Garlic Shrimp
A parol is a traditional Filipino Christmas lantern.
I’ve made a Christmas ham since my teenage years in the Philippines and continued the tradition when I moved to New York, developing my recipe to use locally available ingredients. This ham is popular among Filipinos but is a general crowd pleaser as well. It’s always festive and very easy and inexpensive to make. Total cost for this is around $20.
Ingredients:
Whole smoked pork butt, sized according to one’s stockpot capacity
1 big can pineapple juice
1 small 1-pound box Domino’s dark brown sugar
1 big can pineapple slices
1 small can crushed pineapple
1/4 cup dried cloves
10 or so pieces Maraschino cherries
Green garnish leaves such as parsley, brocollini, etc.
Instructions:
Remove plastic packaging from ham and place in a stockpot. Set aside one cup of brown sugar. Into the pot add pineapple juice, the rest of the brown sugar, and cloves. Simmer on low heat for 1 hour. Cool and refrigerate pot with soaking ham for 1-2 days. On day of occasion, simmer pot for 1-2 hours on low heat and then set on glass baking dish. Create a mixture of crushed pineapple and brown sugar moistened with the soaking sauce and coat ham. Sprinkle more brown sugar and cloves on top and bake uncovered for 1 hour at 375F. Remove promptly and arrange in round decorative dish with pineapples, cherries, and garnish leaves (as in photo).
Sauce: Reduce soaking sauce in stock pot on medium heat until 1/2 original amount. Add sugar to taste or to thicken. Slice ham thinly and serve topped with warm sauce.
Mangia!
White Cheddar Potato Gratin
4 lbs russet potatoes, sliced thinly
2-1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
2 cups grated white cheddar cheese
1/4 cup rosemary leaves
2 small shallots, chopped
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
Preheat oven to 375 F. Grease a 13X19 rectangular glass or porcelain baking dish. Arrange potato pieces in layers on the dish. Once halfway full, sprinkle half the cheese, rosemary and shallots. Continue layering the potatoes, and sprinkle the rest of cheese, rosemary and shallots. Dissolve salt and pepper in the heavy cream and pour on potatoes. Cover dish with aluminum foil and bake covered for 1 hour. Bake uncovered for another 45 minutes until top is brown. Let stand 20-30 minutes before serving.
Standard Quiche Base
2 frozen 9″ pie crusts
1 cup grated gruyere, gouda, or white cheddar cheese
1 cup heavy cream
3 eggs
2 cups filling of choice (see below*)
salt and pepper
Preheat oven to 375 F. Bake pie crusts until brown, about 10 minutes. In a bowl, beat eggs, add milk, and a dash of salt and pepper. Arrange pastrami, onion and mushrooms, and cheese on the pie plates, pour in milk mixture until crust is filled. Bake for 45 minutes at 375, or until fork comes out clean from center. Let stand or 15 minutes before serving.
***Fillings may vary. Some combinations I’ve used are spinach (2 cups chopped spinach, frozen or fresh, blanched and drained/squeezed dry), spinach and bacon, pastrami/corned beef and onion, mushrooms and onions. Use two cups of filling (one cup for each pie). The possibilities are endless!
