Ham for Christmas (with a little bourbon)

Cured hams retain a rosy color after you cook them. With a fresh, uncured ham like the one here, the meat has a much lighter color after cooking, more like that of pork loin. Fresh hams are usually available in grocery stores around the holidays, but you might have to order them at other times of the year. I like to make this ham before Christmas, so I can easily feed a crowd for days. I make a meal of it right out of the oven and slice up the rest for later in the week. The butt portion is the rounder side of the ham, with less bone, so it’s easier to slice.

Pecan, Bourbon, and Cane Syrup Ham

1 (10- to 11-lb.) fresh bone-in ham (butt portion)
1 Tbsp. rubbed sage
3 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
5 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. freshly ground pepper
1⁄2 cup cane syrup
1⁄4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1⁄4 cup bourbon
1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
3⁄4 cup chopped pecans
Garnish: Satsuma orange wedges

1. Preheat oven to 325°. Score ham skin and fat, making shallow (1⁄8-inch-deep) cuts about 1 1/2 inches apart in a diamond pattern.

2. Combine sage and next 4 ingredients. Rub mixture over ham. Place ham, fat side up, on a lightly greased rack in an aluminum foil-lined roasting pan.

3. Bake at 325° for 3 hours. Meanwhile, bring cane syrup and next 3 ingredients to a boil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat; reduce heat to low, and simmer 3 minutes. Add pecans, and simmer, stirring frequently, 3 minutes or until thick and syrupy.

4. Remove ham from oven. Spread glaze over top of ham. Bake 30 minutes, basting with pan juices every 10 minutes. Shield with foil to prevent excessive browning, and bake 30 more minutes or until a meat thermometer inserted into center of ham registers 145°. Let stand 30 minutes before slicing. Garnish, if desired.

Makes: 16 servings
Hands-on Time: 30 min. Total Time: 5 hr.

Recipe from Around the Southern Table by Rebecca Lang (Oxmoor House, 2012). Photo credit: Jennifer Davick

Cast Iron Skillet Restoration

Skillets being made at Lodge's foundry in South Pittsburg, TN

It’s during the holidays that many cast iron skillets take their rightful place on the stove and in the oven. With heirloom recipes on menus for special occasions all over the country, it’s imperative to keep your skillet in pristine condition for the most joyous time of year.
I own more skillets than I can lift in 10 minutes and use them as much as I do my stainless pots and pans. Each time I teach cooking classes, I get at least one question about caring for cast iron. It can be confusing. I recently received the following email from Susie Pease, a friend that’s attended several cooking classes of mine and has a nice collection of my books on her shelf. With her permission, I’m sharing it below.

Hi Rebecca,
I have a question I am hoping you can help me with. This will make you cringe. I put my cast iron skillet through the dishwasher. I know I am supposed to just clean with water and salt and then season with oil, but I last used it to fry chicken and the pan set out dirty for several hours and I felt like it was covered with bacteria and needed sanitized. I brought the pan out of the dishwasher this morning and not only does the finish look washed off, even flaking off in places, but it is rusty too. Did I ruin it? Is it salvageable, and if so, what do I do?
Susie

I called my good friend Mark Kelly at Lodge Cast Iron to make sure I was offering Susie the most accurate advice. I haven’t seen a skillet personally that’s been through the dishwasher, but have heard stories of the horror all that hot water and soap can create.
Mark assured both of us that cast iron will live forever, even after “the unpardonable sin of putting the cookware in the dishwasher.”
Lodge has a video that helps bring back life to any skillet that’s seen better days, even at its owner’s hands. It’s really true – it does last forever. Your skillet will most likely outlast you.


 

Some of my favorite facts about cast iron are below.

1. Cast iron holds heat incredibly well.
2. Seasoning the pan means that the pores of the iron have absorbed oil.
3. Well-seasoned pans have a non-stick surface.
4. Cast iron is one of very few kinds cookware that will outlive you. They are commonly passed down from generation to generation.
5. Never, ever wash cast iron in the dishwasher.
6. If the pan feels sticky to the touch, the seasoning oil has gone rancid. Use soap-free steel wool to remove the sticky film. Then reseason the pan.
7. Season a pan by rubbing with vegetable oil and “cooking” the pan for 1 hour at 350˚ to 400˚.
8. If food is stuck on the pan, clean with a little water and a stiff brush. Heat the cleaned pan on top of the stove to thoroughly dry all the water and use a kitchen towel to rub on a light coating of oil.
9. For light cleaning, rub the pan with kosher salt and wipe clean with a towel.
10. If you’re stacking cast iron skillets, place a paper plate in between each one.

Video used with permission by Lodge Manufacturing Company. 
Text Copyright 2014 by Rebecca Lang Cooks, LLC.

