Thursday, March 21, 2013

Copy Cat- Honey Baked Ham

I don't know too many people who like ham who don't like Honey Baked Ham from the Honey Baked Ham Store!!!  It just stands out from all the rest!!!  I found this recipe on the copy cat website (www.copycat.com)  where you can find a lot of recipes from your favorite restaurants.  I have used this site for years.  Just make sure you read the reviews!!  People are quite honest and will either say "this taste nothing like it" or "oh my word, it tastes just like it"!

With Easter coming up I was trying to find some recipes for my cooking class and Ham was on the list.  We made this last Monday in class and it came out really good!!  It's honestly super easy too!

I found 3 different versions when googling Copy Cat- Honey Baked Ham recipes.  I will list 3 different ways you can make this delicious ham using the same ingredients just different methods. 

1. Bake ham according to the directions the ham comes with then once it's done pour the syrup you make (recipe below) and put under the broiler watching it carefully for 2 to 5 minutes.  You want to see it start to kinda bubble on top.  Don't let it burn but let it kinda get a semi crust on top.  Take it out and it's ready!

2.  Place Ham in a crock pot and turn on high for 3 hours with about 1/2 a cup of water to a cup of water.
Then take it out and put in a oven proof pan and pour syrup you make (recipe below) and put under the broiler watching it carefully for 2 to 5 minutes.  You want to see it start to kinda bubble on top.  Don't let it burn but let it kinda get a semi crust on top.  Take and out and it's ready!

3. This method you do not boil or make a syrup, you simply sprinkle it on the ham.  In a small mixing bowl combine sugar, ginger, clove, paprika, onion powder, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Mix the seasoned sugar mixture well. Place aluminum foil on a cookie sheet, cover the pan with the foil, if you fail to do this, you may have burnt sugar on your pan, and it will take awhile to clean off. Place ham, open meat side down onto the pan. Sprinkle with the seasoned sugar mixture press sugar onto the outside of the ham. You may not use all of the seasoned sugar mixture.

Gently heat the seasoned sugar mixture on the ham. Wave the flame quickly over the sugar, you want the sugar to brown, not burn. Staying in one area, and moving out from there slowly will make this easier, as you will be heating the sugar in a continual direction. This whole process will take about 15 minutes, so be patient. You can sprinkle more sugar on top of the already browned parts of the ham and make the crust thicker

4. Instead of using the oven broiler  you can use a blow torch (listed above)!!!  You can find these at any Kitchen Gadget stores or I have seen them at Ross occasionally.  I happened to buy mine at Home Depot!  I read online that a lot of Chefs actually prefer these because they hold up better and the fuel can is larger.  Several of the reviews said the ones from the kitchen stores usually break often and your $$ goes down the drain.  At Home Depot I found mine for $12.97 and I looked at a kitchen gadget store and they ranged from $25 to $55.

We used a blow torch in my class and we had Blake start the torch and honestly it worked but it kept going out.  Not sure what we were doing wrong.  We got it to start back but the flame for some reason would just go out.  We did get it done though and we just let Blake finish it..

I bought my spiral ham at Wal Mart for I think $16.50, had I of gotten this at the Honey Baked Ham store it would have been easily $55 to $65!

Also I had to use my cell phone to take pictures because my batteries went out in my camera!  So the pictures are not great :(.

* if you don't have clove or nutmeg and you don't want to spend $6.99-$9.99 a bottle you can go to Sprouts and buy it by the ounce!  I bought about 1 1/2 tablespoons for about .40 cents!  If you can find ground cloves or nutmeg on sale grab it!  I try to keep it on hand but for some reason left it at home the day we made this in class.






Just simply add about a 1 cup of water then cover with foil and bake according to the directions on the ham. We only baked ours for 1 hour because of the about of time we have in class and it was delicious!

Add the sugar, spices and water and once it boils let it boil for 1 minute. * You do not want to leave out any of the spices because that is what gives the the Ham the Honey Baked Ham Store taste!


This is what the blow torch looks like from Home Depot.. $12.97


This is Blake!!  We LOVE Blake!  It's usually Blake and 5 or 6 women in class!  He is shy and covered his face when I was taking his picture.  He let me take another one but it was blurry.  He has been coming to class for almost 4 years now and he wants to become a Chef.  I believe he will!!



I added 1/2 a cup of syrup at a time and Blake would torch that area

We did have a flare pop up so be careful...it went out super quick once he lifted the torch away

 
It does the trick but I bet the broiler from the oven would too!  The kitchen where I do my classes is gas so there is no broiler and that is why I bought the blow torch.


\
Not a great picture but it was beautiful and delicious!!!




Ingredients
  • 2 cups white granulated sugar
  • 1 teaspoon onion powder
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon nutmeg (freshly ground if possible)
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground clove
  • 1/2 teaspoon paprika
  • 1 bone-in spiral sliced pre-cooked ham 

Bake spiral ham according to the directions on the ham or put in a crock pot for 3 hrs.

Method-Syrup

Combine the rest of the ingredients in a sauce pan. Add enough water until you get a thick syrup (about 3 to 5 Tablespoons). Bring the syrup to a boil on the stove top. Boil for 1 minute.  Remove from heat.


Remove ham from crock-pot and place in a foil lined baking pan. Baste ham with syrup. Place ham in oven and broil at 500° for 2 to 5 minutes until syrup starts to bubble. Keep an eye on the ham while it is in the oven...Do NOT leave Ham unattended!  Remove Ham and serve.

