Ham-Asparagus and Cheese Strata

Can you believe it's almost Easter? I feel like I'm still cleaning up from Christmas and like I still need to get my husband a Valentine's Day gift. Just the other day I emailed someone saying "Hope your new year is off to a good start!" I clearly need to get with the times. It's 97 degrees outside and going to be April in two days. (Speaking of which, anybody got any good April Fool's pranks?) Pretty soon it'll be 2025 and I'll be going, wait, I thought I was still in my twenties! Or at least my thirties!

As the seasons seem to roll by faster and faster and time slips through my fingers like so much crumbly pie dough, I am comforted by the rituals of holidays. And when I say "rituals," I mean food. As of this moment, my family has literally zero official plans for Easter, which is weird since we are very active Catholics and celebrate Easter as probably the most important holiday of the year. But even though we haven't pinned down our plans, there are certain things I know will happen. Like ham. Ham will happen. After Easter eggs, ham seems to be the quintessential Easter food for Americans. According to About.com, the reason for this is that meat used to be slaughtered in the fall, and before refrigeration, pork was cured--a process that takes several months. It was around Easter that the hams were finally finished being cured and ready for consumption. And here I thought it had something to do with usurped pagan rituals. The things you learn, right? 

Like most Americans, I have come to expect a ham to be the centerpiece of an Easter dinner, typically followed by weeks of leftovers in the form of ham soups, ham macaroni and cheese, and anything else ham can decently be included in. But before the Easter dinner, Easter brunch is another opportunity to enjoy this traditional Easter food. This ham-asparagus and cheese strata took center stage in our Easter brunch last year and I am still thinking about it. (Then again, I practically think it's still 2014, so maybe don't read too much into that...) Really, though, this dish was highly memorable. Its delightful rainbow of pastels was perfect for Easter, and I got a bigger kick than I probably should have out of the sunny-side up eggs nestled around its top. I loved the taste of the salty ham with the milder asparagus and piquant bite of Gruyere cheese. Plus, working vegetables directly into a breakfast casserole always gets my approval. 

So as I'm trying to decide what to make for Easter breakfast, or brunch, or whatever we end up doing this Sunday, this one is at the top of my short list. Ham will happen.

Ham-Asparagus and Cheese Strata

(Adapted from Better Homes and Gardens)

Ingredients:

8 oz. asparagus spears, trimmed and cut into 2-inch pieces

5 cups bread cubes (preferably French bread)

2 c. shredded Gruyere or white cheddar cheese

1/4 c. chopped green onions

1 c. diced cooked ham

10 eggs

1 1/2 c. milk

olive oil, to taste

salt and cracked pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to boiling. Add asparagus and cook for 5 minutes or until bright green. Remove and set aside.

2. In a greased 9 x 13 inch baking dish spread half the bread cubes. Top with the cheese, green onion, and half the ham and asparagus. Top with remaining bread.

3. In a bowl whisk together 4 of the eggs and the milk. Evenly pour over the layers in the dish. With the back of a flat spatula, press the bread down into the egg mixture. To with remaining ham and asparagus. If making ahead of time, stop here, cover, and refrigerate until ready to bake. 

4. Bake uncovered in a 325 degree oven for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and with the back of a wooden spoon, press 6 indentations into the top of the strata. Pour a whole egg into each indentation. Return to oven for 20-25 more minutes. Let stand 15 minutes.

5. Drizzle top of strata with olive oil and season generously with salt and pepper. Cut into squares and serve.

Serves 6-8.

The B.E.L.T.CH.

In June 2005 when my husband and I were frivolous young things living on love and Hamburger Helper and a combined annual income equivalent to two days at Disneyland, we took a trip to beautiful Vancouver, British Columbia. We spent our days exploring Stanley Park, making fun of Canadian money (ever heard of "loonies and toonies"?), and wandering the neighborhood of Kerrisdale, where we were staying at a lovely B & B. These were the days before Yelp, so as we strolled the neighborhood, our dining choices were left to chance. Luckily for us, we ended up at a fantastic little cafe called The Red Onion Restaurant. (It's still there, come to find out.) As far as I remember, I think we ended up eating there several times during our 5-day stay. (This may have also had to do with the fact that we hadn't rented a car.) But the other reason we kept coming back was for a inappropriately delicious sandwich: 

the B.E.L.T.CH!

