A Glazing How To

 Palm Sundy is tomorrow and Easter is next week>That means a table faturing a good roasted han in some households. This can mean a holiday treat especially if the ham has a good glaze that complements the meat's saltiness>

What is a glaze  any way?It comes from the French - glace au viande and it's usually made by reducing the meats juice's by a slow simmering over a burner. Doing this evaporates the juice creating a think gelatin that is brushed over the meat duing the roasting. The cut is then returned to the oven and lets the glaze to bake on. It's different with ham. Since the meat has no juice  being cured a glaze has to be made.What makes a good ham glaze For decades home chefs used brown sugar. This was usually just mixed with water and spooned over the meat.Between it and the cloves that were inserted into the fat , this give the hand that sweet flavor. Throughout the Twentieth Century home chefs experimented with everything from ginger ale and Dr pepper to orange juice and honey. What is the best? That depends on your  tastes. If you want a super sweet one then use any cola or ginger ale.A tangier one involves orange juice.

A glaze is easy to create. All you need is brown sugar, orange juice, honey cinnamon and cloves. It's boiling the first three to make a thin syrup and adding the spices later.Keep in mind that any glaze can be made as the ham is cooking. It should be spooned on or brushed for a more even coating ten to twenty minutes before serving. This still has the ham having tender meat but with a nice , crunchy crust. If you want to have a true Southern style ham then try a Dr. Pepper glaze. THis is combing the drink with orange juice, brown sugar and Dijon mustard, the last for cutting through all that sweetness. Again just cook the ingredients in  a sauce pan over a low flame. Can you use Coke or Pepsi? Yes! The taste will change slightly give the ham a caramel flavor.  Ginger ale glaze also is an interesting spin but a more intense and zingier flavor would come from using ginger beer (This can be bought at any grocery store).Use a deep golden honey and Dijon mustard along with some fresh ginger to emphasize the flavor.

A good ham is a holiday must Adding a glaze elevates this to  something special. Try either a traditional glaze or one with soda for a tasty Palm Sunday or Easter bite.

Spring Break Is Over

 W

e're back with hopefully fun,. tasty and somewhat healthy recipes.

Right now enjoy this banana sundae. an alternative to the real thing. made with Lidl's vegan whipped topping Whippt, Hershey's syrup and  a banana!

A Spring Break

 We're taking a little Spring break here for about six to eight weeks. W'll bee back when it's time to barbecue so get those grills and sauces ready for a fun time.

In the meantime have a good holiday season.

St Patrick's Day Twists

 Corned beef and cabbage along with soda bread are traditional St Patrick's Day dishes.Yet it's time to change it up a bit. Shake up tradition with delicious spins on these foods and others.

Corned beef sliders are a better choice than just the slices served with cabbage. You can added cabbage, just shred it. Sauerkraut can also work well here or sauteed cabbage. This is just sauteing the leaves in a mix of olive oil and butter>Leave out the salt when seasoning because the corned beef is salty as is. What rolls should you put the filling on? Hawaiian rolls are good. Their sweetness counteracts the saltiness of the corned beef and the sauerkrauts' tanginess. Regular slider rolls work too.For a fun St Paddy's Day brunch try a conred beef strata. This is made not with cabbage but tasty layers of spinach and cheese.It's like a savory egg custard with layers of corned beef ,spinach and cheese. If you want cabbage to go with it. then think a light coleslaw .If you want a quicker meal then air fry the corned beef and cabbage. Doing such will also give the meal a light crunch too.

Most home bakers will be baking a loaf ro two of Irish soda bread tomorrow. Any homemade loaf is tasty but how about changing it up a bit? Try the recipe as muffins. THis makes for a great side to the corned beef and cabbage or perfect on their own with butter as a light dessert afterwards. You could also try Ballymaloe brown bread which is an easy dense loaf and slightly different than soda bread. The New York Times Food section published the recipe on Wednesday and it's an easy bake that requires just yeast, water and molasses mixed in with whole wheat flour and Kosher salt. THis is perfect for those next day sandwiches too. Colcannon that wonderful mix of mashed potatoes , spinach and garlic can also benefit from a twist. Try fried colcannon balls for a tasty spin. Add a center of sharp cheddar for a flavorful side or hors d'ouevre. They're formed int balls and dipped first in egg and then breadcrumbs. Use panko if you want,.

Update these St Paddy's Day treats with new spins. The result is tasty alternatives that make the meal sing. They're fun and perfect for a day of celebrating.

AN irish Bread For Sunday

With corned beef and cabbage being this star of this Sunday's St paddy's day, it hard to forget another Gaelic staple - good fresh from the oven bread. Try baking a loaf to go with the corned beef or even just to have with butter and jam latter on.

