mon/Tues, but then possibly Paris the rest of the week. Still up in the air.
And for next week I will be in Munich

I obviously haven't been doing much cooking lately, and I know I owe you guys a few recipes before Thanksgiving so I will definitely get those posted. But in the meantime, I thought I'd share a couple articles from another blog that I came across that pretty much sum up my life recently.

Last week I found out that all this travel has qualified me for United Airline's 1K club. This means that I have officially sacrificed family, friends and a normal life for living on planes and in hotels enough to warrant some recognition from my new family at United. I have flown roughly 90,000 miles this year and a United promotion is going to kick me over the 100,000 mark. I wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry at this news, and then I came across the article below that summed it up quite nicely. The articles are from http://blogspot.mutedonkey.com/category/travel/

The 1K Letter (frequent flyer’s delight)

October 29th, 2007 by Bob

I achieved a milestone on my latest trip to SE Asia, I became a 1K member in my “preferred carrier’s” frequent flyer program. Even if they send the obligatory “Congratulations!” letter, I won’t get to read it for the next couple weeks because this is a long trip. But that doesn’t stop me from imagining what the letter might say. I think it will probably be something like this:

Dear Mr. Bob,

Congratulations on becoming a 1K member in our frequent flyer program! First, lets us say that we apologize for the name. We realize that 1K really means “1,000” and not “100,000.” This is a marketing ploy to make this status level seem more achievable.

Second, let us state for the record that you must be a hearty soul. If you are reading this letter (and not your executor), you have avoided an ever increasing host of airborne pathogens that we keep in our planes, ranging from the common cold to such exotics as SARS and Tuberculosis. Yes, we have a policy that states we will not let you fly while you are sick, but we don’t ever enforce it. That would eat into already waning profits, would make use enormously unpopular, and would really mess up our scheduling programs.

Finally, let us be the first to offer our condolences on the status of your relationships with family and friends. On a positive note, just think of all the chatty relationships you have developed with your seatmates during those 16 hour international flights. For 16 hours, you can be anyone you want to be because you will never see your seatmate(s) again!Some privileges you will enjoy with your new status:

You will get to board future flights with only 25% of your fellow passengers. No more waiting in line with the other 75% of the travelers who, apparently, are all part of our other frequent flyer programs. **NOTE: We are currently investigating the phenomenon of 100% of the passengers claiming to be a frequent flyer and the fact that 25% of the passengers always claim to be in First Class.

You will receive two bags of peanuts during domestic flights (please show your membership card when requesting the second bag).

We will send you even more unsolicited credit card applications in the mail and we will kindly submit your name to our growing list of partners. Now, even your family pets are eligible to receive a credit card (and 20,000 frequent flyer miles!). The double-upside: When you get home from your travels, you will have plenty to read.

You will receive more spam in your email from us and our partners, but we will make it look like something you better read or risk loosing your status. We will also send you lots of emails to allow you to claim your “rewards.” After flying 100,000 miles, you deserve a magazine subscription!

Some privileges you won’t enjoy with your new status:
Courteous treatment on domestic flights, or return flights to the USA for international travel.
Courteous treatment at international security checkpoints by TSA agents (i.e. LAX). We have no control over them.
Departing on time.
Arriving on time.

Again, congratulations! We look forward to delaying you sometime in the very near future.

The Airline

I can hardly wait…

And then there was the follow up.....apparently being 1K officially gets you....well, nothing.

The 1K Letter - An Update

November 8th, 2007 by Bob

As I stated in a previous post, I have achieved the glorious distinction of being a 1K Frequent Flyer. I am currently sitting in the Narita, Japan Star Alliance lounge and wanted to give you an update of the differences between flying as a non-1K member and a 1K member. There is almost no difference. I am still in the back of the bus, the flight time from Singapore to Japan is still 6 hours, and the time remaining to home is still 16 hours away. I have decided to start taking pictures of the folks on the plane that probably should not be flying, with my cell phone. Unfortunately, my cell phone doesn’t work in Japan, so that will have to wait until I am back in the States.There was once improvement, I did not wait in any lines before getting onto the plane (OK, there were lines, but they were very short). But I have to say, that time saved (maybe 15 minutes) compared to the 23 hours it is going to take home, is like “a fart against thunder” to use a phrase of the day.

