This past week my husband celebrated his birthday. It is tradition in our family that the person celebrating their birthday gets to request their favorite foods for dinner. My husband asked for ham, one of his favorites, that I rarely make because I am not a fan. But it was his birthday. Friends who were celebrating with us, were happy with his choice. We were so busy celebrating that I forgot to take photos of the dishes when they came out of the oven. You will just have to use your imagination. The birthday menu is below and includes his favorite cake.

First Course – Celery Bisque

You can view the recipe in a previous post – see the link.

Glazed Ham

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Place an oven rack on the bottom shelf of the oven.

Place an 8 lb. bone in, spiral cut ham in a roasting pan.

Score shallow cuts in a diamond pattern the fat on the top of the ham. Place whole cloves in the ham where the diamond cuts intersect.

Bake the ham for one hour.

Mix 1/4 cup of orange marmalade with 1/4 cup brown sugar and 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard in a small mixing bowl.

Remove the ham from the oven. Attach pineapple slices to the outside of the ham with toothpicks. Brush the glaze on the ham and pineapple.

Return the ham to the oven and cook for another hour or until the internal temperature of the ham registers 140 degree F. Let stand 20 minutes before slicing.

Scalloped Potatoes

Place the potato casserole in the oven with the ham, after the ham has baked for 30 minutes.

Ingredients

4 (about 2 lbs) baking potatoes, thinly sliced
1 small onion, sliced into thin rounds
1 tablespoon butter
2 cups half & half or cream
1 teaspoon salt
1 dash cayenne pepper
8 oz grated Gruyère cheese

Directions

Use the butter to grease a 9 x 12 inch baking dish. Place a half of the sliced potatoes into the dish. Top with all the sliced onion. Sprinkle the potatoes and onions with half the salt and pepper.

Top with half the cheese. Repeat with a second layer of potatoes, salt and pepper. Sprinkle the top with the remaining cheese. Pour in the cream. Sprinkle with some paprika for color. Cover the dish with foil.

Bake covered at 350°F. for 1 hour. Remove the foil and bake the casserole for 30 minutes or until the potatoes are tender

Orange Broccoli Sauté with Almonds

Serves: 4

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 crushed garlic clove
4 cups broccoli florets
2 teaspoons orange zest and 1 tablespoon orange juice from 1 orange
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 tablespoon slivered almonds

Directions

Heat a deep skillet over medium-low heat. Add the almonds and toast lightly. Remove to a plate.

Add the oil and garlic and cook for 1 minute.

Add the broccoli, salt, pepper, orange zest, orange juice and sauté with the olive oil and garlic mixture until the broccoli turns bright green and becomes tender.

Remove from the skillet, sprinkle with toasted almonds and serve.

Italian Rum Cake

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Coat the bottoms of two 9 inch round cake pans with cooking spray and cut parchment paper into circles to fit the bottom of the baking pans. Spray again. Set aside.

Ingredients

For the layer cake:

1 cup sugar
1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature and soft
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3 eggs
2 ¼ cup all-purpose flour
2 ¼ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 ¼ cups milk
1 cup finely ground hazelnuts (almonds or pecans can be used if you cannot find hazelnuts)
1/4 cup light rum

For the cake filling:

1 cup Nutella (chocolate hazelnut spread or other chocolate cake filling)
8 oz. Mascarpone cheese, at room temperature

For the topping:

2 cups heavy cream (whipping cream)
1 cup powdered sugar
¼ cup rum
Shaved chocolate

Directions

For the layer cake:

In an electric mixer beat together the sugar, butter and vanilla for 5 minutes.

Add eggs one at a time beating well after each addition.

In a separate bowl whisk together flour, baking powder and salt.

Add the flour to the sugar mixture alternating with the milk. Repeat until all the flour and milk are incorporated; end with flour.

Stir nuts in on low-speed.

Pour the batter evenly into the prepared pans and bake for 30 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.

Do not over-bake or the cake will be dry. Cool 10 minutes and remove layers to a cooling rack and carefully peel off the paper. Cool thoroughly.

Drizzle each of the layers with the rum and let sit for a while to absorb the rum.

For the filling:

Beat together the Nutella and the Mascarpone cheese until very smooth.

For the topping:

Whip the cream until very stiff. Add powdered sugar and blend. Add rum on low-speed until incorporated.

To assemble:

Cover one cake layer with filling and place on a cake plate. Place the unfrosted layer on top. Completely cover the cake with the whipped cream mixture.

Chill in the refrigerator for several hours. Just before serving, decorate the cake with chocolate shavings.

Posted by Jovina Coughlin in broccoli, cake, celery, Cheese, Desserts, Ham, Healthy Italian Cooking, Nuts, orange, potatoes, Soup Tags: birthday dinner menu