Stinque Recipe Challenge (UPDATED)
Today it’s Gordon Ramsay’s Glazed Ham with pear and tomato chutney. He’s something of an asshole, but his recipes work. I don’t have a written recipe, so the amounts are estimated. You can watch him do the ham about 1:50 in:
So here are the ingredients:
And here is the ham in with water, 2 medium onions, 3 leeks, 2 carrots, 4 bay leaves, 3 cinnamon sticks, and crushed pepper and coriander. Mine is bigger than Gordon’s (!) so I’ll simmer it about 3 hours.
So here are the onions (I threw in some scallion tops I had left over) in olive oil, then I added about 1 tsp fresh grated ginger, cooked it, 1/2 tsp fresh grated nutmeg, cooked it, then tsp cinnamon and 1/2 tsp cayenne (Gordon says 1 tsp, but I figure you can add more later) and cooked it like a curry over low heat – it was rather pastelike. At this point I added about 1/4 cup madeira, forgetting entirely that the madeira was for the ham glaze. But how could it hurt?
Then in went about a half cup of brown sugar, about 2 tbsp of rice vinegar (didn’t have the white wine vingar called for) then 2 diced pears and 1 diced cooking apple (forget what kind):
Here’s the whole thing after about 5 minutes of cooking and the addition of currants (I don’t know what sultanas are, and I figured currants were plenty Christmasy):
I mistakenly added one of the tomatoes (I used 3) before I cooked it down for 15 minutes, and unlike Chef Ramsay, I made a concassé – skinned (by dropping briefly in boiling water) seeded, and chopped tomatoes. Here’s the whole thing all together:
And here is the whole mess on the stove:
So here’s the chutney with all the tomatoes in, nearly done – Ramsay took it off heat, as far as I can tell, right after he added the tomatoes – I made another ‘mistake’ and cooked it down for 10 minutes. But it tastes amazing – a bit of heat after a sweet, light, slightly sour flavor. Can’t wait for the ham … speaking of which:
So I managed to knock the fat off one side of this once-noble piece of pork – I won’t bore with the details of my klutziness. So I stuck cloves in the good side, and it’s ready to go in the oven. Glazing next – stay tuned.
And this is the brown sugar melting in the madeira (for the glaze):
And here’s the glaze with the honey in:
And, after basting every 5 minutes for 30 minutes at 350, then roasting at 375 for 30 minutes, it was done. And it was delicious.
Darling, everyone’s is bigger than Gordon’s.
Mmmmmm … hammmmmmmmm …
As an accompaniment to ham, instead of just straight mustard, I mix a bit of Dijon into sour cream to taste. It’s creamy and delicious.
ADD: Sultanas are white raisins.
I was craving turkey this last week, so planned to roast a turkey breast, do my jalapeno cornbread dressing, homemade cranberry sauce, etc. My ambition has steadily declined–first the dressing was abandoned for a root vegetable gratin, and now I’ve decided fuck it, I’m just making mashed potatoes and green beans. I’ll save what little energy (and oven space) I have for the ginger-pear upside down cake. Never skimp on booze or dessert, that’s my motto.
@karen marie doesn’t want to know: It’s joyful AND triumphant!
@Mistress Cynica: Interesting – I’m serving mashies and green beans w/ the ham.
@Mistress Cynica: Want recipe!
@Mistress Cynica: If you’re feeling a little ambitious, you could do twice-baked potatoes.
I’m making mushrooms stuffed with goat cheese and prosciutto, Mr. SFL is making Brussels sprouts roasted with pancetta. We’re going to a potluck hosted by Jews. Who eat pork, obviously.
Gordon Ramsay = Rough trade.
Waifs & Strays lunch yesterday was a success. Roast pork. Cold roast chicken. German Potato salad, green salad , ham , tabouleh for mains.
Chilli Dark chocolate mousse, or Dark choc mousse with cream or Ice cream, and Biscotto for desert.
No wonder I’m so dam tired. LOL
All-Clad envy over here!
@Mistress Cynica:
there was a short lived terrific show (it may just be on hiatus) on A&E called “the big C” the luminous laura linney plays a woman diagnosed with terminal cancer. she doesn’t tell anyone, just goes nuts. your comment was from a hilarious scene where she’s in a restaurant with her husband, the always amusing oliver platt. she says to the waiter, “i’ll just be having desserts and alcohol”
/you have your priorities straight
@blogenfreude:
your splattered stove top begs me to tell you 4 words:
Mr. Clean Magic Eraser
prepare to be amazed!
@baked: Or New York apartment living.
The English like to use sultanas. Also currants. For things like spotted dick. A local delicacy.
@baked: Baked, “The Big C” is a 2010 Showtime series that spun off from “Weeds”. I guess it’s possible A&E has carried episodes. Anyway, it did very well in the ratings for Showtime and the second season will air in 2011, so there’s more to come.
I only had the chance to see one episode during a free Showtime preview weekend. Same with “Dexter”.
@CheapBoy: Sweetheart.
Okay – off we go. On deck:
Chillay
Chicken Soup with orzo
Chicken Enchiladas con chile rojo
Guac
Nachos
Eggnog
Rum. A lot.
@baked: My wonderful girlfriend cleaned the stove using magic Japanese sponges … and if you’re in town, come for leftovers.
@JNOV: In college we went to the Peace A Pizza in Rosemont (the one with Hope’s) all the time.
@mellbell: HOPE’S! :-) We didn’t make it to Peace today. We’ll have to go to the one in Rosemont once the roads are under control.
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