This is a recipe I’ve published last year for TLC, and I thought since Easter is coming up, you might want to see an exhaustive step-by-step recipe for making ham. This recipe is only 5 ingredients – it couldn’t be any easier.

Ham usually comes in a couple different sizes, a whole ham (like this one here) half-ham or ham steaks. What they do have in common, is that they’re all fully cooked already. What you are really doing is warming up the ham. The best way to do this is low and slow in the oven, then brushing on a glaze and returning it back to the oven at high heat to caramelize.

When you’re buying ham, look for “Ham with Natural Juices” or just plain ‘ol “Ham.” There are several grades of him, and it all has to do with how much water is injected (which keeps it moist). Ham labeled “with water added” or “ham and water product” in the lower quality, and and it’s something that I don’t recommend. There’s so much water added to the ham that it becomes tasteless and its texture spongy. Spongy ham is not good eats, especially for celebrating Easter. Here’s a good article about the ham grades.

Surprisingly, ham is incredibly cheap when you purchase it whole or half. This 11 pound ham was only $31.00 and it will feed 20 people.

Of course, if you aren’t feeding an army, buy a smaller ham, like the Semi-bonesless half ham and follow the recipe, just changing your baking time (15 minutes per pound)

The first step is to remove the plastic surrounding the ham. I’m not just talking about the plastic bag either, look carefully and sometimes you’ll see a very thin membrane-ish layer that can be easy to miss.

Then use your knife to score the surface of the ham all the way around in diagonal lines, about 2-inches apart.

Then score the other way, opposite direction. Basically, you’re making diamond-shaped scores to a) make it look pretty once it’s cooked b) help release some of its fat c) allow the glaze to stick to the ham

Place the whole thing in a big roasting pan. Make sure that the roasting pan isn’t too big.
Continue reading Cola-Pineapple Glazed Ham (5 Ingredients!)...

©Steamy Kitchen Recipes, 2011. | Permalink | 14 comments

My friend Matt Wright of Wright Food is one of the best self-taught food photographers I know – his seafood shots are some of the most beautiful I’ve ever seen!

He’s a charcuterie fanatic (one day I hope he has a chance to write his own charcuterie cookbook)

Matt has just launched a self-published Food Photography Manual that includes some of his very favorite photos with illustrations on lighting and equipment setup. All profit goes to the relief effort in Japan. If you’re interested in food photography how-to, I hope you consider getting a copy of this book.

Here’s the book, in his words:

I wrote a short book on food photography. It covers everything you need to know to get yourself taking great food photos in your house. Examples of how to use scrims, bounce cards, natural light, artificial light. Everything to get you going.

I wanted it to be more than that though. So, what I did was include a bunch of examples. On one full page you see the food photo I took and on the page next to it you get a detailed description of the setup, along with an illustration I did showing exactly how the scene was setup. Where the light was coming from. Where the bounces are. Where the camera is – AND WHY.

There are examples for both natural and artificial light. I talk about lenses, cameras, tripods all that good stuff. I even give advice on composition, scene setup and all that stuff.

By the time you finish this short book, I want you to be able to take really great shots of your awesome food at home. No studio stuff, just a camera and some light, and a few doodads that you can buy at an art supply store.

Buy WrightFood Food Photography Book

©Steamy Kitchen Recipes, 2011. | Permalink | 4 comments

me and Julie from Alkaline Sisters who came all the way from Canada

No, it’s not just one big party (though we sure did party the night before and the night after the seminar). The main purpose of these food blogging events is to spend an entire day teaching blogging, tech and photography skills and ideas to an audience hungry to learn.

Special speakers Jeff Houck of the Tampa Tribune and Heather McPherson of Orlando Sentinel joined us to speak about how to get on the food editor’s radar; Pete from Izea school us on SEO and my dear friend Lindsay Landis of Purr Design walk us through web design and usability best practices.

Lindsay is the designer behind Steamy Kitchen website and logo and I just adore her and her husband Taylor. I’ll be honest though, I do have mixed feelings about “sharing” my beloved and talented web designer. The more clients she has the less time for me! Well, she did so well in her presentation that I think she scored 20 new projects.

Which means that Steamy Kitchen probably won’t be revamped any time soon.

Which probably is a good thing, since I just spent all weekend lecturing that “There’s comfort in consistency.”

