Tag: dinner

Portuguese Chicken & Rice (Arroz com Frango)

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Spring is a funny time of year here in the Northeast.  Some days it’s sunny and you want to stay outside and grill and enjoy the beautiful day and the very next week, you can have 5 days of clouds and rain.  It makes for an interesting trip to the market when trying to plan out meals.  One thing that works rain or shine and really can provide some rainy day comfort is this one pot Portuguese dish, Arroz com Frango (Chicken & Rice)!

I have loved chicken and rice ever since I was a little girl.  What’s not to love right?  There is a juicy flavorful chicken combined with equally flavorful rice and potatoes, not to mention the nuggets of chouriço that are tucked away in there.  It’s really everything you could want from Portuguese cooking all in one spot.

This meal is also quite versatile.  In my house, my dad has always been a big fan of chicken legs, so my mom always made it with just legs.  And if you like that, great, make it just like we do!  But, if you prefer thighs or even breasts, this recipe accommodates that too.  Also, we make this with beer as many of my Portuguese recipes have, but white wine works well too and if you don’t keep alcohol in the house, just use some chicken stock.  It will still be delicious!  The key here is those main Portuguese spices, the crushed red pepper, the chouriço (which is used as much for its flavor as for the meat itself), the garlic and of course the Portuguese All Spice (which can be swapped out for sweet paprika in a pinch).

It’s an easy recipe that has something for the whole family.  Take a look at how I do it…

Start with some fresh chicken. I prefer legs for this recipe, but thighs would be great and if you only do breast, then that works too. I also prefer that it have skin as the skin imparts quite a bit of flavor. It can be removed after cooking if you like.

Start by searing your chicken. (Sorry this picture is so dark! It’s a big dark pot.)

You want to get every side.

Remove the chicken from the pot.

Peel and slice up some hot chouriço.

Chop up a large onion.

Saute the onion in the chicken fat you have just rendered. If not enough fat has been rendered, then you can add some olive oil.

Add in chouriço.

Get a few cloves of garlic.

Smash them with your knife and this makes the peel easy to remove. Add the peeled garlic into the pot.

Chop up about 6-8 potatoes… You want about one small potato per piece of chicken you are using or 1 large for every two pieces.

Add in a bottle of beer. Use that bottle of beer to measure out about 6-8 more of water. (white wine can be substituted for the beer)

Measure out your rice. This is NOT par boiled, medium grain rice. Uncle Ben’s does not work here, neither does any kind of quick cooking rice. Just good old-fashioned rice. I like River Rice.

Add rice into pot.

Add in one small can of tomato sauce.

And one to two heaping Tbs. of ground red pepper.

Add in a good pinch of kosher salt.

Add in Portuguese All Spice. If you don’t have this handy, add in about a tsp. of sweet paprika. (NOT SMOKY)

Keep an eye on it, if the rice needs more water. Once the potatoes have cooked through and the rice is plump and has absorbed most of the liquid, You are through.

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Portuguese Chicken & Rice (Arroz com Frango)

Serves 6-8

Ingredients:

3-4 lbs. chicken, skin on

8-10 small potatoes, peeled and diced

4 cups medium grain white rice

1 large onion, diced

1 beer (or 1 cup white wine or chicken stock)

3 cloves garlic, crushed and peeled

1 lb. hot chouriço, peeled and sliced

1 (6 oz.) can tomato sauce

2 Tbs. Pimenta moida (crushed red pepper)

1/2 tsp. Portuguese All Spice

1 Tbs. kosher salt

8 cups water

Instructions:

In a large heavy pot over high heat, sear chicken.  Remove chicken from pot and turn heat down to medium heat.  Add in onions, saute.  Add in chouriço and garlic.  Add chicken back in to pot.  Add in beer, water, rice, potatoes, tomato sauce, pepper, All Spice and salt.  Stir.  Cover and cook on low until potatoes are fork tender and rice has plumped to become fully cooked and absorbed most of the liquid.  Watch pot throughout cooking time, stirring and adding water if needed.  

