Hamaroni: meaty mac and cheese

When you bake a ham, you inevitably end up with leftovers. How do you use them? Strata is one option. Another is ham and macaroni casserole, which appears in several old cookbooks, including Fanny Farmer’s Boston Cooking School Cook Book. I’ve read multiple versions in various cookbooks, mentally digested them and devised my own recipe based on ingredients I had on hand. My version, which the family dubbed “hamaroni,” is like a smoky macaroni-and-cheese casserole. It can be assembled in advance and placed in the refrigerator covered with plastic wrap until you’re ready to bake it. Allow extra time for baking in this case.

Hamaroni

2 cups dry elbow macaroni

½ cup chopped onion

3 tablespoons butter

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

¼ teaspoon pepper

2 teaspoons chopped fresh parsley (optional)

3 cups milk

1 cup grated cheddar cheese

2 cups diced ham, fully cooked

1 cup frozen peas

1 cup bread crumbs

1 tablespoon butter, melted

Cook the macaroni according to package directions. In a large saucepan, cook onion in three tablespoons melted butter until tender. Stir in flour, pepper and parsley. Add milk all at once. Cook and stir on medium-high heat until mixture is thickened and bubbly. Remove from heat and stir in grated cheese. Stir in cooked macaroni, ham and frozen peas. Transfer mixture to a greased 9- by 13-inch baking dish. In a small saucepan, melt one tablespoon butter; toss in bread crumbs. Sprinkle crumbs over macaroni mixture. Bake in a 350-degree oven for 30 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and the casserole is bubbly. Serves six to eight.

Hamming it up: maple-glazed ham

A woman who once worked with me said, “I used to think I cooked. Then I realized all I was doing was heating things up.” Frankly, when you “cook” a spiral-cut ham, that’s all you’re doing: heating it up. But in the process, you can dry it out. You can prevent this by providing moisture during heating. I’ve borrowed this process from Judith and Evan Jones, authors of The Book of New New England Cookery, but I’ve simplified their recipe and modified it to make it more cost-effective:

Moist maple-glazed ham

One 10- to 12-pound ham, fully cooked

½-cup brown sugar

½-cup maple syrup

2 teaspoons whole cloves

12 bay leaves

1 cup applejack, brandy or rum

Place the ham, cut side down on a rack inside a roasting pan. Pour 1 cup applejack (or other liquor) plus an equal amount of water into the bottom of the pan. Add the cloves and bay leaves to the liquid. In a bowl, mix together the brown sugar and maple syrup to make a glaze. Spread half the glaze on the ham. Tent the pan with aluminum foil, sealing the edges well. Bake the ham in a 350-degree oven for two hours or until heated through. Remove the ham from the oven and spread remaining glaze. Replace aluminum foil and let the ham stand for about 10 minutes before serving. Serves 15 to 20.

Souper economical: habitant soup

Habitant soup came to New England via French Canadiens who filtered down from Québec. You may know it as split-pea soup. It’s an economical, stick-to-the-ribs soup, often served in lumber camps. Some claim that authentic habitant soup is made with a lump of salt pork, yellow split peas, a trinity of chopped vegetables plus garlic, water and a bay leaf. Mine employs leftover ham bone and yellow or green split peas, along with the other basic ingredients. I sauté the vegetables, but many cooks simply dump everything into a pot à la fois (at once) to simmer. Yellow split peas have become harder to find in the markets, so you might have to sacrifice visual appeal and use the green split peas instead. Thanks to my friend Sue, who claims French-Canadian ancestry, for tracking down yellow split peas for this recipe. In my opinion, the flavor of this soup rests on the quality of the ham. For a rounder flavor, use chicken stock in place of the water. The flavor of this soup improves if it sits overnight in the refrigerator, but it also thickens as it sits, so be prepared to add more water as you reheat it.

Habitant soup

1 lb. yellow split peas (green may be substituted)

1 large onion, chopped

1 large rib of celery, chopped

2 large carrots, chopped

1 garlic clove, chopped

1 bay leaf

8 cups or so of water

ham bone or ½ pound salt pork

salt to taste

Pick over the peas. Rinse. Leave them to soak as you chop and sauté the vegetables. Sauté the onion, celery and carrots for about 10 minutes; then add the garlic and sauté for another minute. Drain and add the peas, water, ham bone and bay leaf. Cover the pot and bring to a boil; then reduce to a simmer and cook for about two hours. Skim mid-way through cooking or as necessary. Remove ham and bay leaf. Using an immersion blender, puree the soup. Any meat clinging to the ham bone can be added to the soup at this point. Discard salt pork, if used. Soup will thicken as it sits. Serves six to eight.

