Christmas Ham

As apart of this blog I also want to write about dishes that I have prepared and cooked myself. I want to blog about this for the sake of collaboration and passing good recipes along. This entry is long overdue seeing how the title is Christmas ham. But, everybody said I should blog about my ham, and by everybody I mean Abbye and my parents. But, none the less I will proceed.

On christmas we had a big group of people over and I didn't want to spend a lot of money on a pre-prepared ham, plus I have always really wanted to cook my own. When I cook I tend to go overboard with flavor and spice, but I call it being creative. I have to remember that my palette is broader than most. I really wanted to try an espresso chile glaze, but I sided against it because I wanted everyone to enjoy it.

Here is the ingredients you'll need

• 9-pound (or so) ham, bone-in, scored 1/4-inch deep in a diamond pattern
• 10-15 cinnamon sticks
• oranges, lemons, and limes cut into slices (to put on the cinnamon sticks)
• 10 bay leaves
• black pepper
• One 13-ounce jar orange marmalade
• 1/4 cup light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup orange juice
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 teaspoon hot sauce
• 1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
• Pinch ground cloves

Here are the directions

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

Place the ham, cut side down, in a large roasting pan. Insert the cinnamon sticks partially into the scored ham at even intervals. Skewer 1 orange slice 1 lime slice, and 1 lemon slice onto each cinnamon stick and push the slices down so that they fit snugly against the ham. Tuck the bay leaves around the fruit slices. Sprinkle the ham with the black pepper. Bake the ham, uncovered, until it reaches an internal temperature of 150 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer, about 4-6 hours. Baste the ham with the glaze during the last hour of cooking.

Make the glaze when the ham first goes into the oven: Combine the marmalade, brown sugar, orange juice, water, hot sauce, ginger, and cloves in a medium saucepan and bring to a simmer. Cook until mixture reduces to a glaze consistency and coats the back of a spoon. If you don't have ground cloves you can also stick whole cloves into the ham itself.

The best part of making this ham for me was scoring the ham in a diamond pattern. when the ham came out of the oven the scored edges were the perfect crispness and he hot sauce added just enough spice to the citrus. The ham was moist and tender and the citrus flavor was great. It also made for a good breakfast ham the next day. Needless to say it was fun to cook the ham and everyone loved it and it looked pretty goodtoo. Here are some pictures to look at.

Had too...

I thought when I started this blog i wouldn't slam any establishments. And I guess that I am not really slamming a restaurant here, just one item. Before I go any further I must say that I am a big fan of Blue Coast Burritos. I love the different flavor tortillas they have the chipotle honey mustard is fantastic. I love that they steam they tortillas instead of pressing them, it holds together better. Most places don't have extras like olives, cucumbers, and even a choice between regular or spicy chicken. Another thing that most places don't have is fish tacos... there's good reason for that. It is hard to have a good fish taco dish.

In my opinion the ideal fish taco would have smoky grilled fish of some sort, maybe tilapia or redfish. But a frozen, fried, cod is the first ingredient of a recipe for a tasteless entree. I have to admit I kind of cringed when I saw the guy throw the fish into the fryer. I thought about telling him to scratch that order, but the fish was already down and if there is one thing that I don't like more than a poorly thought dish it is wasting food. So, i decided to forego my better judgement and give a shot. I convinced myself in a mere matter of seconds that I could try them and put to rest my wondering of whether the Blue Coast fish tacos were worth the time.

When my meal had come i was really ready to eat because everyone else was about half way through their meal. I unwrapped the first taco and bit into only to be disgusted by mayonnaise, my personally nemesis in the food world, The line cook sold it to me as "baja sauce", but all my taste buds could pick out was mayo. I also felt that the dish was lacking ingredients all it came with was cabbage, a bit of tomatillo salsa, and the mayo-baja sauce. I had to put more salsa, mainly to cover up the mayo and I would have loved to had some pico de gallo on it which i feel like is an integral part of fish tacos.

You can guess by my previous words and descriptions what my conclusion will be, but I will say just to confirm it, the fish tacos at Blue Coast are not worth the money or the time. Stick with a burrito or a salad which are both excellent dishes by the way. If you like honey mustard you really should give theirs a try, it's awesome.

I am going to Mexico this summer and I am told we will have the best fish tacos during the trip, so I'll be sure to write a blog about them after the trip. Till then happy hunting for food that inspires you...

Chicken and Waffles revisted

This is a short post because I have already posted a bit about the history and story of this delectable dish. However, I have found an authentic place to eat the dish. It's called Mrs. Polly's on Beale and has the mascot of a chicken (go figure, eh).

My dad and I went to a concert at The New Daisy and after the concert we were looking for a little late night grub and as we were walking down the street my eyes got a sign featuring non other than Chicken Waffles. So if you're ever in Memphis and have craving for Chicken and Waffles go to Beale street and eat at Mrs. Polly's. also ask for Mellissa, she was an excellent waitress. Just go before 9 on the weekdays because the doors will be closed if you don't. Enjoy.