*This is a gluten free recipe so long as white wine is used in lieu of beer.

Basic Spaghetti & Meatballs

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It’s not often that you can find a meal that is as great as a Sunday dinner as it is a week night meal, but Spaghetti and Meatballs fits that bill.  We are talking REAL Spaghetti and Meatballs, the kind where you actually roll the meatballs with your own two hands.

I must make this dish a dozen different ways, but this is a nice basic recipe.  If you like to add parmesan to yours, feel free, if you like to add anchovies, go for it… But, this recipe is simple, not too complicated and because the meatballs are slowly simmered in the sauce instead of baked or pan-fried, they are nice and tender and help to flavor the sauce at the same time.

This sauce and these meatballs are also great when you make a big batch and freeze them!  So, put in the effort on a Sunday afternoon, have it for dinner, freeze the rest and a week later, you have a great Wednesday night meal!  Just boil up some more pasta and you are good to go!

Start with ground beef.

Grab some parsley.

Add in some bread crumbs.

Then some Worcestershire sauce.

Add basil and half and half to moisten the bread crumbs.

Saute some onions.

Add in an egg as a binder.

If you wet your hand, it’s easier to form the meatballs.

Make golf ball size balls.

Get them ready for the sauce.

In a large pan start with olive oil.

Saute some onions.

Add in some garlic when your onions are soft.

Next add in som San Marzano whole tomatoes. You really want the whole tomatoes here, because you know they aren’t just giving you left over scraps, these are good.

Add into your pot with your onions.

Take a potato masher gently to the tomatoes. If you go crazy here, you will be wearing tomatoes, so easy does it.

Get them good and mashed.

Now add in some tomato paste.

You need to give it time to melt in.

Mix it in well.

Add some Worcestershire sauce here as well.

Now a palm full of Italian seasoning mix.

Mix.

Gently drop meatballs in.

Make sure they are all nestled in well.

Get some sauce over top of them.

Cover and simmer on low.

Add in some parsley.

Stir it in.

Cook your pasta to package instructions for aldente pasta and drain.  I am using Barilla’s Spaghetti Rigati because it has ridges that help to hold on to the sauce!

Ladle in a ladle or two of sauce to coat pasta, do not over sauce!


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Spaghetti & Meatballs

Serves 8

Ingredients:

1 lb. Spaghetti Rigati (or your favorite cut of pasta), cooked aldente to package instructions

Meatballs:

2 lbs. ground beef

1 cup panko bread crumbs

1 onion, small diced and sautéed until tender

1/2 cup half and half or whole milk

1 egg

1/4 cup parsley, chopped

1/4 cup basil, chopped

2 Tbs. Worcestershire Sauce

2 tsp. kosher salt

1 tsp. Italian seasoning mix (optional)

Sauce:

2 large cans San Marzano whole tomatoes

1 small can tomato paste

1 onion, diced

1/4 cup parsley, chopped

1/4 cup basil, chopped

4 Tbs. Worcestershire Sauce

2 Tbs. olive oil

2 tsp. Italian Seasoning Mix

2 tsp. kosher salt

1 tsp. fresh cracked black pepper

1/2 cup red wine (optional)

Directions:

For Meatballs:

Mix all ingredients in a large bowl.  Wet hands and form golf ball sized balls.  When sauce is ready, place in sauce and gently simmer.

For Sauce:

Saute onion in olive oil.  When tender, add whole tomatoes, mash with potato masher until broken down to your liking.  Add remaining ingredients.  Add meatballs, bring to a simmer and cook for 45 minutes.

To plate:

When pasta has come to aldente (after sauce is ready), drain and add in 2 ladles of sauce.  Coat pasta with sauce. Top with meatballs.  Serve hot and enjoy!

