Like wrapping in silk, Asian comfort

BAKED SPIRAL-SLICED HAM 

with kahlua/preserves/ginger glaze                    serves a dinner party

  

I once made all the food for a wedding reception of a dear friend.  She wanted spiral-sliced hams among other things, and asked me to make them in some fashion completely different from what folks may expect. 

I love a challenge like that. 

At the reception, I set the hams down on the serving table along with all the other foods and walked back into the kitchen to straighten up a bit.  I walked right back out and it looked like a swarm of locusts had hit the food table!  They’d cleaned the table in five minutes!  Thank goodness I’d cooked for an army, and I raced out more chow.  After the wedding, I had folks calling me from all across the country begging for the ham recipe.  It isn’t hard, and if you taste carefully, most folks can recognize the flavors involved.

Choose a good ham from a store you trust. No need to go to a fancy spiral-cut chain or such, as most super stores and some grocery stores now offer spiral cut hams at a reasonable price most all the time, and not just during the holidays.  You don’t want a flavored or already seasoned ham, just a fresh, non-frozen spiral cut ham, preferably with the bone.  Choose the size or amounts of hams according to the number of folks you wish to dazzle.  Non-spiral cut hams are just fine here as well, especially the skin-on, hock, leg or shoulder type 'picnic' cooked hams.  Criss-cross slit the skin in an inch grid pattern for fat release and flavor absorpsion.  Dry well and 'powder' spice the surface as with the spiral cut ham.  

Tools:  baking sheet, cookie sheet, or roasting pan; baking rack; sharp knife; basting brush or spoon

Ingredients: 

 1    spiral cut ham, brought to room temperature

             and the surface towel-dried very well, rubbed

             well with a modest powder sprinkle of fresh

             cracked pepper and dry mustard (creates a ‘grip’

             for the glaze), let absorb

1    12-14 oz jar, prepared quality orange marmalade,

            apricot preserves or lime/grapefruit etc marmalade

               ½     cup Kahlua/coffee liqueur (see beverages recipes in

                            this book for homemade)

             2-3    tbs minced (very well) fresh ginger (minced may be
                            found prepared in a jar, which is much easier).  
                     Powdered ginger has worked, just buy a quality
                            product and use 1-2 tbs of the dried and blend
                            very well over mild heat first, let cool.

Mix the glaze ingredients well.  Put the ham (on a rack, if necessary) in a shallow casserole or flat pan (for best air circulation).  Put the powder-covered ham in 200° to 225° oven, let heat for twenty minutes to set the spice rub and the skin.  Then slather the cool glaze over the now dry surface of ham and baste more fresh glaze every twenty minutes or so for at least an hour to hour and a half.  Glaze should be set, dry-ish, and over a crisp skin.  Raising the oven to 400-500° for the last ten or fifteen minutes can help here. Some folks like to hit the surface with a propane torch (actually, the best bet is a ‘heat gun’ used for removing paint, and no ‘flame’), to crisp the surface much like a crème brûlée.

Options:  This glaze works well on roast turkey or any roasted fowl, wild game, pork roast, even lamb – or roasted vegetable dishes like squash, bell peppers, sweet potatoes or carrots.  Have fun.  

My mom regularly made her own Kahlua.  It isn’t hard, just takes a little ‘sitting’ time.  Most folks can’t do the wait, but Kahlua was my mom’s favorite ‘over 21’ sip-able guilty pleasure, and she made it regularly as a gift to all her friends.   The recipe is here in this book under ‘beverages’.

 

ORANGE CHICKEN AND BROCCOLI     serves six to eight

This dish is a favorite at the little Asian restaurant I hang out at.  I couldn’t sweet-talk them out of their recipe, so I made it a goal to see if I could recreate it and twist it up a bit.  It is usually served over rice -- and is a subtly intense, sweet and sour vacation for the mouth.  The richness, the variation of flavors and the enjoyment of chomping down on a bit of heaven just has to be shared.

Prep:  Whole oranges are to be well-scrubbed in soapy water and well rinsed (there does exist a food ‘soap’ for just this), to remove waxes and chemicals – then drained and dried.  Only just before preparing the dish, should the zest be peeled from the oranges.  That is done with a good vegetable peeler to remove only the orange part on the surface of the skin.  Place chicken in freezer till just well firmed (fifteen to twenty minutes), not frozen, for easier cutting.