10 Things You Need in Your Kitchen Now

 

Rogers Family Company Coffee and Tea Market have ingeniously created single serve coffee in 97% bio-degradable packaging that works in K-Cup brewing systems. I drink the Fog Chaser OneCup. It's robust, rich, and smells like coffee on the opening of each package (something most single serve coffee cups can't offer). Help put an end to the single serve coffee waste filling up landfills and make the switch.

Those that know me know that I adore a good glass of wine. There's nothing like sitting on the back porch with a cold glass of wine, until that wine gets warm. It's a common problem in the South, where heat and humidity are a part of life. Wine Twirls are one of those items that I first tried and kept wondering why I hadn't thought of them. They are brilliant. No flavor is imparted in the wine at all, and each glass is kept refrigerator cold for 45 minutes.

Labeling is part of an organized kitchen and I use FrogTape daily. I label my children's water bottles, mark dates to containers in the fridge, and add details to anything I put in the freezer. The tape sticks to wet containers, stays on, and peels off easily when you need to remove it.

This Bottle Bubble Ice bag chills wine in minutes and also has handles for on the go. I own three of them.

I've never been much of a fan for bottled barbecue sauces, but this one really took me by surprise. It's very close to the sauce I was raised on. Big Ed's Heirloom BBQ Sauce is now a staple for our family.

A Sharpie is almost always within an arm's reach in my kitchen. I write the date of purchase on the bottom of my spice bottles, scribble on the FrogTape, and jot down the opening date on jars of jellies and condiments in my fridge.

This is a knife I couldn't live without. It's a tomato knife from Wusthof. The perfect size with a serrated edge makes it ideal for nearly all fruits and vegetables and small loaves of bread. The fork on the end is an added bonus for picking up the fresh sliced goodies.

After spending nine months covered up in chicken, I went through my fair share of latex gloves (always powder free). I use them not for a dislike of raw chicken, but for quick and easy cleanup. If one of the children needs me right away, I can slip off the gloves and get going.

With no shortage of carbs around our house, twist ties are in high demand. The little metal flimsy ones that come on bread packages are really shamed by the Bag Cinch by OXO. They keep the packages tight and are much easier to take on and off.

I'm a new fan Rick Bayless' line of sauces. The Texas Original Taco Skillet Sauce is my favorite and is known to appear at our house on all things from roasted eggplant to poached eggs. It's a staple in the pantry.

Beauty at Lake Austin Spa Resort

I could stay and teach cooking classes at Lake Austin Spa Resort forever if they'd let me. I've just returned from my third visit to one of the prettiest places there is. On the days I'm not teaching, I love to wander with my camera and try to capture as many images as possible to tide me over until my next visit. Here are a few of my favorites.

 

Atlantic Shrimp and Grits

2 lb. unpeeled, large raw Georgia shrimp
4 cups chicken broth
1 (12-oz.) can evaporated milk
1 tsp. salt
1 cup uncooked stone-ground grits
2 Tbsp. unsalted butter
31⁄2 oz. prosciutto, chopped
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and diced
1 cup chopped white onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
1⁄3 cup dry white wine
11⁄2 cups chopped tomato
1⁄2 tsp. chopped fresh thyme, plus sprigs for garnish
1⁄2 tsp. lemon zest
1⁄2 tsp. salt
1⁄4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

Peel shrimp, leaving tails on; devein, if desired. Cover and chill.
Bring broth and next 2 ingredients to a boil over medium heat. Add grits; reduce heat to low. Cook, whisking often, 30 minutes or until creamy and tender. (If grits become too thick, add up to 1⁄4 cup water to thin.) Remove from heat, and keep warm.
Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add prosciutto, and cook 3 minutes or until lightly browned. Add jalapeno and next 2 ingredients. Cook, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes or until onion is tender. Stir in wine. Cook 1 minute, stirring to loosen particles from bottom of skillet.
Add chopped tomato, and cook 3 minutes. Add shrimp, thyme, and remaining ingredients. Cover and cook 7 to 8 minutes or just until shrimp turn pink. Top each serving of grits with shrimp mixture, and garnish, if desired.

Makes: 4 servings

Recipe from Around the Southern Table by Rebecca Lang (Oxmoor House, 2012)
Copyright 2014 Rebecca Lang Cooks, LLC

Mother's Day Around the Table

Many families gather around the table on Mother's Day. Don't limit that special time to just holidays. As a mother of two, there's no place I'd rather be with my peeps than at our table. This is an essay I wrote to be included in my book, Around the Southern Table. It didn't end up in the pages of the book, but it rings true to this day. Honor the table, the mothers that make it wonderful, and all those that gather around it.

My Southern Table

Being welcomed at the table is nothing short of receiving a special gift. It’s a package filled with soothing assurance that you are not alone. It is not simply a piece of furniture made to support a plate and a glass; it is furniture that serves its owners in countless and amazing ways.