 

Corned Beef and Cabbage

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You might think it’s kind of funny that a blog called ‘The Portuguese American Mom’ has a recipe for the very Irish Corned Beef & Cabbage.  But, it’s something I have always cooked and it’s something we grew up eating each year in my Portuguese household.  I suspect, that has something to do with the similarity between the Irish dish and a traditional Portuguese Cozido.  Either way, at this stage in my life, my husband is part Irish and therefore my children are as well, so I think it’s nice to keep the tradition going.  Besides, we always add in a nice link of chouriço for that Portuguese flare!

When I was 17 we went to St. Michael, Azores as a family and on the “To Buy” list my mother had, was an old-fashioned stove top pressure cooker.  A pressure cooker is meant to drastically cut down the cooking time of just about anything using the power of trapped steam.  The craftsmen in Portugal made them in such a way that was impossible to find in this country with some sort of fortified heavy-duty steal.  And so when she came back she used it for EVERYTHING.  However, those stove top pressure cookers can tend to be quite dangerous and anyway, over the years it got lost in the shuffle.  So, I was super excited to get this ultra safe electric model for Christmas from my mom. This machine takes meals that otherwise take 3-4 even 5 hours and has them ready to serve in 30 minutes or less!  No way you say?  How is that possible you ask?  Well… let me tell you, this is my first attempt and it surely did work!

If you don’t have a pressure cooker you can surely make this on your stove top or even leave it in your slow cooker on your way to work in the morning.  The ingredients are basically the same, but for stove top, you need to triple the liquid (for the slow cooker, the liquid measurements stay the same).

This is an 8 qt. electric pressure cooker. If you don’t have a pressure cooker, this can absolutely be done the old-fashioned way in a big stock pot. It just takes about 3-4 hours of cooking time and about triple the liquid.

Add one can of lite beer. I know you may be tempted to use an Irish beer here, but if it’s a dark ale, please don’t. All the flavors will get very concentrated and that is not the way to go here. So, if you have a lite one, that’s fine, but please no dark.

This is what most people buy when buying a corned beef. You can either by the point end or a flat piece, it’s all personal preference and will likely cost you the same.

See that fat slab? Place that face down.

Now the fleshy side is face up and waiting for all the ingredients you will pile up on top.

Start by cutting a fresh piece of cabbage. I use about 1/2 a head. If you prefer more, then use more.

I am using Yukon Gold potatoes. I actually put double what I think we will eat with the meal because I like to have left over for hash the next morning.

Peel a couple of medium onions. Makes no difference what kind of onion you use really although a red onion might look a little funny.

Wash and cut up a couple of carrots. I leave the skin in tact here as there are lots of great nutrients in there. Plus the skin helps it stay in tact a little better so you don’t end up with carrot mush.

All of these get strew atop the beef.

I also put a good size sweet potato in there just because it’s yummy.

Careful not to throw out this little bundle of flavor that will likely be tucked into the packaging of your meat.

This is a mixture of whole pickling spices such as allspice, coriander, mustard seed, pepper, fennel seed, cinnamon, cloves, ginger and dill seed.

Fill that empty beer can you just used with water and add it in.

Top with a link of hot chouriço that has slits cut along the bendy side.

This is everything. Set the pressure cooker for 30 minutes.

Be sure to depressurize your machine fully before attempting to open.

My machine will now keep this warm until dinner.

Remove all contents to a nice size platter and serve!

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Corned Beef & Cabbage

Serves 4-6[/yield

Ingredients:

2-4 lb. Corned Beef, rinsed

6-8 potatoes, with slit cut in

4 carrots, cut into 3″ links

2 onions, peeled

1/2 head cabbage

1 large sweet potato

1/2 lb. hot chouriço link, with 4-5 slits cut into skin

spice packet

1 lite beer

12 oz. water

Pressure cooker directions:

Add everything into pressure cooker, set for 30 minutes, press start.  When done, release the pressure using the pressure release valve, open and serve hot.

Stove top directions:

Add everything into pot plus 36 oz more water.  Boil for 4 hours until meat is fully cooked and tender. Serve hot.

Slow cooker directions:

Add everything to pot and set to cook for 8 hours. Serve hot. 