Tools:  frying pan (non-stick is great), saucepan, mixing bowl, vegetable peeler, 2 large zip-lock bags, slotted spoon

Time saver:  Substitutions noted at end of this recipe shorten the preparation time by easily half an hour—for those in a hurry, go for it, it’s still fabuloso.

Note:  This ‘marinade’ for the chicken also becomes a base for the sauce. With that said, one must remember that raw chicken had been soaking in this liquid, therefore this liquid must be cooked VERY well.

Marinade ingredients:

      1-1 ½   pounds raw chicken meat; boned, skinned and cut to

                        biggish bite-sized chunks about ¾ by ½ by 1½ inch
                  (beef/pork may be used as well, all steps remain the
                  same, only cooking time is lessened)

            1    small to medium onion, peeled, diced into eight pieces   

            ½   cup rice wine vinegar (milder than other vinegars) or
                        sherry vinegar or wine vinegar

            ½   cup sherry or dry white wine

            1    chunk of ginger, about the size of a thumb tip, crushed
                        under knife blade but still whole

            2    cloves garlic, crushed under knife blade but still whole          

            1    tsp Thai chili paste or sanbal oelek, delicious!
                       (more if you’re a hot-head like me)

            1    tbs soy sauce

            1    tbs fish sauce          

           

Chill the raw, boned and skinned chicken parts (or beef) in freezer until firm (fifteen to twenty minutes) but not frozen; this firmer state makes it easier to cut.  Mix marinade ingredients – add with the diced chicken (or beef or pork) parts in a zip-lock bag (which is then set in a bowl, air squeezed out and zipped tight) in refrigerator to blend flavors.  Best let sit at least a half-hour to an hour, massaging the ingredients once or twice.  Drain off marinade and save, separate marinade liquid from garlic and ginger (then mince both well) and onion chunks (then dice to ½ inch dice).  Set chicken parts on towels to drain.  Wash hands and cutting board well with anti-bacterial agent or diluted bleach.

Ingredients:    

                 ¼   cup cornstarch

                 3    tbs oil – canola, olive, peanut, or safflower

                              (good for high heat)

                 ½   tsp dried thyme, crushed

                 ½   tsp dried basil, crushed

                 ½   tsp ground cardamom or 1 generous tsp whole seed

                              (secret ingredient, about the size of a sunflower
                              seed)

                 2    stalks celery, sliced ¼ inch on bias

                 2    smallish carrots, grate on large holes on grater

                 1    small zucchini, diced ¾ inch or large match stick for

                              alternate texture

       
                 marinade solids, chopped as directed

                 marinade liquids, about 1 cup

                       

                 1    small head broccoli or broccoli raab, florettes/top
                               1½ inch of stems only (or see below) about
                               1½ cups  

             1    tbs black bean paste
             1    tbs oyster sauce (you will regret not getting to
                              know this condiment)

 1    tbs balsamic vinegar

 ½   cup pomegranate/cherry/berry juice

 ½   tsp salt

 ½   tsp fresh ground pepper

 ¼   cup fresh basil (Thai basil is an interesting option),

             cut in approx quarter-inch chop

              3-4   Valencia oranges, tangerines etc:  the peel (about 
                      1 cup of full strips) and juice (at least ½ to
                              ¾ cup) of all the juice-oriented sweet oranges –
                              California source is a better choice – or see end
                              of recipe

2    tbs honey, molasses, dark corn syrup or brown sugar           

2    tsp cornstarch

             3-4    green onions, diced ¼ to ½ inch

drizzle of sesame oil

pomegranate seeds (yes!) optional, although in season only

               from September to January  

Preparation:  The orange strips, peeled from the surface of the three oranges, will be about three-quarters to an inch wide.  The pieces then will be stacked and sliced in narrow quarter-inch wide strips against the short dimension of the strips, and set in a small saucepan containing a pint of unsalted cold water and a tablespoon of sugar and brought to a boil for five minutes.  Lift the sliced peels out with slotted spoon.  You should have about a quarter to a third of a cup of soft peel shreds.

Next, in the same saucepan and sugared water, add a pint more water and a teaspoon of salt and bring to a boil and dip broccoli pieces (cut to inch and a half to two inches of stem with florettes, trimmed or split to ‘pencil’ or ‘finger’ sized) in water to simmer for about one minute until crisp-tender.  Remove with slotted spoon and immerse immediately in iced water to stop the cooking and set the green to a fresh bright color (and not an olive drab.  Not pretty).  Remove with that busy slotted spoon and set aside. 