Lindsay in center, husband Taylor behind her

Since Diane and Todd were unavailable to come, I was lucky enough to lure a special someone to come teach food photography and styling.

Can you tell who it was?

Oh, maybe this angle?

How about now?

It was Helene of Tartelette!

We kicked it off in high style at our opening party that Whole Foods Market graciously and generously hosted. They simply know how to party in style, with a custom creme brulee station.

And what looked like a pretty wedding cake:

Were we celebrating something I didn’t know about!? Who’s gettin’ married at Food Blog Forum!?

I scootched over to the other side of the cake, saw the piece missing — and thought it was a wedding cheesecake.

SURPRISE! It really was a cheesecake….a Brie cheese cake sponsored by KerryGold.

There’s only one person in the world I know who I can call the night before and say, “Hey wanna go to Mexico with me? We leave tomorrow!” and she’d be packing her bags before we even hang up. That’s Rachelle!

Whole Foods also lavished us with wine – we had these itty bitty wine glasses that held like 4 ounces of wine. The bartender probably thought I was such a lush, as I ended up coming back to him for a refill ever 5 minutes.

Edit: Scott’s version: “No, the glasses were 6 ounces and you lost track after the 21st refill.”

Oh. Was that why I wanted to do karaoke in the middle of Whole Foods’ cheese department?

Okay, so we partied well that night, but the very next morning…we started Food Blog Forum – the learning section-  fast and furious.

Everyone was listening so intently!

I even got Scott to join in on the teaching….I love hearing him speak.

Until the moment he started telling the audience how large my butt is.

Just kidding. I have NO IDEA what he was talking about. Apparently, part of Scott’s public speaking routine involves massive boobie grabbing hand gestures to illustrate his point.

Behind Scott is the table packed of goodies we gave away, courtesy of KitchenAid, Cooking.com, America’s Test Kitchen, KerryGold, Le Creuset, West Bend, Chicago Metallic, EdgeWare and Calphalon. Almost everyone walked away with a prize.

All these lovely lovely food bloggers. Don’t they look like college students?

The after party was even more fun – McCormick and Schmicks seafood restaurant went all-out. They closed their entire restaurant for us! YOU ROCK McC&S! They fed us their house sangria and sushi.

I won’t scare you. After 6 large glasses of sangria and 4 plates of sushi, this photo definitely was better in black & white instead of color.

I just want to say that Food Blog Forum Orlando was just amazing. Big thanks to Julie and Dawn for organizing the entire event (I know from the looks of it I just showed up to drink and party….heh heh). I got to meet so many fab food bloggers. I got to share some of the stuff that I learned in the past 4 years of blogging. Best of all, I made 100 new friends.

Love ya!

p.s. Food Blog Forum is headed to Nashville October 8th hosted by Lindsay! I’ll have more details soon.
The Little Kitchen – Food Blog Forum Orlando – Connecting with some awesome food bloggers
Wicked Good Dinner – Food Blog Forum Seminar Recap
The Domestic Mama & The Village Cook – Food Blog Forum Orlando
the merry gourmet - sharing our passion – food blog forum orlando
My Life as a Mrs - Inspired
Fork Spoon Knife – Gluten Free Peanut and Almond Chocolate Brownie Pots and the Food Blog Forum Orlando
Aggie’s Kitchen - Food Blog Forum Orlando
Return to Sunday Supper - Food Blog Forum Seminar – A Wonderful Experience
Wordflux - Orlando Weekend with Food Blog Forum
Dinners & Dreams - Rabbit and Faisselle Flan
Creative Kitchen - Food Blog Forum Orlando ~ An Unforgettable Experience
inspired taste – Breakfast Rolls
What a Healthy Family Eats – My Experience at Food Blog Forum Orlando
My Sweet Zepol – Food Blog Forum in Orlando, Florida

©Steamy Kitchen Recipes, 2011. | Permalink | 54 comments

It’s taken every ounce of willpower not to buy every one of these!

I’ve just discovered these – though perhaps those of you with girls in the family have probably heard of or seen these String Doll Gang figurines.

