A great dinner for New Year’s Eve or Day–but I did it a few days early. I saw shank end hams on sale for .99 a pound and that was all I needed to see.
Steam Sauteed Green Beans
These green beans came from CookSmart: Perfect Recipes for Every Day. Pam Anderson is one of my favorite cookbook authors.
Ingredients
- 1 pound green beans, ends trimmed
- 2 slices of bacon, cut in 1″ pieces
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1/2 an onion, minced
- 1/2 tsp dried thyme
- 1/3 cup water
- 1 Tbs balsamic vinegar
- pepper to taste salt too if you need it but the bacon adds lots of flavor so taste first
Instructions
- Cook the bacon in a 10″ skillet (so there will be room for the beans to spread out) and remove when done. Leave the bacon grease in the pan.
- Cook the onion until soft, about 5 minutes, then add the green beans, minced garlic, tsp thyme and 1/3 cup water.
- Cover and once the steam starts escaping set the timer for 5 minutes. This cooks the beans and then you can finish off by removing the lid and cooking another minute or two until done to your liking. The water steams away and the beans saute in the bacon grease.
- Stir in bacon, 1 Tbs balsamic vinegar and pepper to taste, then serve.
Bourbon and Maple Syrup Ham
Ingredients
Ham
- 1 bone-in pre-cooked ham
- 1/2 cup apple juice
- 1 tsp ground cloves
- 1 cup water
Glaze for the Ham
- 1/4 cup apple juice
- 1/4 cup bourbon
- 1/2 cup maple syrup
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325F.
- Trim the excess fat from the ham, down to 1/4 – 1/2″ thick, then score it in a diamond pattern.
- Put the ham cut side down (fat side up) in a pan and pour the apple juice, cloves, and water over it. Bake 2 hours, uncovered.
- Mix the glaze together and pour over the ham and bake another 45 minutes, basting now and then.
Notes
The ham was super easy and super delicious. I got the recipe from The Pat Conroy Cookbook, which is full of fun stories about his life as well as good recipes.
Scalloped Potatoes or Potato Gratin or Potatoes Anna
I’ve seen these called all three of the above names. It’s an easy recipe because you don’t need to measure and can adjust depending on how many you are feeding.
Ingredients
- potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
- salt and pepper
- milk to cover
- butter
Instructions
- Peel and slice as many potatoes as you want to cook, probably 1 or more per person depending on how much you want leftover. (They’re good leftover!).
- Butter a shallow baking dish, 9×9 or 9×12 or whatever. Lay the potato slices down in rows, slightly overlapping each until the bottom of the pan is covered. Lightly salt and pepper. Lay another layer of potato slices down, salt and pepper. Repeat as often as you’d like. Pour enough milk in to come to the bottom of the top layer of potatoes. Place dabs of butter on top.
- Bake about an hour at 350 (or a bit longer if you have the ham in at 325).
- After 30 minutes, carefully slide the pan out and press the potato slices down into the milk if necessary, so they don’t get too crisp on top. Finish baking.
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