Place ¼ cup cornstarch and still very chilled chicken (or beef or pork) pieces in a paper bag or gallon-sized zip-lock bag, puff it full of air and seal very well.  Shake, covering all the pieces in a light dusting.  Shake off excess cornstarch between fingers when removing parts from bag.   In the large frying pan, heat on med-high 2 tbs oil to just shimmering, and add the chicken bits and sauté till golden brown and done.  Remove with the slotted spoon and set aside.  Add the marinated minced ginger, garlic and diced onions, stirring well.  Lower the heat to medium, add another tbs oil if necessary and add crushed spices, cardamom, and drained orange peels, stir constantly for a moment to allow orange peels to separate and begin to caramelize, and spices to bloom; then carefully add the half-cup of pomegranate juice/balsamic vinegar mix.  Let simmer till half-reduced and spice aroma is filling the room (remove cardamom seed pods now if used instead of ground); then re-add chicken pieces, blend in, and sauté gently for a few minutes until chicken is well-coated and the peels are more tender and the pan is almost dry.  Remove all to the bowl. 

Add another 1 tbs of oil to pan, add celery, carrots, zucchini, salt and pepper, sautéing until vegetables are just done and tender (about three to five minutes).  Remove and fold into the set-aside chicken mix.  Deglaze pan with marinade liquid, lifting anything from bottom of pan, boiling well for at least ten minutes and reduce the quantity by two-thirds (to about a quarter to a third of a cup).  Add bean paste and oyster sauce and thoroughly blend and simmer for a minute till smooth, then finally re-add the set-aside cooked foods – vegetables, orange peel and spices, and meat – back to pan, toss together and bring all just to a low simmer to even out the overall heat.

In bowl, add cornstarch to cool orange juice and whisk to dissolve. In fry pan, add orange juice slurry, basil, honey (or other sweet choice) to the other ingredients and bring to simmering.  (This is the time to add the orange marmalade substitute if chosen, in place of the peels/juice/honey/cornstarch).  There should be a barely syrupy glaze with the dish.  As the pan of deliciousness comes to glaze consistency, add the par-boiled broccoli and gently toss.  Serve over steamed rice, rice noodles, or angel hair pasta. Drizzle a tiny taste of sesame oil, plus sprinkle diced green onions and pomegranate seeds, Oh boy!

Options:  for more ‘crunch’, try adding last to the dish while still in pan: toasted slivered or sliced almonds, peanuts or cashews; drained water chestnuts; drained straw mushrooms; drained heart of palm, diced; and drained bamboo shoots, and/or drained baby corn diced (last five are canned, but perfect).         

Substitutions:  If it is not convenient to prepare the orange peels, 1/2 cup good quality marmalade plus ¼ cup water or chicken broth may be used to replace orange peels/orange juice/honey introduced at the same stage as ‘orange juice’ is added.

Broccoli or broccoli raab florettes may be purchased individually frozen, and can be steamed, microwave, or sautéed till just hot (don’t overcook!) and removed from heat and carefully kept warm – all just prior to using.  The color will be less green, but otherwise this substitution is just great.

 

PORK FRIED RICE      side dish for four to six, main dish for two

Some dishes are hard to just ‘throw’ together, of course depending on what may be in the fridge.  This is most definitely a bit of a plan-ahead AND a leftover dish, and needs just a tiny bit of preparation or planning in advance but very easy to make.  The rice must be pre-cooked and room temperature (or chilled and brought toward room temperature).  Everything else is just like any other dish in this book.  No special utensils or materials, just a cutting board and a non-stick or seasoned cast-iron pan.  But because we’re not utilizing a wok, high heat or spider, this offering – although deliciously Asian inspired – is certainly not a genuine Asian dish.

I love bacon, and am always the first in line for seconds.  But the inherent smoked flavor may be a bit of a conflict in this recipe, but that is up to you to finally decide.  Bacon really is just fine for the base flavor – but if you can find it, non-smoked pork may suit this dish just a bit better – like fat back, salt pork, side pork, pancetta or ‘green’ bacon.