They’re made from string – each figure is wound, twisted, looped and wrapped in one continuous piece of string, handmade in Thailand. They company behind this cuteness is Kamibashi, owned by an American couple who used to teach English in Thailand. They maintain Fair Trade practices and the artisans who make the String Doll Gang is based in rural farming villages in Northern Thailand. You can read about The Making of a New String Doll Character.

Each doll has a fabric tag that states their power, for example, Gigi the Giant Panda’s tag reminds you to not squander our precious natural resources.

The dolls are $10.00 each on Kamibashi’s website.

©Steamy Kitchen Recipes, 2011. | Permalink | 5 comments

To me, cabbage, beans and potatoes are the best Western comfort food ever (just in case you’re curious, at the top of the list of my Asian comfort food are: white rice and ramen). And to have cabbage, beans and potatoes all in one dish that only takes 15 minutes to make? Triple Score.

Last week, I received a copy of 101 Cookbooks Heidi Swanson’s brand new book, Super Natural Every Day ($12.77 on Amazon) and that very night, couldn’t wait to make this dish called White Beans and Cabbage.

Heidi’s book is filled with 100 of her very favorite everyday recipes, “Well-loved recipes from my natural foods kitchen.” If you’re looking to eat a little more healthful, this book will be your go-to book. When you pick up this book and browse through the pages, you really get a sense of connection with Heidi. Her food photography is peaceful, soothing and textured.

Simply put, Heidi is helping change the way people eat with wholesome recipes that are simple – most of the recipes in the book are no longer than a couple of paragraphs.

I know you’ll love this book as much as I do.

White Beans and Cabbage Step by Step

Slice your cabbage as thin as you can. Cut your potatoes in super-tiny dice, about the size of frozen peas ‘n carrots. Yes, that small!

You can use any type of canned beans, I used canned cannellini beans. Just make sure you drain the beans well and give them a good rinse to get rid of any of the liquid they were sitting in inside the can. The onion (or use 1/2 shallot) should be minced.

We’ll cook the potatoes first – make sure you spread them out all over in the pan and cook on all sides until browned.
Continue reading White Beans and Cabbage...

©Steamy Kitchen Recipes, 2011. | Permalink | 49 comments

While we were in Mexico for Food Blogger Camp back in February, I got a sneak peek at the photos that my good friends, Todd and Diane of White on Rice Couple shot of Cristina Ferrare’s new cookbook. I’m sure you heard of Cristina – she’s got a cooking show, “Big Bowl of Love” on the Oprah Winfrey Network.

Diane and Todd shot all the recipe photos as well as “lifestyle” shots – i.e. a dinner party with friends – if you have a chance to pick up this book, please do. Not only is it chock full of gorgeous food shots (every recipe has a photo) but the recipes featured are non-fussy — what I call “easy sophistication.”

I’ve got so many recipes bookmarked that this book will keep me busy for a while. Today’s recipe, Flank Steak with Goat Cheese on Toast, is inspired from the book. I had originally planned these for a Spanish Tapas party my friend, Wendy was hosting, but we ended up with an obscene amount of food, so I kept the marinating steak in the refrigerator and made the dish the following day.

***

Our Spanish Tapas Party

While Tom’s prepping his dish, Wendy and her sister in law, Kelly are the background with Spanish cookbook in hand reading the recipe.

Tom and his wife, Patty – right here smiley-happy next to the cheese – own the Tae Kwon Do studio that the boys and Scott go to. And yes, the boys can kick mama’s butt.

This was just appetizers….by the time dinner was ready, the entire table was full of food. Most of the dishes were Spanish tapas – we had some wonderful Spanish Tapena wine to go with our dinner party, courtesy of the winery. Tapena wines has recently gotten some amazing reviews and awards – the 2011 Monterey Wine Competition awarded them Import Wine of the Year.

While boys were outside fishing, the gals hung out by the apps and wine.

Tom made these crispy-light rice cakes topped with manchego cheese. I never knew he had this cooking talent!

Even Andrew loved the Manchego Cheese wrapped with Jamon Serrano  — hungry after fishing!

After dinner? A single malt scotch tasting in the ultimate “man cave” – complete with leather chairs, cigars, deer heads (Shawn goes hunting once a year) and bull-horn chandelier.

I encouraged Scott to write a post on Scotch tasting, it would be his first-ever post on Steamy Kitchen. He declined until I told him that if he starts a “Scott’s Scotch Corner” on Steamy Kitchen, all his scotch would be a “business expense”

Look for a post from him soon.

