Easter Feast and Fun

April 12th, 2011  |  Breakfast, Occasions, Oink, Side Dishes  |  2 Comments

When I first started planning this menu, the idea was to host an Easter brunch with my friends at the end of March. I envisioned a relaxing day where the kids could get together and dye Easter eggs and play, the men could hang out and watch some sporting event on TV and the women could sip champagne and enjoy watching the kids play together and maybe put on a little egg hunt. Traditionally, Easter Sunday tends to get a little frantic, especially when you’ve got little ones to get up early and get dressed to get to church before 8am. I’ve also found as a new mom, that it’s sometimes difficult to create new traditions of my own for my family when the traditions of our parents and grandparents often take priority. I’m always trying to come up with new traditions that we can have around holidays that won’t interfere with the traditions of yesteryear and this seemed like the perfect addition to our family’s Easter fun.

This year I totally lucked out though…after seeing my menu and all of the photos of my Easter brunch, my in-laws insisted that I host Easter at MY house! You can show your family these photos and recipes and maybe you’ll get to host Easter at your house too!! If not, host a brunch for your friends during the month. If this seems like more work than you’d like, make your brunch a pot-luck and all the guests can bring their favorite dish. If you decide to host the brunch, read more for tips and tricks on recipes, decor and more!

Orange Pineapple Bourbon Glazed Ham



I always spent Easter with my Mama’s side of the family and let me tell you, she made the most delicious ham you ever tasted! It seems like every spring, I make a call to my mom for her to remind me what she used to put on her ham, and I can tell you that never once in a half dozen of those calls has she told me the same ingredients…they are always different! Except for the cloves….she always remembers the cloves. If you’ve never put cloves on your ham, it really adds a unique depth of flavor. The sauce I used here is pretty much a combination of everything I ever remember her telling me to use as a sauce all thrown together, and remarkably it tasted fantastic. Sharon said she had a dream about it the night after she tasted it. I hope you have dreams about it too.

Ingredients:

  • 7-9 lb Smoked Ham
  • 1 Package of whole cloves, about 40
  • Zest and juice of 1 orange
  • 8 oz can crushed pineapple
  • 1 tablespoon mustard
  • 1 tablespoon dry mustard
  • 1/3 cup cider vinegar
  • ½ cup brown sugar
  • 1/3 cup bourbon

Directions:

Remove ham from packaging and remove any items that may be protecting the bone or any other part of the ham.  Place your ham in a large roasting pan (meat) side down.  With a small paring knife begin making a small “x” in the skin of the ham and inserting one whole clove.

Continue making slits and inserting cloves, about 1 ½ inches apart all the way around the ham.

In a medium bowl, mix orange zest, crushed pineapple, mustards, cider vinegar, brown sugar and bourbon, mixing well.  Pour mixture over ham covering evenly.  Insert your Bosch meat probe into the middle and thickest part of the ham, making sure the probe is not touching the bone or any part of the pan or oven.  Place the ham in the oven and connect the probe.

Set oven to BAKE mode and the Probe display will appear.  Press V to select “Probe” and use the Settings Dial to set the probe temperature to 140 degrees.  Press Start.  Using a baster, baste the ham with the sauce and juices that accumulate at the bottom of the pan every 30 minutes.

Your oven will automatically shut off when the internal temperature is reached.  If your oven does not have a meat probe, simply insert a meat thermometer into the thickest part of the meat, being careful not to touch the bone and bake until an internal temperature of 140 degrees is reached, about 2 ½ hours at 325 degrees.

Deviled Eggs a la Amy

It seems to me that anytime somebody talks about deviled eggs, they always say how they make the BEST deviled eggs.  While there’s not a deviled egg I’d ever turn my nose up at, I can honestly say that I truly make the BEST deviled eggs!  Except for maybe the deviled eggs at Café R&D…they might be better than mine, but they won’t share their recipe….so here’s mine!

Ingredients:

  • 1 dozen large organic eggs
  • 1/3 cup mayonnaise
  • 2 tablespoons yellow mustard
  • ¼ cup finely chopped shallots
  • ¼ cup finely chopped cornichons, or dill pickles if cornichons aren’t available
  • ¼ cup finely sliced green onion
  • 1 teaspoon good quality lemon pepper
  • ½ teaspoon salt, to taste
  • Paprika, optional

Directions:

Place eggs in an even layer into a large pot.  Add enough cold water to just cover eggs.  Bring eggs and water to boil over high heat, for no longer than 13 minutes.  Let sit for 5 minutes.  Drain hot water and run cool water over eggs until cool enough to handle.  Gently tap the egg on smooth surface and peel shells off while holding the egg under cool running water.  Slice eggs in half and gently remove yolks, placing them in a medium size bowl.   Set whites aside.   With a fork, mix mayonnaise, mustard, shallots, cornichons, green onions, lemon pepper and salt into the bowl with the yolks, gently mashing the yolks until mixture is light and creamy, about 3 minutes.  Spoon about 1 tablespoon of the mixture into each egg white and sprinkle with paprika, if desired.  Chill, covered for at least one hour before serving.  Eggs can be prepared the day before as long as they are covered tightly and refrigerated.

Breakfast Pizza

Ingredients:

  • Store bought fresh Pizza Dough
  • 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoon corn meal
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 large yellow onion
  • 1 tablespoon brown sugar
  • 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
  • 8 oz sliced white mushrooms, or any variety of your choice
  • 1 cup chopped fresh spinach
  • 2 green onions, stems only, sliced thin
  • 6 organic eggs
  • ¾ cup shredded gruyere cheese
  • Garnish with fresh basil and parsley

Directions:

Set your oven to Pizza mode, if your oven does not have a pizza mode, set to 400 degrees and place or pizza stone or pan in the oven to get it hot.

In a large skillet, over medium heat, add two tablespoons olive oil and the sliced white onion.

Cook, stirring often for about 10 minutes until onion begins to soften and brown.  Add balsamic vinegar and brown sugar to the onion and mix until distributed.  Cook for another 3-4 minutes, continuing to stir often.

Remove onions from skillet and set aside in a small bowl, keeping warm in your warming drawer.  Without washing out the skillet, add the mushrooms and cook, stirring often, for about 7 minutes until golden brown.  Add sliced green onions and spinach and cook for another minute more until spinach is wilted.

While your onions and mushrooms are cooking, prepare pizza dough.  Lightly dust your pizza paddle with cornmeal and 1 tablespoon flour.

Using a rolling pin, roll pizza dough out to the shape of your pizza stone or pan, dusting with additional flour if needed to keep the dough from sticking to your rolling pin.  Sprinkle pizza dough with cheese, then add caramelized onions, mushroom and spinach mixture, distributing evenly.

Carefully transfer the pizza dough to the pan in the preheated oven.  Gently crack each egg and place evenly over the pizza.

You don’t want to put the eggs on the pizza before you transfer the dough to the pan, otherwise the eggs could run and make a mess should your pizza dough stick to the paddle.  Bake at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes, until crust is browned.  Eggs should be soft baked and will run slightly, similar to eggs benedict.  If you prefer your eggs fully cooked, add 3 minutes to the cooking time.   Let stand for 5 minutes, sprinkle with basil and parsley, then slice and serve.

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