Ring in the New Year with Ham

Looking for the perfect dish to see in the new year? How about a glazed ginger-ale ham? It is perfect for a big meal and great for ham biscuits and sandwiches to snack on during games. And it is so easy to prepare.

Ingredients

• 1 (10-12-pound) ham
• 4 liters ginger ale
• 1 jar of Boar's Head Ham Glaze (available in grocer deli)

Directions

Place the ham in a large pan over the burner, or a crock pot, and add 2 liters of ginger ale. Bring the pan to the boil then lower the heat slightly so that it keeps bubbling steadily for 4 1/2 hours.

Towards the end of the 4 1/2 hours, preheat the oven to 425 degrees and open the Boar's Head Ham Glaze.

After 4 1/2 hours, gently lift the ham out of the pan and place on a foil-lined baking tray or a disposable baking tin. Carefully cut away the skin, leaving a thin layer of fat. There is no need to score the surface, simply slap on the glaze and place the tray with the ham into the oven for 20 minutes.

Serve hot or cold.

Devil's Food Cake the Perfect October Treat

Forget the name, this cake is heavenly. The crumb is tender, the filling and frosting luscious.

When I made it one Friday, I expected my children, resident food critics much in the mould of the Grim eater, to find it too dark, too rich, not sweet enough: you get the gist. Instead, I came down on Saturday morning to find nothing but an empty, chocolate-smeared cake stand and a trail of crumbs.

INGREDIENTS

Yields: 10-12 slices

FOR THE CAKE

• ½ cup best-quality unsweetened cocoa (sifted)
• ½ cup dark brown sugar
• 1 cup boiling water
• 9 tablespoons soft unsalted butter (plus some for greasing)
• ¾ cup superfine sugar
• 1½ cups all-purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs

FOR THE FROSTING

• ½ cup water
• 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
• 1½ sticks unsalted butter (cubed)
• 10⅗ ounces best-quality bittersweet chocolate (finely chopped)

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
2. Line the bottoms of two 8inch round sandwich tins with baking parchment and butter the sides.
3. Put the cocoa and ½ cup dark muscovado sugar into a bowl with a bit of space to spare, and pour in the boiling water. Whisk to mix, then set aside.
4. Cream the butter and superfine sugar together, beating well until pale and fluffy; I find this easiest with a freestanding mixer, but by hand wouldn’t kill you.
5. While this is going on – or as soon as you stop if you’re mixing by hand – stir the flour, baking powder and bicarb together in another bowl, and set aside for a moment.
6. Dribble the vanilla extract into the creamed butter and sugar – mixing all the while – then drop in 1 egg, quickly followed by a scoopful of flour mixture, then the second egg.
7. Keep mixing and incorporate the rest of the dried ingredients for the cake, then finally mix and fold in the cocoa mixture, scraping its bowl well with a spatula.
8. Divide this fabulously chocolatey batter between the 2 prepared tins and put in the oven for about 30 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean.
9. Take the tins out and leave them on a wire rack for 5–10 minutes, before turning the cakes out to cool.
10. But as soon as the cakes are in the oven, get started on your frosting: put the water, 2 tablespoons muscovado sugar and 1½ sticks butter in a pan over a low heat to melt.
11. When this mixture begins to bubble, take the pan off the heat and add the chopped chocolate, swirling the pan so that all the chocolate is hit with heat, then leave for a minute to melt before whisking till smooth and glossy.
12. Leave for about 1 hour, whisking now and again – when you’re passing the pan – by which time the cakes will be cooled, and ready for the frosting.
13. Set one of the cooled cakes, with its top side down, on a cake stand or plate, and spread with about a third of the frosting, then top that with the second cake, regular way up, and spread the remaining frosting over the top and sides, swirling away with your spatula. You can go for a smooth look, but I never do and probably couldn’t.

As featured in:

Blueberry Upside-Down Cake Easy, Tasty Dessert

Blueberry season is here and this is something special to make the most of those amazing berries.

Ingredients

½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter

1 lemon

2 1/2 cups fresh  blueberries

2 tablespoons plus 1 cup sugar; plus more for serving

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon kosher salt

¼ teaspoon baking soda

3 large eggs, room temperature

2 cups sour cream or whole plain yogurt, room temperature, divided

Method

1. Arrange a rack in center of oven; preheat to 425°. Take this time to assemble all your ingredients and do your prep. Melt ½ cup (1 stick) butter in small bowl in a microwave or in a small saucepan over medium heat and let cool. Finely grate zest of whole lemon, then squeeze 2 Tbsp. juice; set aside.

