Ham Salad

What to fix for my lunch box next week?  I get tired of salads, and can't always guarantee there will be leftovers from supper.  Last Thanksgiving the local grocery was running a special of a free ham with the purchase of a turkey.  Well, I was in the market for a turkey and wasn't going to say no to a free ham!  Meat is so expensive, you just can't look the other way on those deals!  So along with the turkey I took home the free ham and stashed it in the freezer.


Earlier in the week I moved the 6 pound ham to thaw and today is the day to figure out what to do with all that ham.  I used my KitchenAid food processor fitted with the shredder blade to do the heavy lifting for me.  Do you guys have any idea how much shredded ham a 6 pound ham produces?  Holy Moley! I'm glad I have some super-sized crockery bowls!

I used part of the ham to make this tasty ham salad and froze enough shredded ham for another batch.  The rest I mixed up into the ham loaf that I posted previously.

Without further adieu, here's the star of the show!

Ham Loaf

I've been hamming it up!  Today was all about cooking with ham!

I also made Ham Salad, which will be in a future post, as a result of my "free" Thanksgiving 6 pound, fully cooked ham, that I've had stashed away in the freezer.

I doubled the recipe with the intent of having one for quick suppers during the upcoming week and the second to seal with my Foodsaver and freeze for a later time when I'm not in the mood or just too busy to cook. Believe it or not, that does happen!

I can only recall having Ham Loaf a few times growing up.  I guess because ham leftovers were few and far between at our house.  When we were lucky enough to have one, the entire family devoured it.
We devoured at our house growing up.  Mealtime was focused on eating and not leisurely dining with conversation as there was often work yet to be done before dark.  While this may be foreign to many folks, it is the way I grew up.

I've altered the recipe for the Ham Loaf to fit my low carb way of eating, but I've included the original ingredients beside each item for those of you who want to make the original version.

I just pulled this out of the oven and had to snitch a sample to see how it tasted (quality control you know).  It is yummy! I ate 1/2 the slice while taking the photos!

Bacon Wrapped Stuffed Chicken Breast

Bacon...that's all I need to hear and I'm ready and salivating.
I probably consume more bacon that I should, but what can I say, I love the stuff and it is a staple in my low carb way of eating and I don't see that changing anytime soon.

This recipe was inspired from a picture I saw on Pinterest.  I was looking for something different to jazz up a normal boring chicken breast, and remembered the picture I saw and that was all the inspiration I needed.

The chicken was so juicy and moist, and reheated well in the microwave.  When I took my leftovers to lunch, folks in the lunch room were totally envious!

Bacon Wrapped Stuffed Chicken Breast

Ingredients:

2 chicken breasts
2 slices pepper jack cheese
2 slices Virginia Baked Ham
8 slices of bacon
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Line a baking sheet with foil.

Create 4 slits in each chicken breast by diagonally slice the chicken breasts, being careful to not cut them all the way through.

Quarter each slice of cheese and stuff into each of the four slits.
Do the same with the ham slices.  It doesn't have to be pretty, you'll be wrapping bacon around the entire thing, so don't worry.

Salt and pepper each breast.

Next carefully wrap the bacon around each chicken breast, making sure the cheese and ham stay in place, overlapping the bacon ends until you have swaddled the entire chicken breast in bacon.  Secure the top and the bottom pieces of the bacon with a toothpick to keep everything in place.

Add some additional pepper to top off the wrapped chicken if desired.

Place the chicken on the foil lined baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes.  Flip the chicken breast and cook an additional 30 minutes or until the bacon that was on the underside turns crispy.
Add a salad or some nice green veggies as a side and dig in!

....and That's What's Cooking at Cathy's ~ Enjoy!

Ham and Beans

Steaming Hot Ham and Beans

As the heat of the summer turned into cool fall days this past weekend, my thoughts turned to warm comfort food.  Immediately, ham and beans came to mind.  I just couldn't shake the thoughts.  A quick check of the pantry and I had nearly all the ingredients.  The only thing missing was the ham....now that is kinda important, so a trip to the store for groceries and I was all set.

There are a couple of methods for soaking beans, you can do a quick soak method or just put them in water overnight.  I wasn't in a hurry so I opted for the overnight method.  Of course, if you are in a huge hurry, you can buy canned navy beans and speed up the process even faster!

I tend to make Ham 'n' Beans without a recipe.  I'll share what I did, but I did measure just so I could include the measurements in the event you aren't comfortable "winging it".

Corn Chowder

Roasting Corn

Corn Chowder

Ingredients:

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1 lb. bacon

1 lb. fully cooked diced ham

1 large sweet onion, diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 tsp. dried thyme

1/4 cup all purpose flour

1 48 oz. box of low sodium chicken stock

1 quart of 2% milk

3 Idaho potatoes, peeled and diced

2 carrots, peeled and diced

4 cups of fresh corn kernels

1 tsp. white pepper (black will work, just more visible)

1/2 tsp. Old Bay Seasoning

2 dashes cayenne pepper

Preparation:

In a large soup pot, drizzle the extra virgin olive oil. Heat pan over medium heat.

Slice the package of bacon across the sort end, making 1/4 inch pieces. Add bacon to the pan and stir.

Continue until bacon pieces are crispy. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon to drain on paper towels. Pour grease into a bowl. leave the brown bits in the bottom of the pan, they add flavor.

While the bacon is cooking, start chopping the garlic, onion and carrots.

Measure 2 Tbsp. of grease back into the pan. Add the chopped onion, garlic, carrots and thyme.

Stir until the vegetables are good and soft, approxmately 8-10- minutes.

Dust the vegetables with the flour and stir to coat everything well.

 Add the chicken stock and bring the mixture to a boil.

Add the potatoes and milk, stir to mix the ingredients. Bring the mixture to a hard boil and boil for 8 minutes or until the potatoes break down (this will aid in thickening the soup and provide texture).

Cut the kernels off the cob, scraping the cob with your knife to extract all the juice. Add the corn to the pot and stir.

Next add the diced ham and season with the Old Bay Seasoning, pepper and cayenne.

Simmer until the corn is soft, about 10-12 minutes.

Taste the chowder and adjust seasonings as necessary.

Ladle the soup into bowls, top with crumbled bacon and serve with a hearty bread.

....and that my friends, is Whats Cooking at Cathy's ~ Enjoy!