Roasted Pumpkin Soup
Ingredients
1 medium cooking pumpkin, about 3 ½ – 4 cups roasted pumpkin flesh
1 tablespoon olive oil
3/4 cup chopped leeks
2 celery stalks, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 cups vegetable stock
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
½ teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 ½ cups whole milk
1-2 teaspoons honey
Chopped chives for garnish
Directions
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Place a sheet of parchment on a baking sheet with sides.
Cut the pumpkin in half and remove the seeds. Fill the pumpkin wells half way with water and place on the prepared baking sheet.
Place in the oven and roast until tender, about 45 minutes. Cool and then scrape out the pumpkin into a bowl. Set aside,
Pour the olive oil into a Dutch Oven and heat over medium-high heat.
Add leeks, celery and garlic; cook and stir until the vegetables are tender, stirring occasionally.
Stir in the pumpkin, broth, pepper, salt and spices. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes. Remove from heat.
Process with a hand immersion blender in the saucepan or transfer half of the pumpkin mixture to a blender or food processor; cover and blend or process until smooth. Repeat with the remaining half of the pumpkin mixture. Return all of the pureed mixture to saucepan.
Stir in the milk and heat through, but do not boil. Stir in enough of the honey to sweeten the mixture to taste.
Serve warm garnished with chopped chives. Makes 6 (3/4-cup) servings.
Glazed Ham
Don’t forget to save the bone for soup.
Ingredients
6 lb ready-to-eat, cooked ham, bone-in, uncut (NOT spiral cut), shank end or butt end
1/2 cup apricot preserves
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon Dijon country whole seed mustard
Directions
Heat the oven to 325° F.
Place the ham, fat side up, in a roasting pan.
Bake the ham for about 20 minutes per pound, about 2 hours for a 6 lb ham, or until an instant read meat thermometer registers at least 140° F (60° C), the safe minimum temperature for a fully cooked ham.
In a medium bowl whisk together the apricot preserves, brown sugar, apple cider, mustard and thyme.
About 30 minutes before the ham is done, spoon the glaze over the entire ham.
Cover the ham loosely with foil and let it stand for 15 minutes before carving and serving.
Rutabaga Gratin
You can also put this dish in the oven with the ham at the lower temperature to cook the two dishes at the same time. Put the gratin in the oven when the ham has an hour and a half of cooking time remaining.
Servings: 6-8
ingredients
2 pound rutabaga (peeled, thinly sliced)
1 cup heavy cream
½ teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon dried thyme
Salt and pepper
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
Directions
Coat a 7×11 or an 8×12 baking dish with cooking spray. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Place the sliced rutabaga in a saucepan and cover with water. Add 1 teaspoon of salt and bring to a boil.
Cook for 3 minutes in the boiling water, drain and set aside.
Combine the cream, garlic powder, thyme, ¼ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper with a whisk.
Pour one-third of the cream into the bottom of the baking dish.
Place a layer of rutabaga slices on top, followed by one-third of the cheese. Dot with one-third of the butter.
Continue to layer ending with a layer of cheese.
Bake in a preheated 350F/180C oven until bubbling on the sides and golden brown on top, about 30-40 minutes.
Remove from the oven and cover loosely with foil to rest for 10-15 minutes before serving.
Sautéed Green Cabbage Steaks
Ingredients
1 small head green cabbage
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided
Celery seed for garnish
Directions
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Immerse the whole head of cabbage in the boiling water until the outer leaves begin to loosen.
Remove the cabbage from the water and drain. Cut the stem end off and carefully peel away as many outer leaves as will come off easily, usually 8 to 12 leaves will be large enough for stuffing. Reserve those leaves for another use.
Cut the remaining cabbage in half and cut two half-inch thick slices from the cabbage halves.
Melt the butter in a saute pan over medium-high heat. Add the cabbage steaks, sprinkle with half the salt and pepper. Cook for 10 minutes.
Turn the cabbage steaks over with a wide spatula, sprinkle with the remaining salt and pepper and cook for 10 minutes more.
Sprinkle lightly with celery seed and serve.