2. Brush 1 Tbsp. melted butter around bottom and sides of cake pan (if you don’t have a pastry brush, use your fingertips). Line bottom of pan with a circle of parchment paper, smoothing to eliminate air bubbles between parchment and pan. Making a parchment circle is easy: just place your pan on a piece of parchment, trace the circumference with a pencil, then cut it out.

3. Toss blueberries, 2 Tbsp. sugar, 2 Tbsp. lemon juice, and 2 Tbsp. melted butter in cake pan (fruit will clump up when it hits the melted butter, which is fine). It’ll all melt together as it bakes. 

4. Bake blueberries, gently shaking pan once halfway through, until fruit juices are thick and bubbling around sides of pan, 40–50 minutes. Let cool. Reduce oven temperature to 350°.

5. Whisk 2 cups flour, 2 tsp. baking powder, ½ tsp. salt, ¼ tsp. baking soda, and 1 cup sugar in a large bowl.

6. Make a well in the center of dry ingredients. Beat 3 eggs to blend and pour into center of well along with 1 cup sour cream, 2 tsp. lemon zest, and remaining 5 Tbsp. melted butter (it’s okay if butter has re-solidified; go ahead and scrape it in there).

7. Starting in the center, whisk to blend egg mixture, then make larger circles outward to incorporate dry ingredients. Whisk several more times until batter is smooth.

8. Carefully dollop large spoonfuls of batter over fruit (it’s okay if pan is still warm and some fruit juices pool around batter); gently smooth surface.

9. Bake cake until top is golden brown and a tester or toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 45–55 minutes.

10. Let cake cool in pan 10 minutes, then use a paring knife to loosen cake from edge of pan.

11. Place a wire rack over pan, then swiftly invert rack and pan; cake should release from pan on its own. Lift cake pan off cake, peel off parchment, and marvel at your creation. If some of the cherries cling to the parchment, tuck them back into place. Let cake cool completely.

12. Whisk remaining 1 cup sour cream with 1–2 Tbsp. sugar in a large bowl. Dollop on each slice before serving.

Chicken Noodle Soup is Always in Season

This is one fine chicken noodle soup with a little twist.

INGREDIENTS

Serves: 1-2

• ¼ cup sake
• 3 tablespoons lime juice
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 clove garlic (peeled and minced)
• ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes (or use half teaspoon if you like it hotter)
• 1 skinless and boneless chicken breast
• 3 - 4 ounces noodles
• 1 tablespoon flavourless oil plus a few drops of sesame oil
• 2 - 3 cups chicken broth
• 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro

METHOD

1. Mix the lime juice, mirin, soy sauce, garlic and red pepper flakes in a bowl. Cut the chicken into strips, put into the bowl and marinate for about an hour, if possible.
2. Cook the noodles in salted boiling water according to the packet instructions, throwing in the greens of your choice for the last few minutes, then drain.
3. Heat up the stock. In another pan pour in the oils and once hot fry the pieces of chicken. When the chicken is nearly cooked pour over the remaining marinade and continue cooking until it’s nearly bubbled away and the chicken is glossy and dark. Arrange the cooked drained noodles and greens in a bowl in which you wish to serve the soup, and then pour over the hot stock. Top with the chicken and sprinkle over the cilantro.

Recipe courtesy of Nigella Lawson, from book "How to Eat"

An Easy, Old-Fashioned Favorite

This is one of my wife's favorite sweets, and for many recalls a wonderful end to the meals of childhood.

Canned pineapple is just fine, though I advise going for the one in its own juice rather than in syrup, and I add some of the juice to the sponge, too. This seems to make it light and fluffy

INGREDIENTS

Serves: 8

• butter (for greasing)
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 6 - 7 slices canned pineapple in juice (plus 3 tablespoons of the juice)
• 11 candied cherries
• ⅔ cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon baking soda
• 1 stick soft butter
• ½ cup superfine sugar
• 2 large eggs

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven to 400º. Butter a cake pan (but not loose-bottomed nor springform).
2. Sprinkle the 2 tablespoons of sugar on top of the buttered base, and then arrange the pineapple slices to make a circular pattern as in the picture.
3. Fill each pineapple ring with a glace cherry, and then dot one in each of the spaces in between.
4. Put the flour, baking powder, baking soda, butter, superfine sugar and eggs into a food processor and run the motor until the batter is smooth. Then pour in the 3 tablespoons of pineapple juice to thin it a little.
5. Pour this mixture carefully over the cherry-studded pineapple rings; it will only just cover it, so spread it out gently.
6. Bake for 30 minutes, then ease a spatula around the edge of the tin, place a plate on top and, with one deft - ha! - move, turn it upside-down.