Sour Cream Cabbage and Ham

1 med.-lg. green cabbage

2T butter

pepper

3/4c water - to start

1/2# precooked ham

3/4c sour cream

Cut the cabbage in quarters and remove the core.  (Give it to you dogs if they love vegetables as much as mine do.)

Slice and chop the cabbage in smallish pieces, into a 2qt. pot.  Add butter, pepper and water.  Simmer, covered for about a half hour.  Check to see if it needs more water.  Repeat this step 4 or 5 times.  Add the chopped ham for the last 30 minutes of simmer time, and continue to cook, uncovered so there's only a little water left at the end.  After the last 30 minutes, stir in sour cream and serve.  If you're not counting carbs, this would pair really well with some Parslied New Potatoes. . .Lin

Harvest Pea Soup

1# very lean ham chopped

1 lg. shallot - minced

5 cloves garlic - minced

1 med. onion - chopped 

2 lg. stalks celery - chopped

2 lg. carrots - chopped

4-6oz. brown and wild rice blend

3T butter and extra virgin olive oil

1c dry white wine, water or chicken stock

12oz. green split peas

2 med. ripe tomatoes - chopped

1 lg. potato - scrubbed and shredded

4-6c water

Saute' the ham, shallot, garlic, onion, celery, carrot and rices in butter and olive oil.  Stirring well.  When it begins to brown and stick add wine, water or chicken stock, 1/2c at a time, stir well and repeat the browning.  Add the peas, tomatoes, potato and water, simmer on med.-low an hour or more until the potatoes and the peas are very soft and soupy.  Serve with some Oatmeal Cornbread. . .Lin  NOTE: COOKING turned this into more of a Split Pea and Ham Casserole, so to make it soup, you'll need to add chicken stock. It's good as a casserole though
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A Green Bean, Egg, Ham and Cheese Breakfast

I mis-guessed my breakfast craving today.  The quinoa sounded great, but after a few bites I covered it and put it in the 'fridge.  It just wasn't a nutty-fruity-quinoa kinda day - I'll have it tomorrow.  I realized this morning I was actually craving vegetables, eggs, ham and cheese.  Yum!!!

1/2 sm. onion - chopped

3/4-1c frozen or fresh green beans

1T  butter

1/2-3/4c chopped pre-cooked ham

1 jumbo egg

some grated cheese to top at the end

Saute' the onion with the green beans and butter, covered for about 5 minutes.  Add the ham and cook another few minutes.  Crack in the egg, cooking and stirring until almost set.  Put the cheese on top, then cover and turn off the heat.  Leave it for another few minutes until the cheese melts and serve. . .Lin

Ham Salad

8oz. lean ham

3T sweet pickles

3T dill pickles

½ sweet onion

3 stalks of celery

mayonnaise

horseradish sauce - optional

Chop all the ingredients and blend in a medium bowl with enough mayonnaise (and horseradish) to flavor it nicely and hold everything together. Serve as a salad or sandwich filling. . .Lin

Ham and Split Pea Soup

3 big carrots – slice-chop

1c chopped celery

1 med. onion – chopped

6 garlic cloves – sliced

8oz. ham – cubed

2-3T butter

6c flavorful chicken stock

1c dried green split peas

Combine everything, except chicken stock and split peas, in a big soup pot. Simmer on low heat until the onions are translucent then add chicken stock and split peas. Cover and simmer on low heat, about an hour, until vegetables are tender and the peas have lost their form creating sort of mushy broth. It's perfect! Serve with potato rolls or crusty breadsticks. . .Lin

Klub - a Norwegian Specialty

My fiance' and I share a little Norwegian heritage. (He's ½ Norwegian I'm ¼.) This is his most recent attempt to familiarize me with some of his mother's old world cooking. I have to say, this was much nicer than the first attempt (Lutefisk – which I've decided, for me, was a once-in-a-lifetime adventure). Klub (pronounced klUb) is a lot like what Bohemians call Potato Dumplings. I will definitely use this recipe, making smaller klub balls, in my chicken soup for Chicken Dumpling Soup. Gotta love a man who cooks!

This recipe makes 5 balls of Klub. Put the follow ingredients in a bowl:

5 sm. - med. grated potatoes

½ cup of cold milk

1½t salt

2c flour

chucks of pre-cooked ham

~chunks of carrot - optional

~2 quartered onions - optional

Stir mixture (except for ham) by hand. Form into balls. Add balls to boiling water with chunks of pre-cooked ham. Boil for 1-1/2 hours and serve.

