Tag Archives: crowd pleaser

Jan2

Easy Glazed Ham

Posted on January 2, 2015 by Rachel

Glazed ham has got to be one of my favorite things to eat and cook. It’s so easy and that delicious ham can feed your family for a week!

I remember years ago when I first tried to bake a ham for my first Easter away from home. If you’ll google ham recipes, you’ll find lots with cloves that you stick into the ham, then later remove. It’s pretty tasty, but cloves are expensive, plus time consuming to put in and remove before eating. I’ve tried all these complicated and expensive (to me) recipes, but I’ve finally settled on my favorite glazed ham recipe and it only requires three ingredients! I even have a solution to cloves and it keeps your ham moist, plus it adds some awesome flavor to your juice that you save and make a pot of peas, green beans, or anything else with. I’ll give you a bonus recipe as well with what I did with this leftover ham 🙂

Ingredients:
1 c apple cider
1/2 c brown sugar
1/4 c honey
Ham (I mean, obviously…)

Ok, first lets talk about the ham. Sure, everyone loves the spiral cut runway model of hams. But who has $50 to blow on a ham? Especially when you can spend $10-$15 on the same amount of meat and you just cut it yourself. Do yourself a favor if you’re penny pinching like me and buy the cheapest ham at your grocery store, which will most likely be the shank end of a ham. Remember you’re glazing it yourself, so no need for any extras like pre-packaged full of preservatives and other stuff glaze. Just a cheap ham shank. Also, this glaze is going to work for any ham up to about 12 pounds, so if your ham is bigger, just make a little more glaze.

1. Take a paring knife and cut all around your ham in one direction about 1/4 inch into the ham, then around it again in the opposite direction making little diamonds all over your ham. Now it sorta resembles a checkerboard. This will let the skin crisp up and allow the glaze to flavor the inside of the ham once we get there. Place your ham in a large roasting pan. Do not underestimate the amount of juice your ham will make and put it into a roasting dish that’s too small. You’ll end up cleaning up your oven forever! Ask me how I know this 😳

2. Pour one cup of apple cider in with your ham. Any apple cider will do. They’re spiced and seasoned with yummy flavors like clove, cinnamon, and who knows what else. I just know it’s delicious and really gives the ham a yummy flavor, plus it keeps it moist. Then cover in foil and place in your oven 15-20 minutes PER POUND at 325. So, if your ham is 10 pounds, that’s 150-200 minutes baking time. The last 30 minutes of your baking time we will glaze the ham, so set a timer for yourself. Also, you pick the cooking time based on how your tastes are, so my suggestion is set a timer for the shorter time, look at it, and if you want to cook it longer (like I did), then cook it longer.

3. The last 30 minutes of your baking time remove the foil from your ham and pour the glaze all over it. To make the glaze, just put your brown sugar and honey in a microwave safe bowl and nuke it about 1 minute, stirring halfway through. If you don’t have a microwave, you can do it on your stovetop. After you’ve poured the glaze on, put back in your oven for another 30 minutes.

4. After 30 minutes your ham is done! Take it out and let it rest about 10-15 minutes before slicing into it.

Things to do with leftover ham:

1. Similar to the Hawaiian Sweet Roll ham sandwich recipe I’m sure you’ve all tasted at parties, here is my spin on that: Using 24 dinner rolls from your store’s bakery, cut in half and place on a sheet pan. Cover bottom roll with 50/50 miracle whip/mayo and top with leftover ham and Swiss cheese. Place top back on rolls. In a microwave safe dish, mix 1 cup baked ham juice from roasting pan and 1 stick melted butter. Pour over the rolls and allow to sit anywhere from 10 minutes to overnight in the fridge wrapped in foil. Place covered in foil in a 350 degree oven for 15 minutes, then serve the most delicious little ham sandwich straight from heaven.

2. Save the leftover ham juice and ham hock. You can use them separately in different dishes to stretch out the use of your ham. Check out my turnip greens recipe if you like those. Or put the ham hock in a pot of beans, cream peas, soup, etc. You can’t go wrong! I even used part of my leftover juice to boil a bag of frozen green beans with salt and pepper and they were fantastic!