New contributor and famed Hudson Valley chef Clare de Boer wrote about the famed brown bread fromBallymaloe Cookery School  in Cork in Wednesday';s New York Times Food section. This is the perfect bread that should accompany corned beef(and also be part of Monday's corned beef sandwiches). It is a simple bread  that Chef de Boer first had when she visited the school, enjoying it thickly slathered with butter and covered with tiny prawms from nearby Ballycotton Bay,Darina Allen the school's co-founder says its an easy mix, perfect for novice bread makers.It's also a good recipe for those who fear yeast. It's just micing it with water and treacle syrup, letting ti foam and then rise. Whole wheat brown flour is added.There's a quick rise and ten baking. It's origins are not Irish but English having been created during the Second world War by  nutritionist Doris Grant to make easy use of rations.it was less fluffy than sandwich bread but less cakey than Irish soda bread.it resembles Danish rugbroad but without its;s ourness and denseness.

Students who have attended the school now bake it for their shops and eateries that are located all over the world.Lily Starbuck a former student ,sells it at her cafe at the west end on Fisher's Island where the Long island Sounds meets the Atlantic Ocean.She pairs hers with butter and Camambaert and plans on having classes on it. Again it's a simple bake.The one thing to keep in mind is that make sure the yeasts foam when the molasses and water are added to it.If it doesn't;t then you have dead yeast and have to start over with a fresh packet. If you like a crunchy crust then sprinkle anything from poppy to sesame seeds on top. The flour is whole wheat, preferably stone ground.Use Bob's Red Mill or King Arthur for this. There;s also a teaspoon of kosher salt  (Chef de Boer recommends Diamond Crystal) and a tablespoon of molasses or if you can get it treacle.It;'s a very small amount of yeast, really  - only two and a half tablespoons.It;s just mixing the yeast with the molasses and warm water for five minutes until the liquid develops a creamy froth.Add the flour,Pour it into a greased pan lined with parcnhemt  and then bake twenty minutes at 400 degrees Farenehit,.after twenty minutes  carefully take the loaf outr of the pan and bake for another ten minutes..It should be done when you tap the bottom and it sounds hollow.

This ballymaloe brown bread is the perfect accompaniment to Sunday's corned beef and cabbage. It's also a great bread to make for a weekend .Try it and enjoy it's home baked sweetness and goodness.

Your Favorite Holiday Recipe

 Not surprsingly this March has a lot of holodays. From Purim to Easter to Nowruz to St Patrick's Day. what is your favorite holiday recipe? GOlden rice for the Persian new Year? Prune hammentasch  to celebrate Queen Esther? Or the traditional glazed ham for your Easter dinner/ Wht about corned beef followed by stout cupcakes on St Patrick's Day? 

Let us know here. It's always fun to share holiday memories and recipes.

Cabbage Is KIng Again

 The round leafy green heads are not just for those on a budget anymore. Cabbage is becoming king of the trendy again.It's not because of the taste>People are rediscovering its; versatility and flavor again.It's cool to be kohl.

Kim Severson wrote about this hot again veggie in today's New York Times Food section. Cabbage has been on the menu at a few upscale eateries across the US.Now it's exploding in a big way to more and more places. The heads have always been known for their long shelf lives and versatilities plus their cheapness. Home gardeners can easily grow a patch of them in their backyards too. China produces the Most Americans have eaten in in sauerkraut and with corn beef but thanks to Asian countries like Korea, China and India , cabbage is becoming a mainstay in the American diet.Kimchi has mightily helped its' reputation and there is a new generation of both chefs and home chefs that are interested in fermentation and gut friendly.It was like this decades ago when immigrants coming to America relied on it for sustenance and nutrition. Now on the world stage ,China produces most of it while Russians eat the most.

When exactly did the cabbage craze begin? It could have started a decade ago when farmers selling to restaurants starting growing specialty cabbage.It was a small tender one with a pointy tip called a Caraflex ,conehead or arrowhead. There was also the Tendersweets which are shaped liked flattened ovals wit loosely packed thin crisp leaves and the napa variety which has a taste that's a mix of iceberg lettuce , cabbage and celery. Chefs found that using the arrowheads were easy to braise or roast and looked gorgeous quartered and sauced on a plate.It also helped that trendy chef Thomas Keller used Caraflex at his popular Per Se restaurant. He charcoal grilled them with apples, sunchokes and pumpkins seeds surrounded by a red cabbage just. Around the same time Chicago chef put a charred wedge of cabbage on his menu at Publican. Surprisingly the pandemic also helped cabbage's growth in popularity. it was thought that eating fermented cabbage might ward off Covid 19. Cabbage though should be on every home chef's rotation. It can be used in stews and soups along with being wedged and charred,  served with a dollop of Blue Cheese dressing.

Cabbage is king again and no wonder.It , like its; cousins the cauliflower, Brussels sprouts and broccoli is versatile and good for you. This leafy green is popular and with good reason.