Ham-Scalloped Potatoes

1# thick sliced pre-cooked ham

6-8 med. potatoes – peeled and sliced

3-4 stalks celery – sliced

1 med. onion – sliced-chopped

1 can cream soup

Fill this can with half & half

Fresh ground pepper

8oz. shredded cheese

Arrange first 4 ingredients in a 9x13” baking pan. Mix soup and half & half together. Pour over ingredients in pan. Season, cover with cheese then bake at 350° 60-90 minutes. . .Lin  

Green Kale Chef's Salad

2-4 big, crisp leaves of the type of kale shown

~ slice lengthwise to remove center rib, then slice-chop

1-2 small purple kohlrabi - peel away tough bottom skin

~ then slice, very thin, lengthwise

2-4 pickling cucumbers - diagonally cross-sectioned

4 sm tomatoes - different varieties - quartered-sliced

½ Vidalia onion - sliced

½ can of beans - drained-rinsed

*2 slices deli ham or turkey - sliced-chopped

*1oz Swiss cheese - cubed

Combine all ingredients, *Omit ham if you are Vegetarian – ham and cheese if you only eat a Vegan diet, for a Green Kale Tossed Salad. Kale used to only be used as a pretty garnish, filling space between crocks on restaurant salad bars! It's been called THE most nutritious vegetable in grocery store produce departments.

Since I'm not a big fan of high-carb, traditional breakfast-food, a salad like this is a great way for me to start the day. Today I drizzled this with extra-virgin olive oil, my favorite Balsamic vinegar and seasoned with fresh black pepper and a little Coarse Grey Celtic Sea salt. Makes 4 side salads or 1 giant salad for a hungry, vegetable-lover. :o) . . . Lin

A Garlicky Egg Thing

1 big elephant garlic clove – sliced

1c broccoli separated as shown

2oz sliced-diced smoked ham

2 beautiful fresh eggs

a sprinkle of grated cheese

Saute' the broccoli and garlic, add ham and cook a bit longer before cracking the eggs into the pan. Stir a little, cook slowly until eggs set. Serve with tomatoes or fresh fruit. . .Lin

Potatoes Au Gratin with Turkey Ham

1c  chopped celery

1   onion-chopped

2   carrots-diced

2T butter

12oz turkey ham-grate or cube

1-2t  Rosemary Seasoning

Saute' vegetables in butter. Add ham and seasonings then saute' a little longer. I used a cheese grater to get the ham fine enough to blend well with the sauce and flavor it nicely. I wanted this to be more a potato dish, with the meat secondary, as part of the sauce.

8  med potatoes

2  sliced onions

1c mix of celery tops and

    Italian flat leaf parsley

~ Peel all or some of the potatoes. Slice potatoes and onions into salted water. Just before combining with other ingredients, drain well. Combine in a medium, roasting pan, with chopped celery tops and parsley.

1 can cream of celery soup

1 can milk

8oz sharp cheddar-slice

Combine these in a saucepan and heat just enough to melt the cheese, stirring all the while to blend the three ingredients. Mix this sauce into the vegetable-ham mixture and pour over the potatoes and onions in the roasting pan. Bake at 350° for 45-60 minutes. . .Lin

Another Kale, Ham, Beany-Thing

As this formulated in my mind I realized it reminds me of Easter and Passover. A lot of elements that pertain to each/both. Egg noodles, beans shaped like Easter eggs, ham – a traditional Easter meat, kale – a bitter green or herb, carrots & celery – Easter bunny food, olive oil – olives trees grow in Israel.....

1   bunch of
     kale

1c dry pasta

2 stalks celery

1 carrot

1med. onion

2 cloves elephant garlic

1t-1T Rosemary Seasoning

4-8oz. smokey ham

15-30oz. white or mixed beans

Cook pasta about 2/3 done drain almost all the cooking liquid. Combine pasta with a drizzle of olive oil to prevent clumping. Meanwhile, wash kale, remove stems and chop.  Cover kale with water and simmer 10 minutes. Drain. Saute' and stir chopped or sliced, celery, carrot, onion and garlic 8-10 minutes. Add seasonings, ham, beans, pasta and kale. Stir and heat. Serve as is (in a very light garlic-butter-oil sauce) or add a small can of chopped tomatoes, a dab of sour cream or plain Greek yogurt, a touch of spicy brown mustard, a splash of balsamic vinegar. . .or whatever sounds good to you :o) . . . Lin

Eggs and Vegetables

Years ago, I wouldn't consider making any sort of omelet with less than six or seven ingredients. A close friend challenged me to keep it simple – an egg + two other things. I finally got the hang of that and found the flavors were more pronounced. One morning I really wanted a simple omelet but only had carrots and celery in my 'fridge. It turned out so well I now vary it a bit, but think of it as comfort food.