Method sprinkling dry mixture on ham:
In a small mixing bowl combine sugar, ginger, clove, paprika, onion powder, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Mix the seasoned sugar mixture well. Place aluminum foil on a cookie sheet, cover the pan with the foil, if you fail to do this, you may have burnt sugar on your pan, and it will take awhile to clean off. Place ham, open meat side down onto the pan. Sprinkle with the seasoned sugar mixture press sugar onto the outside of the ham. You may not use all of the seasoned sugar mixture.

Gently heat the seasoned sugar mixture on the ham. Wave the flame (blow torch) quickly over the sugar, you want the sugar to brown, not burn. Staying in one area, and moving out from there slowly will make this easier, as you will be heating the sugar in a continual direction. This whole process will take about 15 minutes, so be patient. You can sprinkle more sugar on top of the already browned parts of the ham and make the crust thicker.  

*You can also do the dry rub using the broiler in the oven.

I like the syrup because it goes down into some of the slices when you pour it on top but both works!









Thursday, March 14, 2013

Monte Cristo Sandwich


The first time I ever had a Monte Cristo sandwich was either at Bennigan's or Cheddar's.   This is a  very unique sandwich for sure.  It seems quite odd to think about a sandwich being dipped in pancake batter but it's actually really good.  It's not  a sandwich you would want to eat everyday but for a splurge once in a while it's definitely worth it.

You start by building a sandwich using 3 slices of bread.  You use Ham, Turkey and two kinds of cheese.  I am not a huge fan of Swiss Cheese but the original Monte Cristo does have swiss cheese.  I used provolone instead of swiss and then monterrey jack cheese.  This sandwich calls for 4 slices but I would just use 2 slices per sandwich next time..... save some calories.

When serving this sandwich raspberry jam goes nicely with and a dust of powder sugar.



Start with 3 slices of bread per sandwich, I used wheat bread but you can use whatever kind you would like.... sorry for all the bread crumbs in all the pics!


add a piece of cheese, turkey and then another slice of the same kind of cheese (like I said next time I might just add one slice per layer instead of two).

Then add the second slice of bread, cheese, ham then more cheese and top it off with the last slice of bread.

After you make your sandwiches wrap them in plastic wrap

then smash them with the palm of your your hand or a rolling pin

here is what it should look like...wrap the sandwiches back in the plastic wrap until you are ready for them

Make the pancake mix according to the instructions but make sure it's thin enough add more milk if need be 

Cut the sandwich in half corner to corner and coat with batter on both sides

place into hot oil and cook 3 to 4 minutes on both sides until golden brown.  This looks pretty messy but the second and third sandwich was a lot easier!!  It took a minute to get the technique down!

dust with powder sugar and serve with raspberry jam ;)





Monte Cristo

3 pieces of bread (whatever you would like) I used wheat
3 slices of ham
3 slices of turkey
1 or 2 slices of Cheddar cheese
1 or 2 slices of Swiss cheese or provolone
Saran wrap
Dusting of Powdered Sugar
Raspberry Jam

To Deep Fry:

Pancake mix –make according to box
about 2 inches of oil in the bottom of a large pot
Your layers will be: bread, swiss, turkey, swiss, bread, cheddar, ham, cheddar and bread
Take a piece of Saran Wrap and place a sandwich in the middle.  You want to squish the sandwich and then wrap it tight.  The sandwich should be half of what you started with.
Place sealed and wrapped sandwiches in the fridge until you are ready to fry them up.

Make Pancake batter according to box.  It should be thinner than cake mix batter.  Add some milk/water to make it thinner. The mixes are all different.  Thick will work, but it adds a lot of breading to the sandwich.
Heat oil in pot.

Remove sandwiches from refrigerator and unwrap.  Cut them in half, from corner to corner.  You should have a triangle.

Dip each triangle into the batter and VERY CAREFULLY add the triangle to the hot oil.  It will bubble up over the sandwich.  Cook for 3-4 minutes on each side.  They should be golden brown.

With long tongs, remove sandwiches and set on a bakers rack to cool.  Sprinkle each sandwich with powdered sugar and serve with jam.  

Sunday, March 10, 2013

Dagley- Henson Wedding

The weddings theme was rustic/shabby chic.  The bride I have known for years, I am not even sure if I want to think of how old she was when I first met her because then I would feel even older than I am!  The wedding reception was in the rotunda of  Sara's (bride) church that she has been to all of her life.  It also happens to be at a church I went to for 23 years.  It's all glass as far as the eye can see when looking up when you are standing in the middle of the rotunda.  A beautiful church for a beautiful wedding and a beautiful bride for a handsome groom who happens to be in the Army.

 The appetizer tables were on old doors with two old barrels holding each door.  There were two different tables with fruit, veggies, cube cheese, crackers and dip.















We had two food tables but only got one picture of one of the tables.  The dinner was Grilled Chicken, Green Bean Bundles wrapped in bacon, Baked Potatoes, Strawberry spinach salad, tossed fresh salad and rolls.

We had two tables for Potatoes so that there wasn't a long line of people waiting while others fixed their potatoes!

The Bride wanted a dessert bar so we had 3 different kind of cake balls, Lemon bars, Mini Lemon Cakes, Neiman Marcus bars, Cream Puffs and Chocolate Chip Cookies in a favor bag with a stamp of the Bride and Grooms initials and a scripture.





              Fresh warm Chocolate Chip Cookies to eat now or take home for alter!





                                                      Cream Puffs!          
           


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