Mar 27 2016
You couldn't ask for a nicer day for Easter; sunny all day and 70 deg. I had smoked my Kassler ham yesterday so all I had to do was warm it up in the Crockpot and prepare all my sides. I had plenty of time to sit out back sip on some beer and enjoy the nice weather.
With the ham I was having, bistro mashed potatoes, dressing, green bean casserole and hot crusty rolls.
I had read on warming up the ham and left it in the double foil wrap; in a Crockpot with a cup of water. It was set on high for one hour then down to low for three hous.
The bistro mashed potatoes were a white yam, a sweet potato and 5 small red potatoes. I peeled them and cut into chunks. I left some of the peel on the red potatoes. They were boiled for 20 minutes and drained. They went back in the pan with 5 pats of butter and roughly mashed, I added some half and half cream, about a ¼ cup and stirred. You want them a little lumpy. I put them in a Crockpot on keep warm while I fixed the rest of the sides.
My dressing I used a recipe from my wife's cousin Suzie. It is light and not too heavy. French bread, onions, celery, butter and chicken stock. Southerners would probably call this Yankee dressing! I always thought this was Suzie's recipe but she got it from a friend Barb Cole. For today I reduced the recipe some since it makes a lot.
My green bean recipe is 1 can of cut green beans, 1 can of French cut green beans, a can of Campbell's cream of mushroom soup and a half a 6 oz. can of French's fried onions. Mix all together and pour into a greased casserole dish, pour a little half and half cream over. In the oven covered at 350 deg. for 25 minutes and then remove the lid, cover with some more fried onions and bake another 20 minutes.
At 5:00 I checked the Kassler ham and it wa sat 155 deg. I was looking for 140 deg. I turned it down to keep warm until I was ready to serve at 6:00.
My sides were done so removed from the oven and baked my take home and bake crusty rolls. It was just the wife, daughter and me so I sliced the ham and we got our own plates ready.
I was afraid the ham would be too salty but it was just right, tender and moist. I didn't have gravy for the bistro mashed potatoes but I like them better with a couple pats of butter on top. It turned out pretty good, I think we all got full. For dessert I had a Kroger's rhubarb strawberry pie.
Smokin Don
Dressing recipe:
Barb Coles dressing mix
! ½ loaves bakery French bread, torn or cut up
3 eggs slightly beaten
1 ½ cups celery diced
¾ cup chopped onion
Salt and pepper to taste
3 15 oz. cans good chicken broth
3 Tbs. butter
Mix the first five ingredients together in a large bowl. Heat the chicken broth and butter; pour over the bread mixture. Place in a well-greased casserole dish with a lid. Bake at 350 deg. for one hour covered. Remove the cover and bake another half hour or until brown.
Bistro Potatoes recipe:
BISTRO MASHED POTATOES
Ingredients
4 medium red-skinned potatoes scrubbed clean, cut in lrg chunks
4 medium sweet potatoes, peeled cut lrg chunks
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup milk
6 tablespoons butter
Salt and fresh ground black pepper -- to taste
4 tablespoons fresh flat-leaf parsley -- chopped
Directions
Combine the potatoes and sweet potatoes in a large pan.
(Note: Equal-size chunks are important so they cook at the
same rate.) Cover with cold water and add the sea salt.
Bring to a boil and cook until tender when poked with a
fork, about 15 to 20 minutes. Drain the water from the
pan.
Heat the cream, milk and butter over low heat; do not boil.
With a potato masher or large fork crush the potatoes in
their pan, adding the cream mixture a little at a time.
Season lightly with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Continue mashing until the potatoes are blended well.
There should still be some chunks left, with the red potato
skins dispersed throughout. Add more cream, milk or butter
if necessary. Taste and adjust seasoning, stir in the
parsley and transfer to a serving bowl. Add some garlic to this
recipe if you like. I don't heat my cream & butter & don't use milk.
I use a hand masher since you don't want these real creamy. I drain my boiled potatoes in a colander then add the butter to the pan, return potatoes to the pan & add cream as you are mashing to get the right consistency. You can adjust recipe to any amount of potatoes just use half red & half sweet.
Note: You can use other potatoes too and a good addition is 3 or 4 tablespoons of cream cheese. Garlic would be good too.