Tools:  Non-stick frying pan, mixing bowl, cutting board

Prep:  Prepare rice the usual way, with a bit of butter or oil in a coverable saucepan, medium-high heat, add the rice and stir until the grains are oiled and begin to look ‘chalky’ or more white than off-colored beige.  Add double the amount of water, half a teaspoon of salt, and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to VERY low, stir all grains from the bottom then cover, simmering very gently for twenty minutes – covered, undisturbed and unstirred.   To cool, flake apart and lay out in as thin a layer as possible in open air.  Cool to room temperature, and store in a sealed container in the refrigerator.

Ingredients:

 2-3    cups prepared cool white rice (made from ¾-1 cup raw
                            rice and double that amount of water), flaked apart

              ¼      pound pork base choice, diced to ‘lardons’, ½-¾ inch cube

(or  3 tbs oil – peanut, canola, vegetable, safflower,
            olive etc if wishing to remain vegetarian)

  1       large onion, top/bottom trimmed, halved pole to pole, and

                cut in thin wedges like an orange, flaked apart

  1       celery rib, cut into diagonal slices, about a quarter inch wide

  1       tbs canola, peanut, vegetable or other high-heat oil

1-2     cloves garlic, as you prefer, minced

2-3     green onion white ends, chopped less than ¼ inch (chop
                           green ends for garnish)

 optional: ½ pound diced/planked cooked meat choice (leftover pork,
                           sausage, pork chops, roast, shellfish, chicken bits etc)

 optional: ½ pound mushroom choice (button, shiitake, portabella
                           and/or Crimini etc) sliced ¼ to ½ inch strips

1-2    eggs, beaten

  ¼     tsp (pinch) each dried sage, tarragon and/or thyme (as you
                           prefer), or double of fresh finely chopped

salt and pepper to taste

sesame seeds, toasted nuts (almonds, cashews, pecans, sunflower,

               pumpkin etc), sesame oil, diced fresh green onion tops,
                           soy sauce - topping to finish, as you like

Preparation:  In sauté pan, bring to medium-hot and add pork bits to render, or oil.  As they begin to golden, drain half of the bacon fat, add oil, onion wedges and celery and lower heat to medium and sauté carefully till just on the edge of done, add the mushrooms and continue sautéing until the bits are beginning to brown on the edges.  Stir in the meat choice bits and bring to warm.  Add the garlic and bring to fragrant, then sprinkle in the white end of the green onions.  Stir to spread the fats/oil and sautéed bits about the pan. 

Meanwhile, add the beaten eggs, salt and pepper and spices to the cool rice and stir together well.  The moisture of the eggs will help separate the cold rice chunks, and will be partially absorbed into the rice as it warms.  Mixture should be like oatmeal porridge, slightly soggy but cohesive.   Add the egged rice to the medium hot pan just after the garlic and over the other bits.  Raise the heat to medium-high and allow the egg mix to set a bit.  Stir and flip regularly to separate the grains, meat and vegetable chunks, until the mix appears not completely wet, just moist and separate.   This is the time to add the sesame seeds and/or nuts, then any additional salt and pepper as tasting requires (remember, soy sauce will be added at the last, so go light on any salts, and use low sodium soy if you can find it).  Lower the heat to medium, and continue cooking and stirring/flipping till appearing almost dry, then remove from heat – it will continue cooking a bit after, serve right away.  Top the portions with fresh green onion tops or diced chives, a tiny drizzle of sesame oil and soy sauce as desired.

Options:  Try brown rice, a bit more time to cook, but delicious.  And/or blend a bit of wild rice into the mix.  More vegetables can certainly be added to the mix as well, like the more traditional green peas (individually frozen peas can be crumbled apart and let defrost into the heat at the adding of the egg mix, since they’re par-cooked before freezing).  The same with corn, black eyed peas, sweet corn, baby lima beans, edamame (soy beans), or any personal preference.  I’d say about quarter cup or so.   A spoon of miso (white, golden, red or dark – or a mix), Thai chili paste and/or oyster sauce stirred in toward the finish adds a wonderful flavor addition to any of these suggestions as well as the original above.

As much as the world loves pork, some folks can’t or have decided not to consume it – or perhaps specific types of meat – or any meat for that matter.  I’ll give a basic directive for quick alterations of the original recipe.  The protein choices in the dish range greatly as the imagination may provide, but here are some suggestions:  Shellfish – Shrimp, crab, lobster, clam, crawfish, mussel etc with shrimp/fish stock as the liquid (or water or mixed) for the rice; ‘white meat’ – Chicken, turkey or pork with chicken stock/broth for the rice (or water or mixed); ‘red meat’ – leftover roast beef, steak, BBQ, braised shanks etc, with beef stock as a liquid for the rice (or water or mixed); or vegetarian with vegetable broth or water for the rice, with firm/dry or medium-firm/dry diced tofu cube bits sautéed with the vegetables till browned on the edges.