Community Supported Agriculture - CSA

Community Supported Agriculture (or CSA) is my latest obsession. While CSA programs will vary, the basic premise is the same. You pay up front for a "share" in the farm for the season. You share the rewards, and the risks, of farming for the season. In exchange for your financial support, you get your portion of the harvest delivered weekly. The produce varies based on what is available for harvest each week. Some of the pros and cons:

Pros:

• Super-fresh, locally grown produce all spring, summer, and fall, delivered to your home each week.
• Since the produce varies by farm and season, you are likely to get new fruits and vegetables that you wouldn't ordinarily purchase, encouraging you to branch out.
• You can feel very good about supporting your local farming community.

Cons:

• You assume all the cost of your produce up-front.
• You assume the risks of farming, along with the rewards. If there is a flood or a drought, or a certain crop has problems that season, you are out of luck along with everyone else tied to the farm.

I have to do more research, but it appears to be a solid value for the investment. Here are a couple local farms I am looking at. I might be too late for the 2009 season registration but I will definitely be looking into this next year!

http://www.arrowheadfamilyfarm.com/shares.html

http://heronpondfarm.com/content/398

http://heronpondfarm.com/content/1426

Perfectly Julienned Basil

One of the things I constantly work on in the kitchen is perfectly my knife skills. Knowing how to properly chop, dice, mince, etc. can make or break you in the kitchen. I found this tip for perfectly julienned basil extremely helpful:

1. Stack clean basil leaves on top of one another.

2. Form a tight roll.

3. Slice the roll into thin strips.

Perfectly julienned basil every time! Looks elegant scattered over just about anything!

New Farmers Market in Newburyport!

While heading to Joppa (a gourmet food, cheese, and wine shop in Newburyport http://www.joppafinefoods.com/) to pick up some fresh feta for a salad I am making tonight, I came across an AMAZING discovery - the new farmers market in Newburyport!!! I am so excited! Today was the opening day and it is scheduled to be held every Sunday now through October!!! The market is a mix of local farms selling the most delectable looking produce, local artisans, and gourmet foods. The highlights for me were:

• Didi Davis Foods - Gourmet finishing salts and sugars, like salt blended with Aleppo pepper, lemongrass, sage, etc. And the name is cute too (Davis)!
  
• Copper Moon Studio - Handmade pottery - beautiful, creative pieces featuring natural themes like seashells and different leaf patterns. I didn't purchase anything today but I plan to next time! I wish she had a website so you could check out her work!
  
• Kellie Brook Farms - Free range beef, pork and veal. Their beef will be the star of dinner this evening so I will report back on that later.


• Produce, produce, produce - Lots of different farms selling all kinds of locally grown early season crops, like strawberries, ramps (kind of like a scallion but more garlicky in flavor and very hard to find) spring onions, and more!

Here is the link to the Newburyport Farmer's Market website http://www.thenewburyportfarmersmarket.org/ and to a recent article on the launch of the market http://www.newburyportnews.com/pulife/local_story_162232604.html.

Now you know exactly where to find me on Sunday mornings now through October!!!

The Art of Simplicity

While in Atlanta on a business trip this week I had the pleasure of dining at Kyma, a Greek restaurant in the Buckhead area. My meal there really got me thinking about straight-forward, simple cooking, and how the best meals (in my opinion) rely more on super-fresh, high-quality ingredients prepared simply vs. fussy, over-complicated recipes. The meal was so simple it could easily be recreated at home, yet it was entirely elegant. To start I had warmed pita bread with a spread that was made from roasted red peppers, roasted garlic, feta cheese and olive oil pureed in a food processor. My main course was a wonderful whole roasted loup de mer (white fish, basically the Greek equivalent of a Chilean sea bass or branzino). The fish was roasted in the oven, then topped with a simple drizzle of olive oil, some chopped herbs (tarragon and parsley), a few capers, and some lemon juice. The fish was served with greens sauteed in olive oil with garlic. I rarely order dessert, but at Kyma they serve each guest a small dessert serving free so everyone leaves the restaurant on a sweet note. It was spectacular - and yet, how simple is this??? High-quality Greek yogurt nestled in honey and topped with a candied pecan! Delish! I've already begun thinking about how I can recreate this meal at home!