*** Gluten-free if using a gluten-free beer or omiting the beer altogether.

American Chop Suey

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I call this meal the “IhavegroundbeefinmyfridgeandIhavenoideawhattomakefordinner” meal option.  True, sometimes I will actually crave a good American Chop Suey with its saucy ground beef, savory onions and warm filling maccaroni, but honestly most times I make this meal it is out of sheer panic! American Chop Suey is 9/10ths pantry food items and 1/10th fresh (or frozen) meat.  It is something the whole family loves and it is easy to change-up by adding in mix-in’s like a can of corn, making it a quick and easy Sheppard’s Pie substitute or sprinkling some mozzarella cheese on top, making it into a sort of easy skillet lasagna!

This here is your basic, good old-fashioned American Chop Suey recipe.  No frills, no fuss, just ground beef, onions, pasta, sauce and a few (quite literally 3) seasonings.  It is by far one of the easiest weeknight dinners that any home cook can throw together in well under 30 minutes!  Just about every other week or so, I pick up a package of family size ground beef.  A little more often if I find that it is on sale in the interim weeks.  But, unlike the steak I pick up or the full chicken I plan to turn into a stock and use the meat in various recipes, I often don’t really have a plan for what to do with this American staple.  I just pick it up thinking, well if I don’t think of anything, I can just freeze it.  Although, I usually end up using at least half of it if not all of it throughout the week.  Sometimes though, I look at it and say, yep, I have no other fresh meat in the fridge, what am I going to do with you! Sometimes I have the time to lovingly labor over a beautiful Lasagna or I am all about making a big pot of Minestrone Soup… but, sometimes I am in a hurry and just want to get a quick dinner on the table.  There is no quicker meal utilizing pantry items than this.  Also, this recipe can be easily adjusted to feed a couple, a family of 4 or a crowd of 15+.

I can never seem to get a good price on ground beef unless I buy this ginormous 3+ pound package… so what I do, to save myself strife, is to brown it all up with a touch of salt all at once, then portion it out for different meals either throughout the week or sometimes I will even freeze the already browned meat.

I use my giant 14″ Pampered Chef Deep Covered Skillet and get it all done at once. If you don’t have a large enough skillet to accommodate th amount of meat you have, do this in stages, there is nothing worst than over crowding a pan of ground meat as the meat will end up boiling instead of browning and you will get grey meat without a lot of flavor.

See here how there is space for all 3lbs.? This is what you are looking for.

Use one large onion and do a large dice on it.

I removed two pounds of meat along with most of the fat and leave the remaining pound in the skillet.

Next, I add in the onions.

Mince some fresh garlic.

Add in the garlic after the onions start to soften.

Use an Italian seasoning blend along with a little kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper for seasoning.

The trick to using dried spices is to be sure to rub the spices in your fingers first and then put it right into the fat in the hot skillet to bloom it’s flavor.

I like using good old-fashioned elbow macaroni for this recipe.

Cook to the package instructions.

Once your onions and garlic have had time to soften and cook through, add in a small 6oz. can of plain tomato sauce.

Mix this together and add in about 6 oz. of the pasta cooking water too (so just fill your empty sauce can with water).

Add in your maccaroni and stir.

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American Chop Suey

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

1 lb. ground beef, browned

1 large onion, diced medium/large

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 lb. elbow maccaroni, cooked to package instructions

1 6 oz. can plain tomato sauce

6 oz. pasta cookingwater from elbow maccaroni

1 tsp. Italian Seasoning blend

1 tsp. kosher salt

1./2 tsp. fresh cracked black pepper

Instructions:

Drain browned ground beef of most of the residual fat from cooking.  Add onions into a large skillet until tender over a medium heat on the stovetop.  Add in garlic, cook about 2-3 additional minutes. Add in Italian seasoning, salt and pepper, cook another minute.  Add in sauce and water and combine.  Add in maccaroni and stir, cook to combine an additional 3-4 minutes.  Taste for salt and enjoy!

*To make gluten-free, just replace elbow maccaroni with the gluten-free variety.