***

Flank Steak on Goat Cheese on Toast

The flank steak is marinated in red chili flakes, smoked paprika, olive oil, salt and pepper.

Toppings included goat cheese, roasted red bell peppers and a balsamic fig and onion “jam” that I found at the market.

You can substitute with any sweet-savory jam or chutney. Mango chutney would be wonderful too. I have a list of recipes for jams at the end of the post.

Slice the roasted red bell pepper thinly.
Continue reading Flank Steak with Goat Cheese on Toast...

©Steamy Kitchen Recipes, 2011. | Permalink | 29 comments

Introducing the McGowan family! Angie and her family are fellow Floridians and they publish the popular Eclectic Recipes blog and the fact that she has a recipe category called “Spanglish” wins my heart. Oh and that cute little boy, Julien, she’s got there wins my heart too. I love Angie’s blog – her recipes are simple and happy – check out these colorful Springtime Flower Treats perfect for kids and the Nutella Mug Cake!!!!

This week, Angie is my guest on Steamy Kitchen, featuring her Greek Style Mac ‘n Cheese recipe — packed with olives, spinach, sundried tomatoes and feta cheese.

Enjoy!

Jaden

Greek Style Mac and Cheese

by Angie McGowan, Eclectic Recipes

I was just tickled when Jaden asked if I would like to guest post on Steamy Kitchen. I have been following Steamy Kitchen ever since I started blogging, and have picked  up many tips and tricks not only about food and cooking, but also about photography, blogging and all the other aspects of social media. Jaden is such a huge inspiration to me, and always there when I need a bit of advice in this much to complicated world of food blogging.

So I guess your wondering who I am.  My name is Angie and I have been blogging for about 2 years now. My blog is Eclectic Recipes, and I am also a daily contributor to Babble’s Family Kitchen. I grew up in rural north Florida, which is very southern and much more like rural Alabama or Georgia than south Florida. I grew up eating very southern foods. We raised catfish, chickens, goats, pigs and cattle (although not all at the same time). We had pecan trees, fruit trees and a prized persimmon tree. We had a huge garden with just about everything, and what we didn’t grow, we would get at local u-pick type farms.

I currently live in Orlando, Florida with my husband and three year old son, Julien. Although we don’t have any space for a garden yet, I try to plant as many herbs as I can in containers. I can’t wait until we have a good-sized yard where I have room for at least a small garden. When I’m not in the kitchen, I enjoy crafts, movie night with my family, and outdoor family activities like hiking, boating and skiing.

My family loves macaroni and cheese any way they can get it, but I get tired of doing the same old same boring recipe over and over. I like to experiment with using different cheeses, adding different vegetables, bits of ham or chicken, and even sometimes tuna. This is my Greek style mac and cheese. I used feta and  creamy havarti with dill to make the cheese sauce.

I got the havarti with dill in the deli section of my supermarket, and just asked them to cut my a half pound slice so I could shred it. I also added some good pitted kalamata olives, a few capers, a bit of sun-dried tomatoes and lots of fresh spinach. This made the perfect quick fix vegetarian meal, and since it’s mac and cheese, it will even satisfy your little picky eaters.  I served this as a main dish, but you could add some grilled chicken and a small Greek salad if you’d like.

©Steamy Kitchen Recipes, 2011. | Permalink | 44 comments

The item in my pantry that runs out more often than rice is instant ramen. It’s the perfect midnight snack — well — it’s the perfect hangover breakfast too! Serious Eats has a list of 30 Ramen Noodle Hacks – from adding baby spinach and hard-boiled egg (common for traditional Japanese ramen) to using it as a topping for shephard’s pie.

©Steamy Kitchen Recipes, 2011. | Permalink | 6 comments

Most of the items that I knit is cutesy girly scarfs or stuff for the kids, I haven’t done much “manly man hand-knitting” though there are a ton of patterns and books for man-knits. When I hand-make an item for someone, it’s an all-encomassing experience. I go overboard in the whole “personalization” thing, with the philosophy that there’s a PERFECT yarn for the perfect project for the perfect person and to discover that magical combination, I need to drag you to the yarn store with me.

The men in my life would rather change smoke detector batteries for the entire neighborhood than go yarn-petting with me.