    Like so many others, my home is not determined by an address; my home is where those I love gather around the table. The location and the table aren’t always the same, but those that surround it are always family. In times of great celebration, quite reflection or deep loss, the table is forever in the center.

    Much of my life has been marked by unforgettable moments around the table. It was at the table where I tasted my very first tomato sandwich. I ate breakfast at the table while watching the Challenger liftoff and disintegrate into the sky. Years later I slipped my left hand across the shiny oak top to show my grandmother my engagement ring. In that exact same place at the table, my place, I was overcome by the sea of endless food delivered when she passed away. We gathered our parents around the table on a frigid January evening to share the news that their first grandbaby was on the way.

    While sitting down to a bushel of roasted oysters, I was ecstatic to tell my family I was writing my long-awaited third book. I swaddled our brand new baby girl in a bright pink basket on our table the first day we came home from the hospital. We added leaves and pulled up chairs for the biggest brunch I could cook after each of our children was baptized.  Hours after the death of my father-in-law, I sat alone at our table in the middle of the night and cried until no more tears would come. While sitting on his tiny knees at the table, my son said the blessing all by himself for the first time.

    It is at the table where I have grown-up, loved, laughed, prayed, celebrated and experienced so many of the defining moments in my life. This long relationship does not make me unique. Most Southerners could tell a very similar story about the table where they sit to dine each day. The Southern table does not just fill a room or a corner; it fills our very lives and enriches our souls.

Copyright (c) 2014 Rebecca Lang Cooks, LLC. All rights reserved.

Sorghum French Toast

Any cook worth his or her salt would undeniably say a cast iron skillet is one of the most indispensable items in the kitchen. Lodge has led the way for Americans to cook honestly and sensibly for generations. The family-run company has a long history of making good cookware and giving back to their community of South Pittsburg, Tennessee.

I am proud to be included in their new book, Cast Iron Nation. Two of my favorite recipes, Sorghum French Toast and Gooey Chocolate Skillets, are between the covers. I also wrote an essay about inheriting my grandmother's skillet and what that fine pan means to me today. Bursting with 200 recipes, this book keeps cast iron pans hot from sunup to sundown.

It's not often we see Made in America anymore and Lodge is keeping that homegrown tradition alive. As one of those that continues to heat their basic black screaming hot on top of the stove and sizzle away with it in the oven, I am thankful that cast iron continues on.

Sorghum French Toast

This fancy version of French toast is as comforting and rich as it is beautiful. Right out of the oven, it’s puffed high above the skillet edge calling for a memorable morning around the table.

1/2 Tbsp. unsalted butter
10 oz. challah bread
1 1/4 cup whole milk
3/4 cup heavy cream
8 large eggs
1/4 cup sorghum syrup
1/3 cup granulated sugar
2 Tbsp. vanilla extract
1/8 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp. ground allspice
1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/8 tsp. ground ginger  
1/4 cup unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces
2 tsp. powdered sugar

1. Grease a 9-inch cast iron skillet with butter.
2. Slice bread into 1-inch slices. Cut each slice into 6 pieces. Arrange in skillet, crust sides up.
3. Combine milk and next 6 ingredients. Pour over bread. Chill 45 minutes.
4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
5. Remove skillet from refrigerator and allow to sit at room temperature for 20 minutes.
6. Combine cinnamon and next 3 ingredients. Sprinkle over top of bread. Dot with 1/4 cup butter.
7. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.
8. Remove from oven. Use a small sieve to dust sugar over top of bread. Serve immediately.

Serves 6 to 8

Images and recipe from Lodge Cast Iron Nation, copyright 2014. Used and reprinted with permission.

Green Up and Pray for Spring!

This winter has been a long and cold one, no matter where you live. Thank goodness it's almost over. With spring right around the corner, take a fresh look at salads to welcome in the new warmer weather. Salads don't have to be on a leafy base. They can be filled with vegetables and bursting with a light and refreshing zing. Finding fresh English peas can be tricky, so I use frozen peas for this recipe. Try it for the first picnic of the season.


English Pea and Radish Salad

1 (16-oz.) package frozen petite green peas
1 cup very thinly sliced radishes
2 green onions, sliced (1⁄4 cup)
2 Tbsp. chopped fresh mint, plus a few sprigs for garnish
2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1 Tbsp. white wine vinegar
3⁄4 tsp. salt
1⁄4 tsp. freshly ground pepper

1. Fill a large bowl halfway with water and ice. Bring a medium saucepan filled with water to a boil. Add frozen peas, and cook 1 minute; drain. Plunge into ice water to stop the cooking process; drain. Combine peas and next 3 ingredients in a bowl.

2. Whisk together olive oil and next 4 ingredients until well blended. Pour over peas; toss to coat. Let stand 15 minutes before serving. Garnish, if desired.