 

 

 

BBQ Meatloaf

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Who could have ever thought that one of the absolute healthiest recipes in my repertoire would be a classic comfort food?  Between growing up in a Portuguese household and my father’s distaste for the dish, meatloaf was never ever on my radar until later in life when I dated someone who absolutely loved it.  He also loved BBQ ANYTHING. But, he was also super health conscious… I do love a good challenge though… So, I thought to myself, “Self… why not combine his favorite meal with his favorite flavor and figure out a way to make it healthy for a special stay at home ‘healthy’ date?!”  And the Healthy BBQ Meatloaf was born.

Although the relationship ended many many moons ago, this recipe has stood the test of time and been requested by friends and family time and time again over the years.  So I stopped calling it a “Healthy BBQ Meatloaf” and just call it plain ole “BBQ Meatloaf” and people know no difference. Where as a traditional meatloaf is made with ground beef, pork and veal, this version uses a combination of lean ground beef and ground turkey.  And honestly, I would put this meatloaf recipe up against the fattiest version your great Aunt Melba ever made!

What I like to do quite often is make up a double batch and freeze half.  My husband is not a big meatloaf fan in general.  His not growing up Portuguese left him scarred by meatloafs past.  So, this is something I make for my kids (who love it), friends (who instantly ask for the recipe) and my in-laws (who get excited to have it after their son’s avoidance of it). It’s great paired with a Basic Mashed Potato and green beans as seen above or real special with a home-made 4-Cheese Mac&Cheese and Pan Seared Asparagus.  It’s super easy to put together and even easier to pull out of the freezer and pop into the oven!

Start with 90% lean ground beef and ground turkey.

Add in two eggs.

Add in bread crumbs. These are just some home-made bread crumbs I happen to have on hand, if you don’t have home-made ones, you can just use store-bought. I go back and forth depending on what I have on hand.

Add those right into your bowl. If you want to make this recipe gluten-free, this works great with gluten-free bread crumbs.

Dice up some onions. I like a relatively small dice. This is up to your preference.

Dice up some celery. Again, I like a small dice.

Heat a small skillet with a bit of olive oil.

Saute onions and celery until soft.

Add in italian spices.

Add in ground sage. If you have some fresh sage, that’s good too, just be sure to mill it pretty well.

Add in some salt and pepper.

Now mix.

Allow to cool for about 5 minutes off the heat. Then add into your bowl.

Once your onions and celery have been fully incorporated, form into a loaf in a pan.

Drizzle with BBQ sauce of your chosing.

At this point, you can either refrigerate for later or the next day, bake in the oven for about 45 minutes or freeze. I have done all three options and they have all worked out nicely.

Because of the little fat content in the meat itself, the loaf doesn't reduce quite as much as your traditional meatloaf.

Because of the little fat content in the meat itself, the loaf doesn’t reduce quite as much as your traditional meatloaf.

Remove from the loaf pan discarding any remaining fat from the sides and place on a serving plate.

Slice for easy serving and enjoy!

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BBQ Meatloaf

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

1/4 cup dry bread crumbs

2 eggs

1/2 lb. 90% lean ground beef

1/2 lb. ground turkey

1/4 cup diced onions

1/4 cup diced celery

1/2 tsp. Italian seasoning mix

1/4 tsp. dry sage or 1 tsp. fresh sage, minced

1/2 tsp. kosher salt

1/4 tsp fresh cracked pepper

1 tsp. olive oil

1/4 cup BBQ sauce plus more for dipping

1/4 fat free milk (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F.

In a bowl mix meats, eggs, bread crumbs and seasonings.

In a small skillet heat olive oil and add in onions and celery.  Saute until soft.  Let stand off heat for 5 minutes or so. Then add into mixing bowl.

Form into a loaf shape in a loaf pan.  Glaze top with BBQ sauce.  Bake uncovered for 1 hour.  Remove from pan and serve on serving plate with extra BBQ sauce on the side.

Enjoy!

