Friday Food: Ham for Days

Happy Independence Day! Time to eat!

Friday

Short version: Barbecue brisket sandwiches, coleslaw, cherries

Long version: The rest of the brisket from our meal on Wednesday was just enough for sandwiches this night. I had baked bread the day before, so I made some buns for the brisket. I made the coleslaw in the morning, which meant that at dinnertime, I did nothing but re-heat the brisket and put the plates together.

Made-ahead food is nice. And a theme in my un-air-conditioned summer kitchen. Four p.m. in summer is no time to be firing up the oven or stove for an hour of cooking.

Saturday

Short version: Ham, scalloped potatoes, collard greens, raw cabbage

Long version: Why did I make essentially Christmas dinner in June, on a day that was going to be almost 90 degrees? Because I had a ham that had been in the freezer for months, and I could cook it in the morning when it was cool and then just re-heat it for dinner. Also because if the oven is on for the ham, I might as well also cook the potatoes. Those re-heated well at dinnertime, too. I just used the microwave for both things so as not to heat up the kitchen.

Anyway, there is no one in my family except me who ascribes to theory that meals should be lighter when the weather is hot. So I had my salad, the rest of the family had their heavy hibernation food, and everyone was happy.

His 'n' hers dinner.

Sunday

Short version: Leftovers, sour-cream cake with rhubarb-currant compote and Chantilly cream

Long version: I fried some of the ham slices in butter, which makes them crispy and really much better. Store ham is way too wet. We also had both leftover mashed potatoes and scalloped potatoes. 

A. had pureed calabaza as a vegetable. The children had the very last of last year's frozen green beans. We'll see if this year's green beans, which germinated very well, can manage to survive the grasshoppers.

I made the cake because I found the last half quart of soured heavy cream in the freezer and decided to use it up. I did this by making a double batch of this recipe, but this time with only half the baking soda. It was much better that way. It rose just fine, and tasted better. I made 12 muffins, and then a single cake layer.

This cake layer I cut in half, and sandwiched in between the halves a mixture of stewed rhubarb with some of the currant jelly I had made with the golden currants the children foraged at an abandoned house in our village. And then I covered it all with sweetened whipped cream.

It was pretty much like the Father's Day cake I made this year, except the Bonnie Butter cake was better.

Monday

Short version: Extra-creamy pasta with ham, lemon jello

Long version: And then I found ANOTHER whole quart of cream in the back of the refrigerator that was past its use-by date and getting slightly sour. Ugh.

So! I diced some ham and fried that with a clove of garlic, frozen peas, and a LOT of cream. Probably at least two cups. I simmered all of that for awhile, then added cooked pasta and some grated Romano. All of this went into a casserole dish, which I topped with bread crumbs mixed with melted butter and more Romano, and then I stuck it under the broiler to toast the bread crumbs.

This was, unsurprisingly, very popular. Hard to go wrong with that much cream.

I had made the jello for the kid who had had a delicate stomach for awhile. He was starting to feel better, though, and actually ate some real food, so I let everyone else have some of the jello for dessert.

Tuesday

Short version: Barbecue meatballs, mashed potatoes, grape tomatoes

Long version: To make the meatballs, I used the big log of ground beef that A. brought home when he got the whole brisket. Just like with the brisket, the package of ground beef was still whole--circumstances when he got home with all this meat were such that I didn't have the chance to separate any of it before freezing--but I definitely did not need that whole 10 pounds of ground beef. 

To thaw it, I put the whole thing in my sink and wrapped a bigger part of it in a plastic bag. Then I ran some water over the smaller part I wanted to separate and left it for a few hours. I was then able to saw off the still-partially-frozen smaller part and wrap the bigger, still-frozen part back up for the freezer.

It's way easier to just do it when it comes in the house, though.

I made the mashed potatoes mostly to use up the last of the soured cream. Which I did. Yay.

Child's plate of meatballs.

Wednesday

Short version: Ham, fried potatoes, curried split peas, cucumber, watermelon

Long version: This was the last of the ham, which I fried in butter again.

The potatoes were some of the 50 pounds I got from excess commodities a few months ago. Some of them I had par-roasted (prepared for roasting and then just roasted until they were soft, but not browned) and put in the freezer. I dumped some of those in a skillet with extra tallow and fried them until they were crispy.

Do curried split peas go with these things? Eh, dunno. I found the jar with the leftover split peas in the refrigerator and decided it needed to be used up right away, so I just put a couple of spoonfuls on everyone's plates and let them decide what to do with it. Some dipped their ham in it. Some dipped their potatoes in it. Some just ate it. In any case, it was all eaten.

Seeded watermelons are usually available in stores around the 4th of July, and I always get one when I see them. This one was pretty good. A bit mealy in the center, but sweet.

Thursday

Short version: Tuna salad sandwiches, pasta salad, apricots

Long version: I had baked bread in the afternoon, which made me decide to have sandwiches and take advantage of thee fresh, soft bread. That's why I made the tuna salad.

I made the pasta salad because I had quite a bit of plain pasta left from the entire pound I had cooked on Monday. I've only made pasta salad maybe half a dozen times in my life, which is weird, because I love it.

Actually, that's why I don't make it. I would eat too much of it.

Anyway.

Pasta, grape tomatoes, pickled onions, frozen peas, cheddar cheese cubes, the last of some mustard vinaigrette, and a couple spoonfuls of mayonnaise.

A. brought the apricots home from town when he went to get a new starter for the van. The apricots were good, and the van starts now, so wins all around.

Refrigerator check:

Okay, your turn! What'd you eat this week?