Sunday Supper

I’ve written about Easter a couple of times now – this year Easter was simple. It was just the three of us, so we didn’t need much. Gotta have the ham. Gotta have the Au Gratin Potatoes. Gotta have the asparagus. Just for fun, we did deviled eggs. And those super easy warm and serve dinner rolls. No multi-layers of appetizers, no multi-course supper and surprisingly enough, no dessert. Instead, we started the day with an assortment of pastries. It was enough to give us that sugar fix early on.

This year, I tried a new ham recipe I picked up while visiting therebalchick.com. Well, sort of tried a new recipe. The original recipe called for Blood Oranges. After scouring three different grocery stores to no avail, it was a matter of falling back on an old recipe or simply going with what I had, navel oranges. Oranges are a winter crop. Blood Oranges can be had from December through March. With Easter late this year, the beautiful Blood Orange wasn’t an option. I will definitely make this ham again at Christmas time. Another detour from the original recipe was that she uses a bone-in smoked ham. The bone-in smoked hams were HUGE – much more than the three of us could polish off in several days, so I went with a small spiral cut boneless fully cooked ham. Even then, the three-pound ham is going to feed us for several more days.

The asparagus was different this year as well. A few nights ago I tried a new way of cooking asparagus in a skillet with a little butter, roasted garlic and a splash of lemon juice. I let the asparagus get nice and browned, almost blackened in spots. It gave a wonder added layer to the vegetable, with a nice smokey flavor. Typically when serving asparagus with a hollandaise sauce, I steam asparagus. The pan-seared method of cooking the asparagus was a big hit with the family – even my why-do-you-always-make-me-taste-the-asparagus eater liked the pan-seared veggies. So I decided to give seared asparagus with hollandaise sauce a try. The hollandaise sauce is recipe from everydayfrenchchef.com. The sauce was super easy to make, especially after adding a few short cuts. (The recipe called for 2 teaspoons of boiling water. I couldn’t see boiling a pot of water to get two teaspoons, so I put some water in a small cup and “boiled” it in the microwave. I don’t think the sauce knew the difference, and it was one less pan to wash. The same goes for the fresh lemon juice. The instructions said to warm it in a pan to lukewarm. Stick a cup in the microwave for about 10 seconds and there ya go.) I really like Meg Bortin, author of The Everyday French Chef. Her goal is to create authentic French dishes that are also simple and easy to create. Her hollandaise sauce was the easiest I’ve ever made without skimping on flavor.

As for the Au Gratin Potatoes, it’s a recipe I picked up years ago from my very first Betty Crocker cookbook. Over the years, it has evolved into a much milder, rich, onion infused potato casserole. I especially like the nice crunchy topping.

Now for the small kitchen dilemma. The ham warms at a very low temperature. The potatoes are cooked in a moderately-hot oven. If you don’t have dual ovens, this seemingly difficult problem can be solved one of two ways.  Option one would be to heat the ham in a roasting oven while you cook the potatoes in your regular oven. If you don’t have a roasting oven, cook the potatoes first, then turn down the heat and cook the ham. While the ham is “resting”, turn up the heat and rewarm the potatoes.  If you do the one-dish at a time method, plan to start the asparagus and hollandaise sauce when the potatoes are warming.  The timing should be right to have everything come together in the end.

This meal is delicious and you don’t have to wait until Easter.  Any Sunday is perfect.  I like Sunday dinners to be special in honor of Sunday. It’s a nice way to end the week or start the week, depending upon how you want to look at it. Whatever the occasion, I hope you enjoy!

Blood Orange Glazed Ham
6-8 Lb Ham Virginia Ham
4 blood oranges (or naval in a pinch)
½ cup brown sugar
½ cup water

Zest 1 entire blood orange into a small sauce pot.  Then juice that orange and two additional ones (juice from 3 total oranges) into the pot.  Over medium heat, whisk in the brown sugar.  Lower the temperature to a simmer and let it reduce until you have a slightly thickened sauce that can be poured over the ham.

