Easter Menu

 

 

By Samantha Schwalm 

 

 

Easter is a holiday when most Christians celebrate the rising of Christ. This year most of us will be celebrating virtually with our churches and family. Although we may not all be together, this does not mean you can not have a traditional Easter meal. In past articles, I discussed how to make lamb for Easter Sunday.

 

This year, let’s make the other most popular traditional meal for Easter, a baked ham. It takes about an hour and a half to fully cook a ham. It is similar to roasting a turkey, except you get to brush honey on the ham to sweeten it up! Cheesy scalloped potatoes and peas are traditional for Easter as well as the ham. To quote one my of favorite Chefs, “Food should be fun.” Whether you are by yourself this Easter, or with family or a friend. Enjoy, and have fun with what you are making.

Honey Glazed Ham:

  • 1 (5 pound) ready-to-eat ham
  • ¼ cup whole cloves
  • ¼ cup dark corn syrup
  • 2 cups honey
  • ⅔ cup butter
  • Preheat the oven to 325 degrees
  • With a very sharp knife score ham. It should look like patchwork on top of the ham. Next, push the whole cloves in between each cube.
  • Place the ham in a foil-lined pan.
  • In the top half of a double boiler (or on a very temperature in a saucepan), heat the corn syrup, honey, and butter. Keep glaze warm while baking ham.
  • Brush the glaze over ham, and bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes in the preheated oven. Every 15 minutes brush the ham with more glaze.  During the last 4 to 5 minutes of baking, turn on the broiler to caramelize the glaze.
  • After you remove the ham from the oven, let it sit for 10 minutes before serving.

 

Scalloped Potatoes:

1 bag of yellow potatoes (any potatoes will work)
4 Tablespoons of Butter
1/4 flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 nutmeg
2 1/2 cups of milk
2 cups of shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Preheat the oven to 350
Wash and peel the potatoes. With the slicing disk of a food processor, slice the potatoes and place in a bowl covered with water. In a saucepan melt the butter. Mix the flour and salt with the melted butter. Slowly add the milk & nutmeg, and stir constantly on medium-low, until the milk thickens. Add the shredded cheese to the milk mixture until it is melted completely. Keep on low until ready.
Grease a casserole pan (9×12)

Line the pan with the potato slices sprinkling salt and pepper on top of each layer. Once the potatoes are in the pan, pour the cheese mixture over the potatoes. Bake in the oven for 40 minutes, until the potatoes are knife tender.

 

 

Fresh Pea Salad:

2 cups snow peas
2 cups frozen peas
2 1/2 arugula
2 1/2 spinach
1/2 cup sliced red onion
1 cup of sliced cherry tomatoes

Blanch the snow peas and peas. Wash arugula and spinach. In a large salad bowl place all of the ingredients and set aside.

 

 

Dressing:

1/2 cup olive oil
1 Tablespoons Dijon mustard
1/8 cup apple cider
1/8 white balsamic
1 juice of a lemon
2 Tablespoons of honey
1 teaspoon salt

Place all of the ingredients, except the oil into a bowl. Start whisking the ingredients together, and slowly pour the oil into the mixture until it is all combined. Add dressing to the salad and toss. Serve immediately.