THE EASTER BUNNY WON'T COOK YOUR DINNER

The Easter Bunny Won’t Cook Your Dinner

          The Easter Bunny has been known to have only a limited culinary repertoire. It basically consists of colored chicken eggs and a variety of chocolate and other sweet confections. While this may sound like an eminently acceptable dinner for most anyone under the age of 12, the rest of us seem to crave something more substantial.

          Fortunately, Easter dinner does not have to be a three-day marathon of cooking like Thanksgiving and Christmas. Of course, if the cravings include marinated butterflied-leg of lamb with an equally showy complementary menu, this column won’t serve. Easter dinner at its best is light and colorful in appearance to coincide with the arrival of spring. Yes, this year it falls on April 1, so we shall hope not to be fooled with another snowstorm.

                                      Glazed Ham

          Ham seems the popular choice of meat for this meal and fortunately comes in either ready to cook or fully cooked variety. The ready to cook ham will require baking, covered with foil, at 325 degrees for 20 minutes per pound. The fully cooked ham requires covered baking at 300 degrees for only 12 minutes per pound, thus cutting down the prep time. In either case, scoring the top of the ham and inserting a dozen or so cloves will improve the flavor of the meat. Apply a glaze of tart jelly, such as currant mixed with1-2 tablsp. lemon juice, and bake the ham for additional 10-15 minutes uncovered  to give the ham added eye and taste appeal.

          Scalloped potatoes are a traditional accompaniment to ham. This recipe uses bullion, instead of milk and can be prepared before the ham and reheated while the ham rests after baking.

                                      Scalloped Potatoes

          Preheat oven to 375 degrees and butter a 9x13 inch baking dish. Have ready 9 tblsp. flour and 6 tblsp. butter. Thinly slice 1 medium onion and 3 lb. scrubbed yellow potatoes, keeping potatoes under water until use. Drain the potatoes and layer 1/3 in the baking dish, spread ½ the onions on top, sprinkle with 3 tblsp. flour and dot with 2 tblsp. butter.  Repeat the process with another layer of potatoes, onions flour, butter, potatoes, flour and butter. Sprinkle 1 tsp. salt and ¼ tsp. cayenne on top. Bring 3 cups chicken or vegetable broth to boil and pour over the potatoes. Bake covered with foil for 45 minutes. Remove foil, sprinkle with mild paprika and bake for additional 10 minutes. This can be reheated covered in the oven at 325 for 10-15 min. before serving.

          Colorful vegetables add eye appeal to this meal. Asparagus cooked in salt water for 3 minutes and wrapped in prosciutto or served with shaved Parmigiano-Regano cheese makes an easy choice. Pickled string beans and beets are another easy choice. As for salad, there is nothing easier than spinach.

                             Spinach and Pecan Salad

          In a bowl combine ½ lb. baby spinach with ½ cup diced red pepper and ¼ cup dried cranberries (optional). In a small pan heat ¼ cup olive oil with 1 minced garlic clove, ½ tsp. salt and ¼ tsp. pepper, whisk in ¼ cup balsamic vinegar. Toss spinach with the balsamic vinegar dressing and ½ cup toasted pecan pieces. Serve immediately.

                             Jello Easter Eggs

          My mother had a different, but colorful take on Easter dinner desert: jello eggs with vanilla sauce. For a month before Easter she would start collecting hallow egg shells whenever she needed eggs for baking. She would carefully open a dime size opening at the thick part of the egg with a knife tip, then turn the egg over, with a large pin poke a hole in the pointed end and blow the egg out into a bowl through the large bottom opening. The empty egg shells were rinsed with water and allowed to dry. Day before Easter, she would seal the pin hole with a bit of wax and place a dozen empty egg shells in an egg carton with the open bottom up. These she would fill with liquid jello made with ½ cup less water than the instructions on the box. These would sit in the refrigerator overnight and the shells pealed the next day giving us red, yellow and green Easter eggs for desert, served with vanilla sauce or whipped cream.

          Even with an April’s Fool’s snowstorm, this could be a relatively stress free Easter dinner without extra demands on the Easter Bunny.