This amped-up version of the classic BLT packed in a fried "E"gg and "CH"eese to compose the (B)acon (E)gg (L)lettuce (T)omato and (CH)eese sandwich. You know a sandwich is a true great when it's been nine years since you had it and you still think about it semi-annually. So when my husband made it today, it brought back only good gustatory memories. See, the regular BLT has always seemed a little skimpy and skinny to me. Like, go eat a sandwich, sandwich! This version solves that problem with creamy Havarti and a hearty fried egg. It's like breakfast met lunch and they both lived happily ever after. So thanks, Red Onion Restaurant! And thanks to my husband for making such a big, beautiful B.E.L.T.CH. It's what he does best. ;)

The B.E.L.T.CH.
(A Love Letter to Food Original, inspired by The Red Onion Restaurant)

Ingredients:

Cooking spray or 1 tsp. butter
1 egg
salt and pepper, to taste
3 slices thick-cut bacon
2 slices whole wheat toast
1 Tbsp. mayonnaise
1 slice Havarti cheese
Tomato slices
Lettuce or spinach leaves

Directions:

1. Cook bacon as desired until crispy. 

2. Meanwhile, fry the egg: coat a small skillet with cooking spray or melt 1 tsp. butter over medium heat. Crack the egg directly into the skillet and let cook 3-5 minutes, or until the yolk no longer looks runny. Flip the egg with a spatula and cook on the other side an additional minute. Season with salt and pepper. 

3. Assemble the B.E.L.T.CH.! Spread mayo on toast slices and layer with tomato, lettuce, bacon, fried egg, and Havarti.

Serves 1.

Fennel-Crusted Pork Roast with Autumn Vegetables

The first time I ever bought a parsnip (which was only last year) was at a local farm. We had taken the kids to enjoy the pumpkin patch and while they were occupied picking out a pumpkin or snuggling a chicken or some other agrarian activity, I strolled over to the market where the farm sells its crops. At some point in my browsing, a pale, waxy-colored cyclone of a vegetable caught my eye. I knew I should be able to identify it...but what the heck was it? Was it a turnip? Some funky tuber? An oversized albino carrot? No, my friends, it was in fact......

a parsnip! (Isn't parsnip one of those words that when you say it over and over it sounds totally ridiculous? Parsnip. Parsnip. Parsnip. Try it.) I decided then and there to buy a bag of parsnips, if only for the fact that I had never tried them before and was feeling up for a culinary adventure. When I got to the counter to pay, the farmer/cashier looked at my purchase and said, "You're not from around here, are you?" First I took offense, like is my city slicker-ness that obvious? I mean, geez, I only live like ten miles from this farm. I tried not to appear chagrined as I answered.

Me: "Um, yes, actually, I live not far from here."
Farmer/cashier: "But did you grow up here?"
Me: "....Yeeeesss.I grew up in Chandler."
F/C: (suspiciously) "You're not from the East Coast?"
Me: "No...?"
F/C: (grunts) "Huh. I never had someone from Arizona buy parsnips."

A-HA! I was relieved to realize it was not my freaky face or some strange accent I'm unaware of that made appear alien. It was the fact that I was purchasing parsnips. (Though it did make me wonder why this farmer grows parsnips if no one around here buys them.) At any rate, his surprise made me even more determined to take these exotic vegetables home and give them a try. Which I did, and discovered them to be like a sweeter version of carrots--quite tasty when roasted with olive oil.

