Go for the Big Meat

Hammy twice baked potatoes and turnips with butter

One of the best ways to save money is to go for the big meat.  I’m talking about the whole chicken and the whole ham.  The big meat is the best because it is super versatile and stretches out for a long time.  Our big purchase this week was a ham.  I love ham.  When Thanksgiving and Christmas come around, I always pick the ham over the turkey – that sugar-coated, spiral-sliced goodness wins me over every time.  It doesn’t have to be a holiday to enjoy ham, yet it is rarely part of a normal weekly menu.  Why?  Because it’s so big!  But, you shouldn’t fear the big meat.  A nice butt section ham, unsliced, is a cheap piece of meat.  Here’s how to handle it:

Night #1 – Whole ham slices, veggie, starch.

Take the big ham out of the plastic and plop it on a foil-lined pan.  Take your knife and score diagonally in a criss-cross pattern so you have little diamonds all over the surface of your ham.  For fun and flavor, poke whole cloves into the intersections of the criss-crosses.  Bake 325 degrees for 1 1/2 hour.   Cook up glaze:

2 tsp. orange rind

1 cup orange juice

1/2 packed brown sugar

4 tsp. cornstarch

1  1/2 tsp. dry mustard

on stove until thick and bubbly.  Brush over ham and bake 325 degrees for 30 min.

This is stolen, btw, from Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book – one of the best basic cook books in the world.

You do have to slice the ham yourself, but basically this is the same sugary goodness that you get from the pre-packaged ham at Christmas, only a lot cheaper.  My personal favorite ham dinner is a variation of what you would have at your typical New Years’ greens and beans meal.  I highly recommend rice, greens and cornbread.  Rice is best served up with Granny B’s tomato relish.  Greens are best with pepper vinegar.  Cornbread is best with honey.  If you have time, you can cook up a pot of black-eyed peas or Red beans, and you’ve got the best dinner in the world.  So… you have time, it’s Sunday dinner or something – so this is the first ham night.  It feels just like Christmas!  And really, not that expensive!

Lunches for a week:

Monday is here, and you don’t feel like using ham for leftover dinners.  Solution is – you have lunches for a week.  You have the always good ham sandwich.  You have Ham cut up on top of a salad.  You have Ham and potato hash.  You don’t have to creative at all.  You can be a pig and pick ham off the bone, straight out of the fridge.   But, if you do want leftovers for dinner….

Night #2 – Hammy Twice Baked Potatoes, veggie

Hammy Twice Baked Potatoes

4 potatoes

1 cup shredded cheese

1/4 cup cream cheese or sour cream

2 Tbl. fresh parsley

2 Tbl. green onion or chives

3/4 cup chopped ham

salt and pepper to taste

Bake potatoes in foil at 400 degrees for 1-2 hours until soft.  Cut potatoes in half lengthwise.  Scoop out about half of the insides into a bowl.  Add remaining ingredients and mix.  Scoop back into potato skins.  Bake additional 20-30 min at 350 degrees.

Night #3 – Ham Casserole

Ham Casserole

1 onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 Tbl. butter

1 cup ham, chopped

2-3 cups elbow macaroni or other small pasta, cooked

1 cup swiss or mozzerella cheese, shredded

1 egg

1 can cream of mushroom soup (or equivilent in basic white sauce)

1 cup frozen peas, cooked

hot sauce, to taste

salt and pepper to taste

1/2 cup bread crumbs + 2 Tbl. melted butter, to top

Saute onion and garlic in butter until soft.  Add to remaining ingredients, except bread crumbs.  Turn into buttered casserole dish.  Top with bread crumbs and butter.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30 min.

Basic White Sauce

1 Tbl. butter

1 Tbl. flour

1/2 cup milk

Combine butter and flour in small saucepan over medium heat.  Add milk all at once.  Stir or whisk until incorporated.  Cook until thick and bubbly.

Night #4 – Ham Soup

My favorite ham soup is actually a corn and ham chowder from Justin Wilson – definitely worth looking up.  But, this is a basic ham soup recipe you can adapt.

Basic Ham Soup

1 ham bone with some remaining meat

4 cups water

1/4 cup flour

1/4 cup butter

1 onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

Veggies (corn, green pepper, greens, spaghetti squash, etc.)

bay leaf

1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped

hot sauce, to taste

salt and pepper to taste

Cut remaining meat off ham bone, reserve.  Add bone to water and bring to boil.  Simmer for 1-2 hours.  Make a roux out of the flour and butter.  Add onions and garlic and saute until onions are soft.  Add to Ham stock.  Add veggies and seasonings.  Simmer another hour or so.  The longer it sits, the nicer it gets.

I am a big believer in using what you have laying around.  With that in mind, play around with this soup and add what you have. You can also throw in some beans or a starch like rice or pasta.  White wine also makes soup nice.  Soups, like casseroles, are very forgiving, and you can take them in many different directions.  And, they are a great way to clean out the fridge.

Buying the whole ham or the whole chicken is such an economical way to go.  So, don’t be intimidated.  Go for the big meat!