This delicious meal is great for Easter and special dinners. It begins with sweet orange and mustard-glazed ham, sweet and rich in flavor with the addition of the oranges and juice, and a little spicy from the mustard. A side dish of creamy new potatoes and peas is a great accent to the ham.
The Lime Poke Dream Cake rounds out this delectable menu. In this dessert, cake meets gelatin in a flavorful lime-accented dessert topped with a creamy coconut pudding-flavored whipped topping mixture and flaked coconut garnish.
You can change the flavors of the ham to a peach flavor by cooking the ham in peach juice with peach preserves and using peach-flavored gelatin in the cake. The flavor of the Poke Cake can also be changed with desired gelatin flavors, such as raspberry.
This menu will be a pleasure to cook and one your guests will certainly enjoy.
Ham with Orange-Mustard Glaze
Makes 6 to 8 servings
Ingredients:
- 1 six- to eight-pound fully cooked spiral-sliced half ham, bone in and rind removed
- 1 cup water
- 1 can frozen orange juice, defrosted
- 2/3 cup orange marmalade
- 1 15-ounce can mandarin oranges, juice and orange segments separated (fresh squeezed orange juice and orange segments can be substituted)
- 1/3 cup stone-ground spicy mustard
- 3 teaspoons dry mustard powder
Directions:
- Rinse ham with cool water and dry with paper towels. Place rack on lowest level in oven; heat oven to 325 degrees F. Line a roasting pan with heavy-duty aluminum foil. With a sharp knife, trim any excess fat from the outside of the ham. Transfer ham, fat side up, to a roasting pan.
- Pour water into pan. Place roasting pan in oven and bake ham for 1 hour.
- Remove ham from oven; let cool for 20 minutes. With a very sharp knife, score top of ham diagonally at 1 inch intervals, cutting about 1/4 inch deep. Score ham in opposite direction for diamond shapes.
- Coat ham well with orange juice. In a small mixing bowl, combine orange marmalade, mandarin orange juice, spicy mustard and dry mustard powder. Brush half of orange marmalade mixture over ham and baste ham with pan juices.
- Return ham to oven and bake for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, basting every 20 minutes with remaining pan juices and orange marmalade mixture, until a meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the meat (without touching bone) registers 140 degrees F. Remove ham from oven and let stand 15 minutes before carving.
- If you have a spiral-sliced ham, follow instructions for carving on wrapper. Otherwise, cut a thick slice from the roundest protruding side of the ham, making a flat base. Stand the ham on the cut side (the meatiest side will be on top). Slice straight down until you hit the bone; in one motion, run the knife horizontally along the top of the bone, then cut straight down again in 1/4-inch intervals. Remove slices and serve immediately with reserved mandarin orange segments.
Note: Jeffrey Elliot shares illustrated instructions for "How to Carve a Ham."
Creamed New Potatoes and Peas
Makes 4 to 6 servings
Ingredients:
- 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt, plus more for cooking water
- 1 pound small new potatoes, scrubbed and dried
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1/4 cup chopped onion
- 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- 1 cup milk
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon hot sauce
- 1 nine-ounce package frozen peas, thawed
- Paprika, for sprinkling on top of bowl of potatoes and peas
Directions:
- Bring a large saucepan of salted water to a boil. Halve any large potatoes. Place potatoes in boiling water and cook potatoes for about 10 minutes, or until potatoes test tender when the point of a knife is inserted into the potatoes. Remove saucepan from heat, drain potatoes and set aside.
- In a medium saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Add onions and sauté until onions are translucent, about 5 to 7 minutes. Add flour to saucepan and cook, stirring well, until flour is combined with butter and onions, about 2 to 3 minutes. Add milk, 1/2 teaspoon salt, pepper and hot sauce and cook, stirring constantly, until mixture begins to bubble.
- Add drained potatoes and thawed peas to cream sauce. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring constantly, to prevent the mixture from burning, for 5 to 10 minutes, or until peas are cooked.
- Transfer potatoes to a serving dish. Garnish with a sprinkling of paprika and serve.
Lime and Coconut Poke Dream Cake
Makes one 9-by-13-inch cake
Ingredients:
FOR THE CAKE:
- Butter or margarine, for greasing baking pan
- All-purpose flour, for dusting baking pan
- 1 18.25-ounce box white cake mix
- 1 six-ounce package lime-flavored gelatin
- 1 cup boiling water
FOR THE TOPPING:
- 1 16-ounce envelope of dry whipped topping powder
- 1 three-ounce package instant coconut or vanilla pudding mix
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups cold milk
- 2 tablespoons reserved prepared lime gelatin
- 1 to 2 cups shredded, sweetened flaked coconut, for garnishing
Directions:
FOR THE CAKE:
- Butter and flour a 9-by-13-inch glass baking dish and set aside.
- Prepare cake mix according to package directions. Remove cake from oven and let cool in baking dish on a wire rack for 20 to 30 minutes.
- Combine gelatin and water in a large mixing bowl and let stand at room temperature for 10 minutes or until thickened.
- Using a serving fork or the point of a bamboo skewer, poke holes in cake, spacing holes at 1/2 inch intervals. Pour gelatin over surface of cake, reserving 2 tablespoons of gelatin for topping. Transfer cake to refrigerator and chill for 3 to 4 hours, or until ready to serve.
FOR THE TOPPING:
- In a large mixing bowl, combine dry whipped topping powder, coconut or vanilla pudding mix, vanilla extract, milk and reserved prepared lime gelatin.
- When ready to serve cake, spreading topping mixture evenly over top of cake. Sprinkle coconut generously in an even layer over topping of cake and serve.
Paula I. Nielson - Paula I. Nielson, Ph.D., holds credentials and interests in anthropology, archaeology, religion, the Middle East and Asia.