1 stalk celery

1 med. carrot

1 slice of deli ham

1 egg

1 slice of Velveeta

Saute' the chopped vegetables in a little butter for a few minutes.

Add the chopped ham and an unbeaten egg. Stir this until just blended. Flip once, top with cheese, cover until that's melted. . .Lin

Cornbread Breakfast Quiche

4     eggs

1+1/3c  milk

1/2  pkg. cornbread mix

        fresh ground pepper

        a little sea salt

1/2   med onion - chopped

4oz  smoked ham - chopped

1/2   tomato - chopped

4oz  Swiss cheese - shredded

Using a wire whisk, beat the eggs a little, add the milk then the corn bread mix, salt and pepper.  Stir in the remaining ingredients - saving 1/2 of the cheese to sprinkle on top.  Bake at 375° - 400° 45 minutes  in a buttered baking dish, or until a knife inserted between the edge and middle comes out clean.  The first piece is always messy!. . .Lin 

Ham and Potatoes

Scalloped - Au Gratin Potatoes

1/2 stick butter

1T  powdered chicken bullion

2-3 T  flour

1 c  milk or half and half

3 stalks celery - sliced very thin

1 med  onion - finely chopped

3# potatoes - peeled and sliced

fresh ground pepper

4oz  sharp cheddar cheese - grated

Melt butter in baking dish, whisk in bullion and flour then slowly add milk.  To this mixture add onion and celery.  Heat a couple minutes in the microwave to get the sauce to bubble and thicken.  Add potatoes, ground pepper and mix well.  Top with grated cheese.  Bake at 300° 30-60 minutes, until potatoes are done the way you like.  You can also place the almost cooked potatoes under the broiler for a minute or two to crisp and brown the top. . .Lin

Glaze For Baked Ham

1/4c  dried cranberries (craisins)

1t ±   Balsamic vinegar

2T     brown mustard

2T     real Maple syrup

2T     water

Combine all the ingredients in a small food processor until it looks like a spreadable sauce.  (I only have a Cuisinart Mini-Prep and have never felt the need for anything else).  Bake the ham until about 2/3 done then baste with glaze and continue baking. . .Lin

A Yummy Breakfast Biscuit

1  large biscuit

1  fresh egg

3  thin slices of ham
    (chopped)

    Gruyere cheese

Put the ham into a heated, non-stick pan with a little butter.  Crack in the egg, stir a little, gathering in the ham.  Form this into a circle that will fit on the biscuit.  Flip it after a minute or so.  Slice the biscuit in half and put cut sides on the buttered pan to grill and crisp it up.  When the egg is cooked, put the ham and egg on the biscuit bottom, add cheese and the toasted biscuit top.  The cucumbers and tomatoes?  They're not just for salads anymore and go so well with this biscuit.  Sprinkle them with a little coarse Grey Celtic Sea Salt! . . .Lin

Ken's Navy Bean Soup

Ken, my 'boyfriend-good friend-significant other,' brought a pot of this over the other day and I HAD to have the recipe!  It was soooo good!  Perfect for this damp-grey-chilly time of the year.  He found this a while ago, but has made some changes over time.  (Ahhh, there's something special about a man who appears on your doorstep with a full pot of homemade soup! :-)  Break out your soup pot and try this, you'll love it!

1¼c dry navy beans

5+c  water

1¼# cooked ham - diced
1 t   salt
1 t   garlic powder
       pepper to taste

2     carrots - sliced
1 stalk celery - sliced

3 med potatoes - diced
¼    onion - chopped

Rinse beans. Soak in cold water overnight. Add diced ham, salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, cover and simmer 1 hour. Add vegetables and more water if needed. Cover and simmer 45 minutes or until vegetables are tender.

Note: One good way to get the ham for this recipe is to go to the Deli department at your local grocery store. Ask them to cut a single slice of cooked ham that is about 3/4 inch thick. When you get home, you can cut that slice of ham into chunks to use in this recipe.  Serving suggestion: Serve with Colby cheese sandwiches.