***Make this gluten-free by substituting gluten-free bread crumbs and being sure the BBQ sauce is gluten-free.

Popcorn Chicken w/ Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce

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If your house is anything like mine, chicken nuggets are a staple.  With two toddlers it’s easy and nutritious.  Popcorn chicken is a fun new way to present your chicken nuggets!  Kids love crunch and they love to dip things.

Maybe my kids are odd, but they LOVE veggies, it’s almost hard to get them to eat protein!  However, chicken nuggets and fish sticks are two that I can always count on without question. Although fast food stops are few and far between,  I have to say I am guilty of having a kid who calls out “chocolate milk!” every time we pass by those golden arches.  Eh, no one is perfect. So, when I can make them from scratch, I do.  I love being able to control the ingredients and know exactly what my kids are eating.

Just a quick note before we get started.  Although my kids are big fans (and they are yummy), sometimes I want an adult version of the meal, so take a look under the recipe for a quick and easy adult adjustment.

chicken breast

I have two toddlers, so I start with one chicken breast and that can feed them both for two meals. This recipe is very easily doubled though.

chop chicken

Chop up the chicken to the size you best think your kids would like. I find this (between the size of a quarter and a nickel) works for us and that is what the cook time is based on. If your kids prefer tenders or a classic nugget size, just adjust the cook time by 5 mins more. If you find they truly like them the size of popcorn, then reduce cook time by 5 mins.

soak chic

I find this step to be absolutely necessary when working with boneless skinless chicken of this size. Soak bits in about a cup of buttermilk for a minimum of 30 mins and up to 8 hrs. This both tenderizes the chicken and gives it some juicy flavor.

panko

Next, measure out about 1 cup of panko breadcrumbs.

plain bc

And, half a cup of plain bread crumbs.

bc in bag

Place them in a bag with a pinch of kosher salt, some fresh cracked black pepper and a pinch of plain paprika just for color. (if your kids like spice, you could also either add in a dash of cayenne pepper or switch the paprika to Hungarian paprika)

drain chic

Remove from buttermilk with a slotted spoon. The goal is to drain the buttermilk away from the milk, otherwise you’ll create a gloppy mess.

chic in bag

Add chicken into bag. (Now, if you have kids helping with this you may want to do this in divided amounts so everyone gets a turn)

close

Zip up bag. Kid’s love to help with this part! Shake it up!

coated in bag

This is what you should start to see.

coated on tray

Spread out on a parchment covered sheet pan. Separate the pieces as much as possible. This one chicken breast was enough to cover an entire sheet pan. So, if you are doing more than one, plan accordingly.

crispy on tray

Place the bits in a preheated 350°F oven for 25 minutes. And here is the result. (If you like them to look a bit more browned, spray with a canned canola oil before placing in the oven. I don’t find that my kids care, so I don’t. They are certainly crispy enough without it. It’s just a matter of color.

Now onto the dipping sauce, we are making a Honey Mustard dipping sauce:

mustard

I start with about a half cup of dijon mustard.

add honey

Add in a quarter cup of honey

add sour cream

Add in a dollup of sour cream (1 heaping tablespoon)

sauce done

Stir together and wala! Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce. These three ingredients can definitely be adjusted to accommodate your taste, so play with it until you find that it works for your palate. You could also add in a pinch of salt, although I did not.

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Recipe for Popcorn Chicken:

(serves 2-4 kids or 1-2 adults)

1 boneless, skinless chicken breast, chopped

1 c. Japanese Panko bread crumbs

1/2 c. plain bread crumbs

1 tsp. kosher salt

1/4 tsp. ground black pepper

1/4 tsp. paprika

For the dip:

1/2 c. dijon mustard

1/4 c. honey

1 heaping Tbs. sour cream

Directions:

Chicken:

Pre-heat oven to 350°F.

In a gallon size zipper bag, add in bread crumbs and seasoning.  Combine.  Add in chicken bits, shake.  Place on a parchment lined sheet pan.  Bake for 25 minutes.

Dip:

Add all ingredients to a small bowl.  Stir.

Enjoy!