Frittata Pan - Williams Sonoma

For years I have struggled with making the perfect frittatas and Spanish tortillas. Somehow no matter how many different techniques I tried (inverting the frittata on to a plate and sliding it back into the pan, broiling, baking, etc.) I could never mimic the pale yellow, golden crusted works of art in the cooking magazine. Mine wound up looking more like Picasso's interpretation of a frittata....tasty, but certainly not going to grace a magazine cover anytime soon. Then I had a life changing experience...I finally broke down and purchased this nifty frittata pan from Williams Sonoma. WOW. The pan is actually two non-stick Calphalon pans that interlock (bonus! use them seperately too!). You start the frittata one of the pans, then after it is mostly set you interlock the other pan to the bottom pan, flip them both quickly, and continue cooking the other side of the frittata. Magical! I am now turning out the most beautiful frittatas I've ever seen - truly magazine-cover worthy. And, oh yeah, they taste pretty darn good too.

http://www.williams-sonoma.com/srch/index.cfm?words=frittata+pan

Cook Once - Three Meals!

After Sunday night's large platter of roasted veggies I had a bunch of leftovers - roasted mushrooms, asparagus, red peppers, red onions and sweet potatoes. I hate wasting food, but I am not very good with leftovers. Yesterday I had a breakthrough and actually used ALL the leftover veggies! For breakfast, I made an omelet with the mushrooms, asparagus, 1 whole egg and two egg whites. For lunch, I picked butter lettuce from my lettuce plants (will go into the garden soon but are growing quite well in pots at the moment), and topped it with the sliced roasted red peppers, red onions, chopped tomato, and tuna. I made a simple vinaigrette of olive oil, champagne vinegar and Dijon mustard for a healthy and filling lunch. Those leftover sweet potatoes? Davis loves them! I gave him a couple as a treat last night and will mix the rest in with his dry food tonight for dinner. I bet leftover roasted veggies would also be great tossed into pasta salad. I will be trying that next time!

Eating Locally

No, I am not referring to eating out at restaurants close to your home (although we do a fair bit of that too), I am referring to canvasing your area for local farm stands and making an effort to purchase and eat food that is grown locally. True, it is not quite as easy as popping into your local Shaws and making one stop for all your grocery needs, but there are so many other benefits:

1. Locally grown produce tastes amazing. Take a farm stand tomato and bite into it, then bite into a tomato from Shaws - no contest. Because the farm-fresh produce tastes so much better, you have to do so little to it when cooking, which means you need less fat and complexity to add flavor.

2. It is "greener." There is an enormous carbon foot-print associated with shipping food across America. Next time you are at your local Shaws, make a point to check out where your food is coming from. Also, typically local farms are small, therefore they are dumping less pesticide and waste back into the environment than someone like Perdue.

3. We are what we eat. If we purchase steaks and chicken that have been pumped full of hormones and antibiotics, it makes sense to me that this eventually winds up in our systems. There is researched linked to the onset of puberty starting earlier and earlier because of all the hormones kids ingest today in their dairy products. How the animals are raised also makes a difference in the overall outcome of the meat product. Grass fed beef is leaner, higher in Omega-3's and has fewer calories per ounce than it's grain-fed counterparts. Eggs from pastured hens contain up to 20 times the amount of Omega 3's than their factory hen counterparts. Food for thought, no pun intended.

There are some downsides to this way of thinking - for example, you are limited to what is available at the farm stand...if a recipe calls for butternut squash and they are out you need a change in plans. But I've found my cooking to be so much better trying to stick with this approach. I am really lucky to have found some great local resources, but it took some time and some research, so don't give up too easily.

Here are my local favorites:

Tendercrop Farms: http://www.tendercropfarms.com/
This place is the best. I would go every day if I could. Located in Newbury, they sell their own grass fed beef, free range chicken and eggs, and pork/ham, along with a huge selection of vegetables grown on the premises or sourced from nearby places like New Hampshire or Maine. This weekend I scored their own steak tips, asparagus, fiddlehead ferns, swiss chard, and butter lettuce, and some greenhouse grown vine tomatoes from Maine. All their own veggies had been picked that morning. They also have a nice plant selection and very nice dried floral arrangements. I even bought one of their hams for Easter dinner and it was fabulous.

Cider Hill Farms: http://www.ciderhill.com/
Cider Hill Farms is located right here in Amesbury but has a much smaller selection than Tendercrop and does not raise their own cows, chickens, or pigs. Cider Hill does a better job with fruit when it is in season and has several "pick your own" crops, and they also do a better job with tomatoes in my opinion. The only problem is it is a bit of a tourist destination with tons of people coming in for apple picking, hay rides, goat petting, pumpkin patches, etc. and if you go at the wrong time the produce is really picked over and you'll find not a lot left.