When it is ready, preheat your oven to 275 degrees. Pour and then rub the glaze over the entire ham, then add the ½ cup of water to the bottom of the roasting dish.  Cover pan tightly with foil to allow ham to steam warm.  This will keep the ham from drying out.  Place in the oven and warm slowly.  About mid-way through the heating, uncover ham, spoon juices over the meat then cover again and continue to cook.  (Bone-in ham will take about 20 minutes per pound, boneless will take about 15 minutes per pound.  Take care, as the boneless ham may dry out if not allowed to “steam” warm).

You’ll want to cook the ham to an ideal temperature of 150 degrees. When the ham is done, let rest for about 20 minutes to help hold in the juices.

Slice the final blood orange into rounds and add to the ham and serving platter.

Mema’s Au Gratin Potatoes
6 Medium Russet Potatoes (about 2 lbs) peeled and thinly sliced
¼ Cup Butter
1 Medium White onion, chopped (about ½ cup)
1 Tablespoon Flour
1 Teaspoon Salt
¼ Teaspoon Black Pepper
2 Cups Milk
2 1/2 Cups Sharp Cheddar Cheese, shredded (½ cup reserved)
½ Cup Monterey Jack Cheese, shredded
½ Cup Fine Dry Bread Crumbs
Paprika

Preheat oven to 350-degrees. Peel potatoes and slice into thin disks using a food processor or vegetable slicer. Cut enough potatoes to measure 4 cups. Place sliced potatoes into cold water until ready to use, then drain.

Heat butter in 2-quart saucepan over medium heat. Cook onions in hot butter until soft, about 2 minutes. Stir in flour, salt and pepper. Cook, stirring constantly, until bubbly; remove from heat.

Stir in milk and 2 cups of the Cheddar cheese and all of the Monterrey Jack Cheese. Return to heat and cook until boiling, stirring constantly. Boil and stir 1 minute.

Drain potatoes in a colander and shake to remove excess water. Spread potatoes in an ungreased 1 ½-quart casserole dish. Pour cheese sauce over potatoes. Bake, uncovered, 1 hour.

Mix remaining cheese, breadcrumbs and paprika (just enough for a nice color). Sprinkle breadcrumb mixture over top of potatoes and bake an additional 15-20 minutes or until top is brown and bubbly.

Asperges à la sauce Hollandaise
3 egg yolks
1 Stick unsalted butter
1/2 lemon, juiced
2 teaspoons boiling water
1/4 teaspoon salt
freshly ground black pepper
2 lbs green asparagus, thick stalks
1 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 lemon, juiced

First, make the hollandaise. This recipe makes about a cup of sauce.

In a bowl, whisk the egg yolks until well-blended, about 20 seconds. Add the salt.

Melt the butter in a small saucepan. In a small cup or bowl heat the juice of 1/2 a lemon to lukewarm in the microwave, about 5-10 seconds. In another cup or microwave bowl heat a small quantity of water to boiling, about 2 minutes.

Begin adding the melted butter to the yolks, teaspoonful by teaspoonful, whisking constantly. When the sauce begins to thicken, add a few drops of the lemon juice. Continue in this way until all the butter and juice have been incorporated. Stir in the boiling water.

Grind in some pepper and check the flavorings, adding more salt if necessary.

If serving within the hour, place the bowl in a warm place, for example beside the stove. If serving later, place the sauce in the fridge. Before serving, heat an inch of water to lukewarm in a large pot. Turn off the heat. Place the bowl of sauce in the pot, taking care not to get any water into the bowl, and stir the sauce occasionally until it has softened. Be careful: if the water is too hot, the sauce will curdle.

Wash and trim the asparagus. Asparagus will “snap” just above the woody end. You want the asparagus to be about 6-8 inches long.

In a large non-stick skillet, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil and 1 tablespoon butter to sizzling. Turn down the heat to medium and add the asparagus. Gently squeeze the juice of the remaining lemon half over the asparagus.

Using a broad spatula, turn the spears over from time to time until they are browned more or less evenly, about 10-15 minutes depending on the thickness of the asparagus. The spears will remain mainly green, with patches of crispy deep brown. Check for doneness by tasting a spear. It should be tender but slightly al dente.

Just before serving, place the asparagus on a serving platter. Spoon hollandaise sauce over tips for a nice presentation, with the remaining sauce served table-side.