Cure for holiday excesses: turkey soup

Yankees are fond of this adage: “Use it up; wear it out; make do or do without.” To stretch your turkey dollars even further, make a delicious soup from the turkey carcass. If your pocket and your stomach are feeling the pinch from holiday excesses, you’ll appreciate this soup. I’m always amazed by how fully flavored it is, given the meager ingredients.

Turkey noodle soup

1 rib celery, washed (top can be left intact)

1 carrot, scrubbed, top removed (peeled if you prefer)

1 medium onion (no need to peel if clean)

1 bay leaf

1 tablespoon salt

1 turkey carcass

4 ounces egg noodles

Place all ingredients except egg noodles in a large stock pot. Fill pot 2/3 full of water, enough to cover the turkey carcass. Bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer. After about 30 minutes, skim any scum that has risen to the top. Continue to simmer, half covered (lid tilted), for about two hours. When done, remove the carcass, vegetables and bay leaf; discard. Strain the stock into another pan. Bring to a boil. Add egg noodles; stir. Boil gently until tender. Leftover turkey meat can be added to the soup and heated through. A small turkey (up to 14 pounds) will make enough stock for six servings of soup. Leftover stock can be stored in the refrigerator for up to three days or in the freezer for several months.

Welcoming pineapple upside-down cake

By the mid-1600s, the pineapple, a native of South America, was being grown in hothouses in England and Holland, according to research done by Rosen College of Hospitality Management at the University of Central Florida. From there, the fruit spread to other parts of the world. American colonists began importing pineapples from the Caribbean in the 17^th century. The fruit soon became a symbol of hospitality; because of its exotic nature, pineapple was served to special guests. According to some accounts, New England sea captains would place a pineapple outside their homes as a symbol of safe return from sea voyages.

Because pineapples have been on sale at local supermarkets, I decided to try fresh pineapple in an upside-down cake. Combined with toasted coconut, the fresh pineapple makes the cake moist and delicious. Its flavor is reminiscent of English sticky toffee pudding. This cake falls into the category of what Fanny Farmer called “cottage pudding”: plain cake served warm with sauce.

Pineapple Upside Down Cake

6 tablespoons butter, softened

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

1 tablespoon water

3 tablespoons toasted coconut

Three to four rings of pineapple

1-1/3 cups all-purpose flour

2/3 cup granulated sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

2/3 cup milk

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

Melt two tablespoons of butter in a 9-inch round baking pan. Stir in brown sugar and water. Sprinkle in toasted coconut. Arrange pineapple on top of the coconut. Set pan aside.

In a mixing bowl or bowl of a standing mixer, stir together flour, granulated sugar and baking powder. Add milk, remaining butter, egg and vanilla. Beat with an electric mixer on low speed until combined; then beat on medium speed for one minute. Spoon batter over fruit.

Bake in a 350-degree oven for about 40 minutes or until a wooden toothpick comes out clean. Cool on wire rack for five minutes. Loosen sides and invert onto plate. Serve warm as is or with whipped cream, if desired. Serves 6 to 8.

To stuff a turkey

The first American cookbook, American Cookery, published in 1796 offers the following receipt (recipe) for turkey stuffing:  “Grate a wheat loaf, one quarter of a pound butter, one quarter of a pound salt pork, finely chopped, two eggs, a little sweet marjoram, summer savory, parsley and sage, pepper and salt (if the pork be not sufficient), fill the bird and sew up.” From this recipe we can see that Colonial cooks used herbs liberally.

My apple-sage stuffing, featured on the Thanksgiving menu, can be made with wheat, white or corn bread. I often use stale ciabatta. Check out your market’s day-old bread basket for bargains. Of course, you can use fresh bread, toasted, but to the Yankee mind, this seems a bit wasteful. This stuffing can be placed loosely inside the bird for cooking or can be baked separately, as I’ve done here.

Apple sage stuffing

8 cups stale bread cubes

½ cup chopped onion

½ cup chopped celery

1 cup chopped apple

½ teaspoon sage

½ stick butter (4 tablespoons)

2 cups turkey (or chicken) broth

In a Dutch oven or other large pot, sauté onion and celery in cooking oil until soft. Add sage and sauté another minute. Add butter and broth; bring to a boil. Turn off the heat and add bread cubes and apple, tossing to allow bread to soak up liquid evenly. Place mixture in a greased 9-inch by 13-inch baking dish. Bake at 375 degrees for about 30 minutes or until toasted.