Makes: 8 servings

Hands-on Time: 10 min. Total Time: 30 min.

Recipe from Southern Living Around the Southern Table by Rebecca Lang (Oxmoor House, 2012)
(c) 2014 Rebecca Lang Cooks, LLC

The Day Our Skillet Went Cold

Each year on January 27, I re-post my tribute to my grandmother Tom. She will be missed as long as I'm living.

It was on this day, only 11 years ago, that our family lost my beloved grandmother Tom. I’ve never written about that day. In fact, I don’t know that I’ve spoken of it with more than a handful of people. There are three days in my life that each and every detail live on so vividly in my mind and this is one of them. I was with her on the exact moment she no longer was on this Earth. It is equally as precious as the minutes when my children were born.

Tom was healthy her entire life, much more so than any other person I’ve known. She cooked daily until she was 100, never had a problem with arthritis, and often wore Nike running shoes the last few years of her life. Only weeks before her death, she was confined to a hospital bed, but still, uttered not one single complaint. Just like always, she never missed a moment to say, “I love you,” or to hold our hands.

I have always felt that Tom and I were connected on an even deeper level than that of a grandchild and grandparent. Our pure love of the kitchen bound us like nothing else could. It was her cast iron skillet filled with fried chicken that first taught me how comfort and love could be tasted and shared without saying a word.

For years, we cooked together, ate together, and talked for countless hours about recipes, cookbooks, and our loves of fat back, Coke in bottles, and Nathalie Dupree. One of her finest days was when Mama brought her to cook with Nathalie and me in the very kitchen she’d seen on television so many times. Simply by sharing a stove, she taught me how imperative the act of cooking can be to a state of real happiness. Being blessed with the gift of sharing the moment when her soul went Home seemed natural and was the ultimate last chapter in our long story together.

My parents and I were with her all day, talking of everything we could think to say. We tried to fill the empty air with subjects that would keep all of our minds off the fact that her death was eminent. We talked about food, work, family, friends, and memories of days gone by. The nurses kept coming in and out, checking Tom’s pulse and blood pressure, which of course reminded us of why we were all there.

A family friend, Jane Knowles, came in to visit Tom one last time. She held Tom’s hand, stroked her hair, and sang Holy Ground with a voice that was nothing short of an angel’s. It was during this magnificent song that Tom left us and went on to meet the Lord she so dearly loved. It’s as if she waited for Jane and her hymn to say goodbye to all of us. Recalling these few minutes of witnessing my Tom drift away leaves me short on words and overflowing with tears.

In memory of Tom and her life so very well lived, I share her fried chicken recipe that has brought me comfort hundreds of times. It is with her skillet that I cook on and never forget.

Tom’s Fried Chicken

1 (3.5 pound) whole chicken, cut into 8 pieces

1/4 cup salt

1 1/2 cups vegetable shortening

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

1 cup all-purpose flour

Place the chicken in a large mixing bowl. Sprinkle with 1/4 cup salt and cover with cold water. Soak the chicken for 45 minutes. 

Remove the chicken from the salt water and drain on paper towels.

Heat the shortening in an 8-inch cast iron skillet or a large deep skillet to about 360 degrees.

Sprinkle the chicken with 1 teaspoon salt and pepper.  Coat each piece completely with flour, shake off the excess and gently place the chicken in the hot shortening.  Fry 10 to 12 minutes per side or until golden brown, about 25 minutes total. Fry chicken in batches to prevent the skillet from becoming crowded. 

Check the temperature of the oil occasionally.  If the oil is too hot, the chicken will be too brown on the outside but not fully cooked through.

Drain fried chicken on a cooling rack placed over a rimmed baking sheet.

Serves 4

Copyright 2014 Rebecca Lang Cooks, LLC. All rights reserved.
rebeccalangcooks.com

 

Top 10 Quotes from Cooking Classes

After teaching hundreds of cooking classes over the last 12 years, I've heard quite a few interesting words from my students. I keep a small notebook in my office to record the most memorable. I came across the notebook recently and had several laughs reading over them. Here are a few of my favorites.

1.  “Do you have a good recipe for hedgehog stew?”

2.  “The chef is now firing up the big green apple.”

3.  When I was eight months pregnant with my first child, a gentleman in my class said,  “I’m surprised they let you in the kitchen with knives. Aren’t your hormones really up and down?”

4.  “I won’t cook without drinking.”

5.  “I didn’t know hot oil could burn you.”

6.  “I can’t cut up that chicken. It reminds me of a little baby.”

7.  “I need a left-handed skillet, please.”

8.  “I don’t cook because it makes me smell like food. How do you keep your clothes and hair from smelling like food all the time?”

9.  “If you start with cold water, it will come to a boil faster than hot water.”

10. “I don’t want to cook. I just came to eat.”


Copyright 2014 Rebecca Lang Cooks, LLC.