As it turns out, parsnips have a long and privileged history. The Roman Emperor Tiberius accepted part of the annual tribute paid from Germany to Rome in parsnips, and they were considered a luxury food for aristocratic Romans. In the Middle Ages parsnips were a staple starch, significantly more popular than potatoes. So if you're inclined to try this recipe for fennel-crusted pork with roasted carrots, onions, and parsnips, you'll be continuing the rich and storied saga of this root vegetable. More than that, you'll enjoy a succulent pork tenderloin surrounded by an earthy crust of fennel seeds as well as oven-crisped carrots and red onions. For a simple, less-is-more weeknight dinner, our family loved it. So guess what, farmer-cashier-man? I'm gonna keep on buying your parsnips, even if I AM from around here. How do you like THEM parsnips??

Fennel-Crusted Pork Roast with Autumn Vegetables
(Adapted from Real Simple)

Ingredients:

3/4 lb. carrots, peeled and cut into 3-inch sticks
3/4 lb. parsnips, peeled and cut into 3-inch sticks
1 medium red onion, cut into 1/2-inch wedges
2 Tbsp. plus 2 tsp. olive oil
kosher salt and black pepper
1.25 lb. pork tenderloin
2 Tbsp. fennel seeds, crushed

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. On a rimmed baking sheet, toss carrots, parsnips, and red onion with 2 Tbsp. olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast for 15-18 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, season the pork with salt and pepper, then coat with crushed fennel seeds. (You can do this by spreading the seeds on a plate or piece of wax paper and rolling the tenderloin over them.) Heat the remaining 2 tsp. olive oil over medium-high heat in a skillet large enough to accommodate the length of the tenderloin. Cook the pork, turning occasionally, until all sides are browned, about 8-10 minutes.

4. Remove vegetables from the oven and stir. Make room in the center of the baking sheet and place the pork on it, surrounded by the vegetables. 

5. Return the whole thing to the oven and continue to roast another 16-20 minutes. Let the pork rest at least 5 minutes before slicing.

Serves 4. 

Barbecue Pork Pizza

Everybody has that weird thing that they enjoy, even though most other people hate it or are indifferent to it. Maybe you get a high out of cleaning toilets, or a satisfaction from balancing your budget, or maybe you're like my aesthetician friend who gets a perverse pleasure out of popping people's zits. My own personal strange divertissement comes from......(drum roll).......(don't worry, it's nothing super gross).....(like wiping dog butts).....(or chewing someone else's gum)....... 

meal planning!

Whew! See? Nothing too funky. Meal planning is an art I strive to perfect every week. I get a thrill from the challenge: Can I make use of the foods already occupying space in my pantry and fridge and not spend too much on special new ingredients? Can I achieve a balance of cooking trusted standards but also incorporating the new recipes I'm dying to try? Can I somehow make it all work together like a giant puzzle? Well, I try. To some people, that probably sounds miserable, but to me it's the pleasure of bringing order out of chaos--delicious order, if at all possible. So you probably won't be surprised when I tell you that the gold standard, the hit-the-jackpot of meal planning for me is that diamond-in-the-rough, one-two punch of..... 

the Double Duty Dinner!!

The Double Duty Dinner is the kind that you prepare one night and are then able to use in a different way another night. This is not the same thing as leftovers. It's a creative reinvention of one or more components of one dinner to create a second dinner. The best is when the second dinner bears little resemblance to the first. Then you really and truly don't feel you're having leftovers.

This fantastic Barbeque Pork Pizza is probably my favorite example of such a high-scoring Double Duty Dinner. Well, it's the second half of it. The first half is another dinner: pork tenderloin slathered in barbeque sauce, slow-cooked in the Crock Pot. Barbeque pulled pork can of course be used in several ways for the first dinner: served on buns as a sandwich, served with corn on the cob and potato salad in summer, roasted sweet potatoes and onions in winter, or any combination of sides you can dream up. The key is to make extra and save it for later in the week, when you'll make this pizza and kill another day's meal plan bird with one stone. Because you do not want to miss out on this pizza. Tender barbeque pork, gooey mozzarella, crispy red onions, and some cilantro for a bite that rounds out the whole mix. If my digestive tract would let me, I could eat this entire pizza.