**************************************************************************************************

Here is the adult version I promised you!

adult 2

To make this chicken: * Soak chicken in buttermilk (and a dash of hot sauce if desired) for at least one hour. * In the bread crumb mixture add in 1 tsp. Hungarian paprika for spice if desired. * Bake for one hour or until the chicken comes to 160°F with a meat thermometer.

Pineapple Honey Glazed Ham

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Baked ham… an Easter tradition in my house growing up.  I’m part of a big Portuguese family, so of course that wasn’t the only thing on the table, there would usually be some sort of roast or stew as well… but, my favorite was always the ham.  My mother always put sliced pineapples on her ham.  So, what I’ve done is incorporate that into my pineapple honey glazed ham. It’s simple and delicious.

A lot of people like spiral hams, and they are yummy, but they can also be quite pricy.  I’ll be using a 10 lb. ham here and with Easter sales at my grocery store, I paid under $10 for this one, score! Spiral hams usually come with a nice little packet, usually brown sugar based that can be used to glaze the ham with, but regular run of the mill hams don’t. So, I’ve included a simple pineapple honey glaze with this recipe that is almost as simple as opening up that packet.

You’ll want to start with figuring out what size pan you’ll use. It’s a good idea for it to have room enough for the drippings, but not be so overwhelmingly big that the glaze doesn’t hang out near the meat. For this 10lb ham, I am using a 9×12″ baking dish.

You will want to prepare your ham to accept the glaze. This can be done by placing the ham cut side down in your baking dish and scoring in a lattice style, criss crossing over the entire skin.

 

ingredients

Here are all the ingredient’s you will need for the glaze: honey, 1 20 oz . can of sliced pineapples, with the juice reserved, 1 T. butter, salt and whole pepper corns.

Take your ingredients and add them in all together to a small sauce pan over medium heat and stir. 1 T butter, 1 t. pepper corns, 2 T. honey, 1/2 t. salt and reserved juice (don’t add the actual pineapples to this mix) The goal here is not to cook it down, but just to get them all mixed in the warmth helps the butter and honey to incorporate. 2-3 minutes should do it.

Next, just pour the glaze over the ham.

Place the pineapples on the ham.

If you have a tough time getting the pineapples to stay put, you can secure them with toothpicks… I didn’t have any trouble due to the shape of my ham.

I like to add a bit more honey to the top for fun… this is about a tablespoon’s worth.

You should cover the ham for cooking, but first what I like to do is spray some cooking spray on the foil so it doesn’t stick to the pineapples.

Next, loosely cover with foil, sprayed side down.

Bake at 325°F for 15 minutes per lb.

It’s a good idea to baste the ham a few times… after your calculated cooking time is through, i like to uncover the ham and put into a 375°F oven for another 20 minutes or so to get some color on your pineapples and crisp up the skin of the ham a bit.

And that’s it… Check to see that the internal temperature is up to 140°F (because ham is fully cooked before you put it in the oven), put it on a platter as seen here with my Rockstar Potatoes. (Be sure to remove toothpicks at this point if you used them)

Baked ham, Rockstar Potatoes and peas! A perfect Easter dinner!

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Pineapple Honey Glazed Ham

plan on 1/2 lb. per person for a bone in ham

Ingredients:

1 cured ham, bone in

1 20 oz. can sliced pineapple, juice reserved

2-3 T. honey

1 T. butter

1 t. black pepper corns

1/2 t. kosher salt

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 325°F.

For the glaze: In a small sauce pan over medium heat combine juice, honey, butter, pepper corns and salt. Warm through mixing.

Score the ham in a cross hatch fashion.

Pour warmed glaze over ham.  Place pineapples on ham.  Add extra honey if desired over top.  Cover with foil.  Bake 15 minutes per lb.  Baste 2-3 time throughout cooking time.  Remove foil after cooking time and baste again.  Bake for an additional 20 minutes uncovered at 375°F.  Check to see that ham is hot throughout and the skin has started to crisp up, internal temp should be 140°F.

***Gluten-free