“Eternity is a ham and two people.”
Dorothy Parker

Preacher’s Ham ~ Happy New Year!

I was going get around to talking about the fantastic ham that I had last week and just never got to it so here I am today praising the Preacher’s Ham from Newsom’s in Kentucky.  DH and I vowed to order another this year as it was the best smoked ham we’ve ever had, delicious.

The first night I baked the ham and glazed it with Boar’s Head glaze, served the ham with roasted broccoli and cauliflower, roasted garlic smashed potatoes, and cranberry conserve.  The next day I pieced out the ham chunks and they are resting nicely in the freezer for other dinners or lunches, anything that calls for ham.  Knowing that I was planning on pasta fagioli for NYE the bone and some of the ham was ready for the soup pot.

To a soup or stock pot add 7-8 cups water simmer the bone with celery, carrot and onion chunks, 2 packs of Knorr concentrated chicken or vegetable stock, whole peppercorns, a couple of bay leaves, and thyme sprigs.   I strained the broth after about 2 hours and packed in containers refrigerate or freeze until soup day.

One thing that I decided to do in the future for dried Navy beans is to give them an extra long soak since I’ve had a little trouble with getting them to just the right softness without falling apart or turning to mush.

The pasta fagioli, antipasto, and that lovely Irish whiskey cake was wonderful for a casual dinner for a few friends on New Year’s Eve.