Hambone, hambone, have ya heard?! I’m sorry, I couldn’t resist 😄

May27

Jalapeño Cheddar Biscuit Sandwiches

Posted on May 27, 2014 by Rachel

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Have y’all seen that Whataburger commercial with the jalapeño cheddar biscuit? That’s what I’ve been dreaming about for weeks now, and being pregnant hasn’t done anything to help distract my cravings. However, in the spirit of being quasi-healthy and definitely easier on the pocketbook than daily stops to Whataburger, I decided to make these from scratch and with whole wheat flour. Also, I made a bunch of these and wrapped them in plastic wrap once they cooled and put them in a big ziplock in the freezer so I can take them out one at a time for my husband’s breakfast on the go. Go me! This recipe makes about 2 dozen biscuit sandwiches.

Ingredients:
4 cups of flour
1 T plus 2 tsps baking powder
1 tsp salt
3/4 c cold butter
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp paprika
2 jalapeños seeds and stems removed
10 oz shredded sharp cheddar cheese
2 c buttermilk
2 packages of your favorite breakfast sausage cut into patties

1. First, let’s talk about your flour. If you want to use good ‘ole white bleached flour because it’s delicious, go ahead. Also, it looks prettier than whole wheat flour. I like this kind because it’s less whole wheat more normal looking. The King Arthur Brand is what I recommend whatever flour you end up using.

2. Start fryin up your sausage. If you’re brand new to cooking breakfast sausage, you should know it’s much easier to slice the colder it is, and also use the tick marks on the plastic packaging to help cut uniform slices.

3. Combine your cold butter into the flour and other dry seasonings using a pastry blender. Now, if you’re like me and misplaced your pastry cutter along with other important things you rarely need but can never seem to find when you need them, dice up your butter with a knife into pea sized pieces before cutting it into the butter with a fork. Also, add pastry cutter to your shopping list. Then add your cheese, jalapeños, and buttermilk. Combine it all together.

4. You’re going to have a fairly wet loose dough, but that’s ok because you’re going to knead it on a slightly floured surface. Once you’re happy with the dough, roll (or use your hands – seriously does anyone still have rolling pins?) your dough into about a 3/4 – 1 inch thickness.

5. Next, get your handy dandy biscuit cutter (or top of a drinking glass if you don’t have one) and start cuttin’ them biscuits!

6. Have you been keeping an eye on your sausage patties? I hope so! Don’t forget to drain them on a paper towel. Also, keep that oil at the bottom of your pan to make a delicious gravy for these biscuits if you really want to be bad. (Does my hypocrisy know no bounds?)

7. Pop these puppies into a 400 degree oven for 15-18 minutes depending on how hot your oven gets and how evenly it cooks. Every oven is different, so just be sure to keep an eye on them towards the end.

8. Your biscuits are done! Now just add your sausage patties to them to complete the sandwiches. If you like extra cheese (who doesn’t?) slap on a slice of American or add a fried egg on top of your patty. The possibilities are endless!

Feb9

Snickerdoodle-Like Cinnamon And White Chocolate Chip Cookies

Posted on February 9, 2014 by Rachel

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Snickerdoodle-Like Cinnamon And White Chocolate Chip Cookies

These are hands down the best cookies you’ll ever eat in your life!!! If a cinnamon roll and white chocolate chip cookie had a baby, this cookie would be that delicious little offspring. The original recipe is posted on Picky Palate, but this one uses a different type of pudding in the recipe. My mom made this tasty substitution and took these cookies from a 9 to a 10! Also, if you aren’t familiar with cinnamon chips (I hadn’t even heard of them before this recipe), don’t be scared to try them! They are like tiny meltable cinnamon rolls and are amazing! They can be hard to find, so if you can’t find them in your grocery store, you can get them off of Amazon. I like the Hershey’s brand.

