Hello everyone! This past weekend featured one of the most delectable holidays we get every year, Easter Sunday. I had spent the weekend with the gang and we decided to have an impromptu Easter dinner. Not long after we made that decision it was off to the store to pick up the ingredients. Here’s what we decided to go with.
1 half ham
1 bunch of asparagus
1 box of sliced mushrooms
1 bag fresh brussel sprouts
2 packages brown and serve dinner rolls (one regular, one buttermilk)
1 5 lb bag potatoes
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Butter (and a lot of it)
Lawry’s Seasoned Salt
Chili Powder
Rosemary Leaves
Table Salt
Brown Sugar
1 small bottle Fireball cinnamon whiskey
Let’s start with the ham, mostly because it has the word “butt” on it:
Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees. Take the ham and place it into a baking dish, big side down. Using a small knife, stab the ham repeatedly to create spaces for all of the goodness you are about to impart to seep in. Open the small bottle of Fireball cinnamon whiskey and, stopping to taste a tiny bit for good measure, pour it over the ham. Pour some olive oil over the ham and then coat it with the Lawry’s, some table salt, rosemary leaves and a good sized pile of brown sugar. Now take your hands (which should be good and washed, you dirty fool) and massage all of that into the ham. When you’re done it should be thoroughly coated and have a nice, gooey crust of the salts, leaves and brown sugar on it. Tent it with foil and place it into the oven That’s going to take a couple of hours, so pour yourself a drink. You’ve earned it.
As you sip your libations, wash the potatoes and slice them. I cut them lengthwise and then sliced those halves, making sizable yet manageable chunks. Luckily, we had some leftover homemade chicken tortilla soup left over (thanks, Mommers!) and, not to be wasteful, I simply added water to that and then the potatoes to that mixture to give them some extra flavor and wee bits of veggies and such. Bring that whole pot to a boil, checking on it until the potatoes are soft but not to the point that they are falling apart. It took me about 30 minutes or so:
Once the potatoes are ready, strain them and then dumb them into a baking dish. Pour some olive oil on them and a good coating of Lawry’s. I left them uncovered and slipped them into the oven with the ham.
Uh, oh! Empty drink! Make another, you impressive chef, you.
As you get about 90 minutes or so into the baking of the ham, start getting your veggies and such together. They won’t take long.
It was around this time that I took the foil off of the ham so the outside could crust up a bit.
In a pot, melt some butter and add the brussel sprouts and mushrooms. I also added a bit of water so they could steam up while they cooked. Here’s what that should look like while they soften up together:
In a skillet, set it to medium-low heat and get some butter up in there. Cut the ends off the asparagus and get them in that butter, son! Let them sautee for a bit until soft.
Drink time!
In a small bowl, melt some more of that butter while you arrange the rolls on a baking sheet. Using your kitchen brush, brush the tops of the rolls with the melted butter. Set them aside while you remove the ham and potatoes and raise the oven temp to 375 degrees for the rolls. The ham should look something like this:
Cocktail!
Once the oven is ready, slip the rolls in. They will take about 10-12 minutes, which gives you time to plate the sprouts and asparagus, which should now be ready to go. Slice some ham for your guests and set that pile of delicious swine on a serving plate. The rolls are the last step, and look great in a bowl with a napkin in it – keeps it so classy, don’t you think? Here’s how my spread looked before we destroyed it:
Now it’s time to check your drink for fullness and unleash your guests onto the bounty you have laid before them. If all goes well, you’ll have a wonderful table full of people enjoying dinner:
Remember one thing, folks. Cooking is always done with love and everyone should be welcome at your table at Easter, even if it’s a monster tard in a stupid Celtics t-shirt.
Happy Cooking!