Additional flavors and textures may be added such as water chestnuts, bean sprouts, bamboo shoots, corn, green beans, tropical and regular diced fruits, berries, fresh or dried etc. as well as a roasted nut choice (the nutritional value of the nut when added to rice makes a perfect enhanced gain).

Optional preparation:  Rice.  The foundational food staple for millions of folks on this globe.  There are those in the East who train merely in the preparation of rice.  And we’re not talking weeks or months, but years of learning and acquiring knowledge of HOW to prepare rice properly.  Personally, I’m not sure if I can muster the patience and dedication to direct my energies so singularly for so long.  But there must be a good reason why.  Then I ate some very authentic sushi with the most delicious tasting and textured rice, and then is when I think I began to understand.

RICE so nice, and that’s all I’m saying

  

Rice circles the world, and is grown in a myriad of styles.  In fact, a cousin grows rice in northern California, and I have received gifts of eight or ten types of rice from her company.  I only knew two – white and brown, and here was a selection that almost took my breath away.  We have long grain, a Basmati or Texmati style rice based on an Indian variety that smells like popcorn when prepared, and the grains are long and tender.  Then there’s a jasmine style, where the aroma is intoxicating, and the texture is like eating delicious velvet.  Colors and flavors range from brown, red, orange and yellow to the best-known white and from bitter to sweet in flavor.  They can be firm and slick or soft and sticky.  With a range of short, medium and long grains – I’ve read that there are over 40,000 varieties just of rice alone, with an understandably huge variety of shape, color and texture.  The flavors are even more varied, with aromas and textures that allow for thousands of dish preparations, even desserts.  ‘Wild’ rice is actually a grass seed, and cooked differently.

White and brown preparation:  Just try something that may be a bit different to you.  Raw rice grains may have dust, extra starch bits or other impurities – so rinsing isn’t a bad idea.  Since they are heavier than water, a one-container prep is all that you may consider (and over a colander, just in case).  Place your measured raw rice grains in a deep, narrow container and run gently with clear cold tap water to fill, and overflow.  Slowly and carefully drain the water off down to the wet grains on the bottom and repeat.  (Rinsing the rice in a larger sized mesh strainer does not allow lighter impurities to lift away and wash off).  Swirl with a spoon or best, with your hand with fingers working the grains around.  Keep repeating until the water comes off clear.  For brown, just five or so rinses are all that’s necessary.  For white, it will take at least seven or eight, maybe ten rinses.  With both rices, as the last rinse, use filtered clear, bottled or purified water.  Swish well and drain.  It’ll make all the difference in taste.  And the multiple rinsings will make all the difference in texture.  Just try it.  This is a great preparation for the kids to participate in.  There will be a challenge to not lose any grains in the rinsing and draining, and also to remember the number of rinses of the rice.

When cooking rice, again use purified/filtered water if you can.    For white, the usual ‘recipe’ is to measure twice the volume of water as of the rice (and lightly salted cool water) to the lidded saucepan.  For brown, the usual ‘recipe’ is one and a half times the water as rice, in lightly salted cool water.  For both rices, bring the rice and water together to a good rolling boil and a last stir, but for white, reduce to VERY low heat – as low as possible and still have ‘flame’ – cover well and steam for about twenty minutes, with both lid and rice undisturbed.  Steam vent holes will show in the rice, the water will be completely absorbed and the finish to the rice will be satiny, and yet a bit moist.  With white rice, this is finished.  But for brown, reduce to a simmer and go the entire twenty minutes carefully on a medium-low flame, stirring occasionally, then reduce heat (turn off burner if an electric burner, or lower to a VERY low flame if gas) and leave undisturbed pot, still well-covered for another ten to twenty minutes.  In both cases, test a few grains on a fork for doneness before removing and flaking the grains apart.  If undone, add a splash of boiling water, raise heat slightly and recover, check again after five minutes, repeat if necessary.

Flake both rices apart gently while hot to allow the grains to cool some and to be able to remain separated, and continue evaporation and absorption of any excess water.  Leaving in a mass to cool is a mistake, and makes a nice doorstop.   If you have a rice steamer, then follow the directions for that brand and make.