And seriously, I looooove meal planning. So if you're ever interested, comment or shoot me an email and I'd be happy to send you some sample week meal plans. It would make my day!

Barbeque Pork Pizza

Ingredients:

1 lb. store-bought refrigerated or homemade whole wheat pizza dough (such as Trader Joe's)
3/4 c. barbeque sauce
1/2 lb. barbeque pulled pork (leftover from your first Double Duty Dinner)
8 oz. shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 of a small red onion, thinly sliced
1/2 c. loosely packed cilantro leaves

Directions:

1. Remove pizza dough from refrigerator and follow package directions for rising. (Trader Joe's dough rises for 20 minutes.) If using homemade pizza dough, follow recipe directions for rising.

2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

3. Grease a 15 x 10 inch jelly roll pan. Spread pizza dough across pan, overlapping the edges slightly. (It will contract as it bakes.) Bake in preheated oven about 10 minutes.

4. Heat oven to 450 degrees.

5. Spread barbeque sauce over dough, followed by pulled pork. Top with mozzarella, red onion, and cilantro.

6. Bake an additional 10 minutes, or until cheese is bubbly and red onion begins to wrinkle and brown.

Serves 4.

Double Cheese and Salami Calzone

Fun food word fact of the day: did you know calzone means "stocking" or "trouser" in Italian? Maybe because in Italy Santa Claus comes and stuffs your stocking with cheese and salami? Or maybe he stuffs your trousers with them? (If he does, I don't want to know...though I sense a good double entendre joke inherent in that idea.) Regardless, my impression of the calzone is more of a pocket than a stocking. In fact, a calzone is basically a classy version of a Hot Pocket (contradiction in terms?). Or, more likely, a Hot Pocket is the sleazy, microwave version of a calzone. After all, I'm pretty sure the calzone came first. If you've never had one, a calzone is essentially a pizza folded over on itself, making it less messy and more convenient to eat with your hands (speaking of class, right?). If you like pizza, you're sure to like calzones.

Unlike yesterday's apple barley salad recipe, nobody could mistake this double cheese and salami calzone for being healthy...though that didn't stop me from making it twice this week--three times if you count the fact that I made two of them last night. Because OH. MAN. it was crazy good and my family practically inhaled it. Also, it's ridiculously easy to make--even easier than pizza. I let my kids eat it in front of the TV during our family movie night of Disney's Robin Hood and they didn't even get any on the floor! See, I told you it was less messy than pizza! Pizza + less mess = ultimate kid food, though I would happily serve this to dinner guests, as the flavors of goat cheese, salami, and fresh thyme definitely cater to an adult palate. All in all an easy dinner for a weeknight, movie night, or for company!

Double Cheese and Salami Calzone
(Adapted from Epicurious.com)

Ingredients:

1 lb. store-bought refrigerated or homemade whole wheat pizza dough (I always use Trader Joe's)
8 oz. shredded mozzarella
3.5 oz. soft goat cheese, crumbled
2.5 oz. salami, sliced in half moons
1 garlic clove, pressed
2 1/2 tsp. fresh thyme, chopped
Extra virgin olive oil

Directions:

1. Remove pizza dough from refrigerator and follow package directions for rising. (Trader Joe's dough rises for 20 minutes.) If using homemade pizza dough, follow recipe directions for rising.

2. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

3. Toss mozzarella, goat cheese, salami, garlic, and fresh thyme in a large bowl. 

4. Spread pizza dough in a large rectangle on a greased rimmed baking sheet. Mound filling crosswise on lower half of dough, leaving a 1-inch border on the sides. Fold the empty upper half of the dough over to cover filling. Crimp edges to seal.

5. Bake in preheated oven until puffed and brown, about 18 minutes. Brush with olive oil and cut into 4 pieces.

Serves 4.

