Easter Leftovers

We certainly did. The sun shone, the wine sparkled, everyone had seconds of the ham. Of course, we haven't stopped at seconds (or even thirds). We're enjoying many culinary reincarnations of our coca-cola glazed ham for breakfast, lunch, and dinner! It's delicious (so delicious), but favorite Easter leftover is the bouquet of purple tulips that my very sweet guests brought. 

I've got the enormous bunch arranged in a footed apothecary jar so that each stem arcs out gracefully. Every time I walk by the dining nook I feel the urge to take a picture. We'll polish off the ham and potato salad in a couple days, but I'll be enjoying these pretties forever!

Croque-Madame...Oui Monsieur!

StB and her dad have been raving about something called a "Croque-Madame."  I am extremely uncultured, so initially I thought that this meant "dead lady" in Spanish.  How wrong I was.  Croque-Madame actually translates (roughly, in French) as "Miz Crunch," and is a far tastier and more wholesome dish than "Captain Crunch," which was one of my favorite breakfast cereals growing up (this cereal contains fiberglass, which allows the Crunch to enter your bloodstream much faster).  Anyway, the Croque-Madame is a glorious invention involving an elegant combination of French toast, ham, Gruyere (or Emmental), and fried egg.  It's a staple of French cafe fare- and it makes one helluva breakfast.  Prepared without the egg, this sandwich is called a "Croque-Monsieur."  Prepared at McDonald's it becomes a "Croque-McDo" (not even kidding).  Substitute chorizo sausage and it's a "Croque-Basquaise."  Basquaise is French for Both "Basque woman" and "Basque chicken" (and you wonder why we hate the French).  I tweaked the Croque-Madame recipe a little and tried one for myself.  Here's how it went...

Instead of ham, I cooked thinly sliced prosciutto in a saute pan until crunchy.

The French toast batter was prepared with 2 eggs, 1/4 cup of cream, and 2 tablespoons each of water, agave syrup and vegetable oil.

Slices of French bread were dipped lightly in the batter, fried until crispy and golden brown, then topped with copious amounts of melted Gruyere.

The eggs were fried over-easy in unsalted butter.

If I were to do this again, I would use a better quality prosciutto and add either a sweet or sour element to the dish.  I'm thinking maple syrup, honey, or a good hollandaise sauce... you can never have too much flavor, even for breakfast .

Adam's Bachelor Thanksgiving, Part Two: Smoked Ham & Honey Carrot Confit

Now that we've got the starch out of the way, it's time to move on to the main course.

Let's start with the Honey Carrot Confit. You will need:

3-5 Large Peeled Carrots

1/4 Cup Unsalted Butter

1/2 Cup Honey

Salt to taste

Assembling the Ingredients

Carrots are not just for health nuts, hippies, and rabbits. When cooked and seasoned properly, these root vegetables can be sweet or savory, hot or cold, crunchy or pleasantly smooth. My goal in this dish is to pair the sweetness of the carrots and honey with the saltiness of my smoked ham hock. As an added bonus, this dish is chock full of chemical oddities. Carrots contain carotenes (seems obvious now, doesn't it) which are poly-unsaturated hydrocarbons that play a role in photosynthesis and help give carrots their distinctive color. Carotenes belong to a larger class of biochemicals called terpenes, which are the building blocks of saps, pitches, steroids, and oils. Here in Berkeley, Dr. Jay Keasling (my mentor's mentor) has successfully engineered E. coli and yeast to convert terpenes into the anti-malarial drug Artemisinin, and he is now attempting to produce marketable biofuels using these biosynthetic pathways. Carotene thus sits at a juncture between photosynthesis (conversion of light energy to chemical energy), biofuels synthesis (conversion of chemical energy to mechanical or thermal energy), and advanced pharmacognosy (development of useful drugs from biological sources).

Honey is no slouch either when it come to interesting chemistry. Honey is actually a solution of various sugars (mostly fructose and sucrose, with about 20% water). When honey is cooked, the water evaporates and the sugars caramelize, leaving behind a crunchy texture and an exotic variety of chemical compounds such as diacetyl (2,3-butanedione) and acetoin (3-hydroxybutanone), along with many others. I have handled these compounds in their pure form in the laboratory, and can testify to their oily consistency and rich, buttery odor. Caramelized sugar is often described as creamy, savory, and sweet, all at the same time. This complexity is due to this diverse chemical combination.

But enough with Kitchen Chemistry 101. The bottom line is this: carrots and honey are simple ingredients that when properly prepared can impart a host of exciting flavors and textures. As I mention in my video, a vegetable or fruit confit is a dish that is cooked and sweetened to a gelatinous consistency. I like to leave a little bit of crunch in my carrots, but I will call this dish a confit nevertheless. For a more proper carrot confit, consider baking your carrots low and slow in the oven before you sauté them. I prefer to execute this cook-job quickly, first with a pot of boiling water, then several minutes in the sauté pan.

Some Sweet Sauté Action

Now for the Honey-Glazed Smoked Ham Hock with Rosemary and Caramelized Onion. Gather up the following:

1 Smoked Ham Hock

2 Tablespoons Chopped Rosemary

2 Cloves Chopped Garlic

1 Cup Light or Amber Ale

1/4 Cup Bacon Fat

1/4 Cup Honey and/or Brown Sugar

1 Small Onion, Sliced

Salt & Pepper to taste

Seasoning the Ham (Also, "A Reason to Buy Adam an External Microphone")

For a single man (at least for a skinny one like me), a whole turkey is out of the question. A stuffed chicken would have been a good option, but I have a day job... I've got things to do. One of the purposes of this blog is to demonstrate how to hide your inexperience and how to cheat in the kitchen. So, I decided to do just that. I bought a smoked ham hock at Andronico's, not knowing exactly what it was or what to do with it. According to reliable sources, the hock is the shin or forearm of the pig, which is pretty lean on meat and fat on fat. Gristle and fat don't bother me a bit, I have the fat-burning capability of a manic seventeen-year-old breakdancer on ecstasy.

Doing a Hack Job on the Ham Hock

I chose to prepare a quick honey glaze for the ham hock and pan roast it in a very hot oven, rendering some of the fat, but leaving some to chew while I toughed out my lonesome Thanksgiving feast. Like my boil and sauté carrot confit, this is a down and dirty method. If I was entertaining guests who were really serious about their food and I had all day, I would have baked the ham hock at a lower temperature for a couple hours. But I am the judge, jury, and executioner on this project. The honey glaze was sweet and delicious, likewise the onions, and the chunks of fat on the ham hock slowed me down just enough for me to consider what I am really thankful for.

Tomorrow we'll wrap things up with my Bruschetta... see you then.