Last week, I decided to take a stab at making an early Christmas dinner with all the fixins. Being with family for the holidays is wonderful, but we’re also starting our own traditions that we can carry on with our children for years to come.
I’ve come to really enjoy cooking, but I was still a bit nervous about how it would turn out. With a little help from the internet, I came up with my own recipes for all the dishes, and surprisingly, the meal turned out great. It took about three-and-a-half hours to prepare.
Here are the recipes, complete with pictures:
Ingredients:
Fully cooked spiral ham (mine was 10 pounds)
½ cup water
2 Tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cloves
2 Tablespoons honey
Glaze:
¾ cup ham drippings
3 teaspoons honey
1-1/2 Tablespoons flour
½ cup water
Line large pan with a few layers of aluminum foil. Add ½ cup water to pan. Remove packaging from ham, and rinse. Place in pan flat side down. (I started off with the ham in a Dutch oven but ended up moving it to a larger pan so it would be easier to baste.)
Score ham lightly with a knife in crisscross pattern. Mix 2 Tablespoons brown sugar and 1 teaspoon cloves together, and sprinkle over ham. Drizzle 2 Tablespoons honey over ham.
Cover ham tightly with foil, and bake according to instructions on
package (approximately 15 minutes per pound at 275F). Baste ever 30
minutes. Don’t overcook, or ham will become dry.
When ham is finished, prepare glaze: In a small saucepan over medium heat, whisk together ham drippings, honey, flour, and water. You can either set the glaze on the table or drizzle it over the
ham and cook for an additional 10 minutes. (I just set it on the table.)
Ingredients:
15 pieces of bread (I used whole wheat)
5 Tablespoons butter
½ large onion, minced
4 celery stalks, minced
1 large garlic clove, minced.
1/8 cup olive oil
1 cup chicken broth
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
¾ teaspoon dried rosemary
½ teaspoon ground pepper
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon dried parsley
Tear bread into bite-sized pieces.
In a large skillet, melt 3 Tablespoons butter on medium-low heat, and
add onion and celery. Cook 3 minutes, and add garlic. Cook until onion
and celery are translucent (4-5 minutes).
Add an additional 2 Tablespoons butter to skillet, and add bread. Stir, and drizzle 1/8
cup olive oil over mixture. Cook another 3 minutes, stirring
occasionally. If pot becomes dry, add more oil or butter.
Turn
heat to simmer, and add mixture of chicken broth, egg, and apple cider
vinegar. Stir briefly, but don’t over stir, or bread will become mushy.
Liquid should soak in immediately. Turn heat off.
If your pan is not oven safe, transfer stuffing to greased baking sheet. If it is oven safe, leave stuffing in pan. Sprinkle spice mixture over top of stuffing. Fluff with a fork to combine.
Cook 2 hours at 275F (until bread is golden brown). Stir occasionally while stuffing cooks.
Peel and steam (or boil) as many potatoes as desired until soft. Mash immediately with desired amounts of butter, milk, and sour cream. Serve hot.
I used chicken broth to make gravy. Here is the recipe:
2 cups chicken broth
2 Tablespoons butter
4 carrots, chopped
2 Tablespoons onion, chopped
4 Tablespoons flour
Salt and/or garlic powder to taste
Heat chicken broth in a saucepan over medium-low heat. (Do not bring to a boil.)
In a medium skillet over medium-low heat, melt butter, and sauté carrots and onion for approximately 5 minutes.
Stir in 2 Tablespoons flour, and cook 1-2 minutes. Slowly add chicken broth, whisking constantly. Add another 2 Tablespoons flour. Bring to a boil, and simmer (whisking
constantly) until gravy reaches desired consistency. Strain gravy to remove carrots and onion. Add salt and/or
garlic powder to taste.
Rinse sweet potatoes, and wrap each in a wet paper towel. Microwave 3 minutes, and add more water to paper towels. (Just put the plate under the sink and run about 1/8 cup water on top of sweet potatoes.) Microwave until soft.
Slice in half, and serve with butter (can add brown sugar, if desired).
Ingredients:
3 cups frozen green beans
3-4 slices raw bacon
1 small onion, minced
1 large garlic clove, minced
½ teaspoon white vinegar
1/8 teaspoon ground pepper
Place green beans in medium-sized saucepan. Add 1-1/2 cup water. Cut bacon into bite-sized pieces, and add to pot. Add onion, garlic, vinegar, and ground pepper.
Bring to a boil. Cover and simmer 2 hours. Make sure the pot doesn’t boil dry. (Add more water if needed.)
Drain and serve. (Make sure not to accidentally dump half your green beans in the sink while draining them like I did…)