Cajun Glazed Ham

What is Easter without a baked ham? In college, I did a Social Theory paper on why we have certain food items geared towards certain holidays. Thanksgiving=turkey; Christmas=turkey for some, ham for others, or beef for our family; New Years Day=black eyed peas; and Easter=ham. We've had this ham for as long as I can remember and it never disappoints. It's also AWESOME for leftovers for sandwiches. Now I'm really wishing I had a sandwich with this ham right now.

I'm not normally a bossy person, but I am for this recipe. There are absolutely no substitutions allowed. You must use Louisiana cane syrup. If you have family members in Louisiana, get them to ship it to you. You can even order it online. Trust me on this. You have to use it. It's worth the investment to get it shipped to you if you aren't lucky enough to live in Louisiana. Check your stores, you may be lucky enough to have it in your grocery store. Unfortunately, we're not so lucky in this area.

Ok, sorry for that. It's just crucial. :)

Cajun-Glazed Ham

Source: The Evolution of Cajun & Creole Cuisine by John D. Folse, page 251

Ingredients:
1 (5 pound cured ham)
1 cup Creole mustard
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup Louisiana cane syrup (no substitutions allowed!)
1/4 cup pineapple juice
1/4 cup cracked black pepper
pinch of cinnamon
pinch of nutmeg
pinch of allspice
pinch of ground clove

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a ceramic mixing bowl, combine all the above ingredients, except ham. Using a wire whisk, blend all spices into the mustard-sugar mixture until well incorporated. Place ham in center of dutch oven and coat completely with the sweet mustard mixture. Bake uncovered for one hour.

Printable version

Pork Chops alla Pizzaiola

I love Giada De Laurentiis. She has to be my favorite Food Network chef. Brian got me two of her DVD sets for Christmas and I just could watch them over and over. It's a sickness I have. Also, I love the weekends because I can watch the Food Network for hours in the mornings.

For some reason, I remember the episode where Giada made these pork chops. She served them to her husband and told him the name of the pork chop and asked him what he thought it meant. His response was "Because it's supposed to taste like pizza?" She laughed and told him exactly!

My mind is a steel trap for useless information.

The original recipe for these calls for herbes de Provence. Well, I couldn't find any in this town the day I was going to make this dish, so I substituted that for Italian seasoning. I also added mushrooms and kalamata olives, but feel free to leave those out if you don't like them.

Pork Chops alla Pizzaiola
Adapted from Giada

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 (1-inch thick) bone-in pork loin center-cut chops (about 12 ounces each)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 small onion, thinly sliced
1/2 pound sliced baby portobello mushrooms
1/4 cup sliced kalamata olives
1 (15-ounce) can diced tomatoes, in juice
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1/4 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes, or more to taste
1 tablespoon chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves

Directions
Heat the oil in a heavy large skillet over medium heat. Sprinkle the pork chops with salt and pepper. Add the pork chops to the skillet and cook until they are brown and an instant-read meat thermometer inserted horizontally into the pork registers 160 degrees F, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer the pork chops to a plate and tent with foil to keep them warm.

Add the onion to the same skillet and saute over medium heat until crisp-tender, about 4 minutes. Add the mushrooms and saute for about 4 more minutes to develop a deep color. Add the tomatoes with their juices, olives, Italian seasoning, and 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes. Cover and simmer until the flavors blend and the juices thicken slightly, stirring occasionally, about 15 minutes. Season the sauce, to taste, with salt and more red pepper flakes. Return the pork chops and any accumulated juices from the plate to the skillet and turn the pork chops to coat with the sauce.

Place 1 pork chop on each plate. Spoon the sauce over the pork chops. Sprinkle with the parsley and serve.