Bob's Lobster: http://boblobster.com//
Bob Lobster is a funky little clam/lobster shack on the way out to Plum Island in Newburyport. We've stopped there for lunch once or twice and they serve your typical selection of every type of fried seafood under the sun (or ocean I suppose) lobster rolls, clam chowder, etc. But more exciting is their shop area. Bob is actually a real dude and a fisherman/lobsterman, so he delivers his catch daily to be used in the restaurant and sold in the store. Doesn't get any fresher or more local than that.

David's Seafood: http://davidsfishmarket.com/index.html
Bigger selection that Bob Lobster but cash-only business, which is a tad shady. The selection changes but they always have at least 4-5 different kinds of fresh fish plus shrimp, clams, and lobster.

Enjoy!

The Trader Joe's Treasure Trove

I love Trader Joe's, but let's face it, the stores are usually small and crowded, which makes it difficult to find all the neat Trader Joe's Treasure to be found. Inevitably I wind up at the check out counter being extremely frustrated and jealous having eyed something spectacular in the cart of the person next to me, sending me scrambling back through the store to try to find it while seriously ticking off the people behind me. Here are some of my latest finds that have been a big hit:

• Fresh shelled edamame - These are in the fresh vegetable section. No need to deal with thawing out and taking them out of the pod, these are fresh and already shelled. A fantastic healthy snack.


• Pineapple slices - Also in the fresh veggie/fruit section. These are the perfect dimension for snacking or grill them and dust them lightly with brown sugar for a quick and easy dessert.


• Pomegranate seeds - Pomegranates are super-healthy and tasty, but are a massive pain to eat. These seeds are easy to toss into salads, mix into yogurts, or eat as a snack.


• Ready to eat Fava beans and Beets - Both Fava beans and are also delicious and healthy but fall into the same category as pomegranate seeds. Anyone who has gone through the process of trying to cook with either ingredient knows that I am talking about. Also in the veggie section, Trader Joe's stocks pre-prepped, ready to eat fava beans and beets. I enjoy the beets warmed up and topped with goat cheese and thyme, and the fava beans shine in a simple salad with arugula, olive oil, and shavings of a good pecorino romano cheese (perfect paired with a light, crisp, dry white wine).


• Frozen Sea Scallops - In the frozen fish section, these are a versatile and easy weeknight meal option. They can be flavored simply and grilled or sauteed into more complex dishes. Last week I dusted them with some Cajun spice rub, tossed them on the grill for a few minutes, and viola! Dinner is served.


• Dog treats - For our furry babies, Trader Joe's Chicken/Beef Jerky treats are Davis's favorite and he also enjoys the Peanut Butter chews. They are made with human-grade ingredients so you can feel good about giving them to your pups, although watch the size because they might be too small for some larger breeds of dogs and present a choking hazard.


• Olive Oil - I like to stock many different kinds of olive oil. I buy really high quality olive oil for finishing dishes and salads, where the flavor of the olive oil is really a key ingredient in the dish, but stock lower quality olive oil for everyday saute use. I like Trader Joe's large bottles of their Italian Extra Version Olive Oil for the latter use. It is a good quality and reasonably inexpensive.

Dry Brining - It Works!

Yes, I am trying to stick to veggies and fish as much as possible but they had plump, fresh, organic chickens at the farmstand and I couldn't resist. I decided to try a technique I read about recently called dry brining. Wet brining has become all the rage lately - especially when talking turkey around Thanksgiving - but I find it to be a bit of a pain. For one thing, finding a vessel to hold the brine (usually a mix of kosher salt, sugar, and some aromatics) plus said piece of poultry that actually fits in the fridge when there is other stuff in there is a challenge. I've tried those brining bags, but they scare me - the last thing I want is salty, salmonella infested water leaking all over my refrigerator. Dry brining is easier, less messy, and doesn't take up as much space. To dry brine, you simply wash and dry the chicken, rub it down with a ton of kosher salt, then stick it back in the fridge wrapped in plastic for 24 hours. To prepare the chicken, wash and dry the chicken again then prepare as you'd like. I melted butter with minced garlic and tarragon and rubbed it up under the skin, over the breast meat. I used the remaining butter/herb/garlic mixture to brush over the skin, stuffed the cavity with chopped garlic, herb sprigs and season the whole chicken (inside and out) with kosher salt and pepper.

Zuni Cafe in San Francisco is famous for their brick oven roasted chicken and the chef, Judy Rodgers, uses this technique to produce a juicy, tasty chicken.