I’ve had to adopt a new tactic to match yarn-pattern-people….I take my best guess on what someone would like, make it and if they don’t wear it (i.e. gets stuffed in back of a drawer or throw in the “regift” box) I’ll take it back and wear if myself

I recently learned how to knit the herringbone stitch from a book called Last Minute Knitted Gifts (book features a big poncho pattern) – I thought the the criss-cross “V” shaped stitch made into a scarf would be perfect for my Dad, who just celebrated his birthday last week.

The herringbone stitch is actually pretty easy (a how-to video is below) and I chose a very plush-soft but thick yarn – Cascade Eco Duo is made in Peru from 70% undyed baby alpaca / 30 percent undyed merino wool. It’s the type of yarn that you’d wish your bean bag was made out of and comes in a variety of natural shades.

While the front of the scarf features the herringbone design, the back of the scarf is a beautiful horizontal knit pattern.

And if Dad doesn’t wear it, I certainly wouldn’t mind snagging it back for myself!

How to Knit Herringbone Stitch

Knit Herringbone Scarf Pattern

Yarn used: Cascade Eco Duo (3 hanks)
Gauge: 4.5 stitches per inch
Needle size: US 8 (6.0mm)
Finished measurements: 11 inches wide x 56 inches long (If you want to make a skinnier scarf, decrease cast-on stitches, but keep it an odd number of stitches)

Cast on 49 stitches or to your desired width of scarf: 2 stitches on each side for the border and 45 stitches for the herringbone pattern. You should have an odd number for the herringbone pattern.

Row 1-3: Knit 3 rows garter (knit every stitch)

Row 4: (Right Side) Slip 1 purlwise, k1, *K2tog through back loops, but slip only the first stitch off the needle, leaving the
second stitch on the left needle*. Repeat to end until you only have 1 stitch left before the border stitches. Knit this last stitch through back loop, k2 (for the border)

Row 5: (Wrong Side) Slip 1 purlwise, k1, *P2tog, but slip only the first stitch off the needle, leaving the second stitch
on the left needle*. Repeat to end until you only have 1 stitch left before the border stitches. Purl this last stitch, k2 (for the border)

Repeat rows 4 & 5 until desired length of scarf

Last 3 rows: Knit 3 rows garter (knit every stitch). Bind off and weave in ends.

©Steamy Kitchen Recipes, 2011. | Permalink | 10 comments

Normally, when I make curry dishes, whether Indian or Thai, I start with a shortcut – a ready-made curry spice paste that I can find in most grocery stores. But making the curry spice paste from scratch is just as easy, tastes infinitely fresher and the flavors of the aromatics really shine through in the coconut milk, instead of just being “spicy hot” like normal ready-made pastes.

The extra 5 minutes spent on grating the onion, ginger and mincing garlic is definitely worth it. This recipe is from Entice with Spice by Shubhra Ramineni. It’s her first book and published by Tuttle Publishing, the same company that published my own Steamy Kitchen book. It’s filled with simple Indian family recipes (and beautifully photographed dishes) that are perfect for busy families. This Indian Fish Coconut Curry is a fine example. Beginning to end, it took less than 20 minutes to make.

The ingredients are simple: garam masala (a very warm Indian spice blend), cayenne chili powder, coconut milk, chopped tomatoes, fresh fish fillets, ginger, fresh chilies (optional), garlic and half an onion).

Instead of chopping the onion, grate it using the large holes of a box grater. This way, you’ll get very fine onion that forms the basis of the curry spice paste.

I also grate the ginger this way too.

Cut the fish fillets into nice big chunks. This is fresh swordfish, but you can use any firm fish fillet.

The first step is to cook the aromatics very slowly – the onion, garlic and ginger go in first.

As you cook, you’ll see the aromatics turn to a soft golden color.

Add in the tomatoes.

And let that cook down too – as it cooks down, you’ll see that it forms a soft, paste-like consistency.

Add in the spices and seasonings.

Coconut milk and water.

Drop in a fresh halved chili pepper if you’d like.

Let the curry come to a boil and then add in your fish to cook. Four minutes later, it’s done!

Serve this with basmati rice or any Indian flatbreads.

©Steamy Kitchen Recipes, 2011. | Permalink | 55 comments