Cookie Cutter Ham and Cheese Pockets

At our play group Halloween party, these little gems got quite a bit of buzz. I had several people request the recipe, so I thought I would share it here! I've been making these for four years, since I first saw them in a Woman's Day issue (back when I inexplicably received that magazine in the mail--it just began appearing one month, then disappeared a year or so later. Some anonymous benefactor must have thought I needed help being a woman?)

Anyway, for a four-ingredient recipe, these ham and cheese pockets really shine. The flaky-on-the-outside, tender-on-the-inside pie crust melts in your mouth with the gooey cheese and salty ham. Their greatest virtue is their versatility. You can use any cookie cutter you choose, as long as it's big enough and not too weirdly shaped (reindeer shaped pockets for Christmas might pose a challenge). And of course the filling can be modified as well. If you're a turkey and cheddar fan rather than ham and Swiss, knock yourself out. They store well in the fridge and can be reheated in the oven on warm if you've made them ahead of a party. I like to serve them with a side of honey mustard.

Cookie Cutter Ham and Cheese Pockets
(Adapted from Woman's Day)

Ingredients:

1 box (15oz.) refrigerated pie crusts
8 oz. thinly sliced deli ham
8 oz. sliced Swiss cheese
1 egg, lightly beaten

Directions:

Heat oven to 400 degrees.

On a large surface, unroll pie crusts. Using a rolling pin, roll dough out to approximately 1.5 times its original diameter. Cut crusts into shapes using desired large cookie cutter (3 inch works great). Collect scraps and roll out again to get as many shapes as possible. You will need an even number.

To form pockets, place one slice Swiss cheese and one small portion ham on one cut-out shape. Place a second cut-out shape and on top and press edges together firmly. Place on a greased cookie sheet. Repeat until all dough is used. Cut slits in top crust to allow steam to escape.

Brush tops of pockets with beaten egg. Bake 12-15 minutes.

Makes 9-11 pockets.

Mexican-Style Pan-Roasted Pork with Pineapple

If this dish were a person, it would be that eccentric, crazy-dressing English teacher who had a really good heart. The one who could make the most embittered 17-year-old dude love Shakespeare, even as she paired yellow leopard-print tights with purple snakeskin boots. You know what I mean? With pork, I would never think to pair the flavors of pineapple and onion, but that is exactly what this unusual main dish does, and to great success. Because the onions caramelize as you cook them in the pan, they attain a sweetness that melds beautifully with the tangy-tart pop of pineapple. A hint of cumin and oregano reminds the palate that this is indeed a savory dish (we're talking pork chops, after all), rounding it out as one of those heavenly sweet-and-savory Gestalt combos.

I found this recipe while perusing a library book I recently checked out, Real Food for Healthy Kids. I'm always on the lookout for healthy dinners my kids won't turn their noses up at. Frankly, I'm a little surprised the authors included this recipe, though, since the flavor is so unconventional. Maybe they figured the pork and pineapple theme would remind kids of Hawaiian pizza? Whatever their reasoning, I'm glad they left it in. Paired with rice and a vegetable, it makes a straightforward weeknight meal I will make again. Look for a review of this cookbook on the blog in the near future!

Mexican-Style Pan-Roasted Pork with Pineapple
Adapted from Real Food for Healthy Kids

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp. flour
1 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 to 1 1/2 lbs. thin-sliced pork chops
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
1 20-oz. can pineapple chunks in juice, drained, juice reserved
1 c. chicken broth

Combine flour, cumin, salt, and pepper in a shallow bowl. Dredge pork chops in mixture to coat and set aside on a plate.

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add pork chops and cook until the underside turns golden brown, about 2-4 minutes. Turn and cook until the other side browns, 2-4 minutes more. Remove from pan and keep warm under foil on a plate.

Add the onion and oregano to the pan and cook until softened, 5-7 minutes. Add the pineapple and cook and stir for 1 minute. Add the broth and 2 Tbsp. of reserved pineapple juice. Simmer until the sauce has thickened, about 3-4 minutes.

Serve pork on individual plates (with rice, if desired) and spoon pineapple-onion sauce over the top.