Ingredients:
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1/2 c granulated sugar
1/2 c packed brown sugar
1 large egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 c all purpose flour
3 tablespoons instant cheesecake pudding mix
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 c cinnamon chips
1 cup white chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. In a stand mixer, cream your butter and sugars until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add egg and vanilla beating to combine. Slowly add your flour, pudding mix, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon. Add chips and mix until combined.

3. Using a medium cookie scoop, place dough onto prepared baking sheet, about 1 inch apart from each other. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until baked through. Remove from oven and let cool on baking sheet for 10 minutes before transferring to cooling rack. Soooo good!

Dec11

Breakfast Hash

Posted on December 11, 2013 by Rachel

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What else can I say about this breakfast that doesn’t tell you it for itself after seeing this picture? It’s delicious and has no calories whatsoever! Ok, so that’s a lie, but come on, who cares once you taste this delicious concoction!

Ingredients:
3 medium red potatoes chopped
1 sweet onion chopped
A few sweet peppers chopped (optional – you can leave out or use a bell pepper if you don’t have sweet peppers)
6-8 slices of bacon chopped (I just used what I had leftover in my package of bacon. Feel free to use an entire package for this!)
1 jalapeno chopped (if you don’t like the heat, remove the stems and seeds, or just use half)
1 garlic clove chopped
2 T butter
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
1-2 fried eggs per person (this made enough for 2 of us to have large servings)
Shredded cheese and Louisiana hot sauce for garnish

1. Saute onion and peppers in butter and olive oil for about 15 minutes on medium to high heat.

2. Add bacon and chopped potatoes, and saute another 5 minutes before adding chopped garlic. Season with salt and pepper.

3. Fry up your eggs in a separate skillet (1-2 per person). As a good southern girl, I keep a bowl of bacon grease on hand by my stove top for occasions such as this where I need to fry an egg in bacon grease. Don’t you dare try to tell me an egg “fried” in a skillet with Pam is fried. That’s blasphemous and may God have mercy on your soul! However, should you like your eggs sunny side up, you can add them later and cook on your skillet under the broiler later if you’d like.

4. Put several healthy spoonfuls of your delicious hash into a bowl and top with your friend egg. Then garnish with cheese, Louisiana hot sauce, or whatever else you like.

Oct29

Spicy Chili

Posted on October 29, 2013 by Rachel

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Yesterday when I woke up it was cold and foggy outside, and that’s when I knew for sure, beyond a shadow of a doubt… It was a perfect day for chili! This chili has the perfect amount of kick and goes perfectly on baked potatoes (pictured), tamales, Fritos, French fries, or even by itself. Trust me, you could put this on an old leather boot and it would be delicious!

Ingredients:
2 lbs ground meat (beef, turkey, deer, whatever you like)
1 large sweet onion chopped
1 large jalapeño chopped
3 cloves of garlic chopped
1 12 oz beer (I used a Miller Lite, but any beer dark or light would be ok. Rule of adding drinks like this to food is if you wouldn’t drink it, don’t put it in your food. That means don’t buy the cheap stuff.)
1 can Rotel
1 cup Spicy V8 juice
3 tablespoons chili powder
2 teaspoons each of garlic salt, paprika, and cumin powder
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
1/4 cup ketchup (Heinz ketchup is my favorite)
1 tablespoon yellow mustard (I love French’s)
Olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Add onion and peppers to pot and drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper (go easy because you can always add more later, but you can’t take it out once you’ve added it). Sauté for 20 minutes on medium to high heat.

2. Add ground meat and chopped garlic and sauté until fully cooked. Add seasonings and stir well. At this point you can either keep in pot or transfer to crock pot on low.

3. Add beer, Rotel, V8, ketchup, and mustard and keep at a simmer on stovetop or crockpot for a few hours or even all day.

4. Garnish chili with your favorite toppings before serving. Classic chili toppings include onion, green onion, cheese, sour cream, and avocado.

Blonde Bitchin' West Texas Kitchen

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Tag Archives: crowd pleaser

Easy Glazed Ham

Jalapeño Cheddar Biscuit Sandwiches

Breakfast Hash

Spicy Chili