          (I. Winicov Harrington lives in coastal Maine and is the author of “How to Eat Healthy and Well for Less than $5.00 a Day: the Smart-Frugal Food Plan”; website: www.winicov-harrington.com)

BROWSING OLD COOKBOOKS

Browsing Old Cookbooks

          February is a month that always seems longer than its 28 days. It has not helped that this year we have had bright sunny and warm days that lull us into believing that spring is just around the corner, only to be awakened by another Sunday snowstorm. It is a good time to browse old cookbooks for recipes less familiar and sometimes overlooked or forgotten.

          One of my favorites still is M. Givens “Modern Encyclopedia of Cooking” (1947) which has its origins in the Ozarks. Marjorie Moser published her “Good Maine Food” also in 1947 and I have the original edition thanks to my younger son. What started as a simple check on Welsh Rarebit (Rabbit) and curiosity about Kedgeree, often mentioned as breakfast food in 19^th century novels set in Britain turned in a delightful and often humorous afternoon.

          The casual perusal revealed not only the predictable Ozark recipes for baked possum and racoon casserole, but it also had a detailed recipe for frog legs. Ms. Moser and Kenneth Roberts were equally prodigious in their presentations of wildlife recipes. There are recipes for woodcock and porcupine livers.  Though Roberts cites an Old English method of woodcock preparation that has the killed woodcock hang on an outside peg until it is gone and then cook the peg! It also did not make me regret finding these recipes a couple of years ago when our pear trees were attacked by a band of porcupineS.

 

           If you were ever sent on a “snipe hunt” in your younger years at camp, you may be interested that Maine actually has snipes. They are real birds with brown plumage that wade in marshy areas. The recipes for snipe (as porcupine) advise roasting them in clay, then broken by a hammer, with the clay retaining the feathers (quills). Definitely a time saver! What delightful reading, but here are some more accessible recipes.

          Welsh rarebit is one simple, but tasty preparations one could find in a pub or prepare at home for a warm lunch or light supper. It basically consists of a slightly tangy cheese sauce on toast. What could be simpler? But like most recipes it has evolved with time from a simple sauce of milk, cheese and an egg to a beer and porter containing  sauce with more complex flavors.

                             Welsh Rarebit

          Melt 2 Tblsp butter in a pan over low heat and stir in 2 Tblsp flour to make a roux. Slowly stir in ½ cup whole milk followed by ½ cup ale until smooth. Add 1 tsp. Dijon mustard, 1 ½ cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese and stir until melted, but do not allow to boil. Remove from heat and stir in 1 well beaten egg until mixture is smooth and thick. Serve on thick slices of toasted bread.

                             Bubble and Squeak

          This is another dish from pub fare, but can easily be adapted to the home kitchen and has the benefit for utilizing leftovers in a delicious meal. In a large pan melt 4 Tblsp butter, 1 Tblsp. olive oil and sauté 1 chopped medium onion for 5 minutes. Stir in 1 ½ cups shredded cabbage, cook for 1 minute and then stir in 3 cups leftover mashed potatoes. When mixture is heated through stir in a cup of leftover cooked peas or carrots. Continue to fry on medium heat 10 minutes, turning occasionally. Serve hot with a fired egg on top.

          Kedgeree was an import to Britain at the time when the East India Company flourished in India under the British Raj. It became a breakfast food that featured smoked fish, rice and curry. Ms. Moser’s recipes feature unsmoked Maine seafood, but this version with smoked fish provides more depth to this dish.

                                      Kedgeree with Smoked Trout 

          Heat, but do not boil 1 cup milk with 1Tblsp butter, 1 tsp. onion powder and 1 tsp. Dijon mustard each. Stir in 2 tsp. mild curry powder, 2 cups cooked rice, ¼ cup sherry (optional), 1 tsp. salt and pepper to taste. Stir in 1 cup flaked smoked trout. Heat and serve with quartered hard-boiled egg on top.

          Culinary explorations can be delightful, edifying and delicious.

(I. Winicov Harrington lives in coastal Maine and is the author of “How to Eat Healthy and Well for Less than $5.00 a Day: the Smart-Frugal Food Plan”; website: www.winicov-harrington.com)