Sunday Savories - waffles, cherrystones, and a country ham dinner

Sunday dinner

So sorry I haven't been posting much, my peeps...busy times at Chez C.O. Of course, that doesn't mean I haven't been eating, mind...can't see that happening ! Today was a great food day, though, so I'm going to try to coax a post out of my sad, on-its-last-legs laptop...if you're reading this, then the old girl's got life in her yet ;)

We started off today with Blueberry-Pecan Waffles, a photo of which was the entirety of my last post. Once again, we seem to have a surplus of pancake mix - this time was an attempt at recreating the best beer batter of all time, made at my sister's on New Year's Eve. Didn't work as well this time - perhaps we needed to be a bit more tipsy - but we'll get that sucker perfected and blogged soon. In the interest of using up the mix, though, we did up a bowl via package directions, threw in a handful of chopped pecans and another of dried blueberries, two generous shakes of cinnamon and one of nutmeg, and ladled it into the waffle maker. A little of my beloved Grade B maple syrup...and a perfect, amazing, delectable breakfast.

Properly fortified, we made our way to Russo's. . Oh, how I love Russo's...I am so lucky to live so close, and doubly lucky that I got out of the house early today and didn't have to whack any grandmas to get through the aisles. Yes, I had to go to Stop & Shop afterwards for regular groceries - but that's not an issue for me; I actually like grocery shopping. Insane, I know :). Anyway, at Russo's we picked up all kinds of produce, including some gorgeous Rainbow Swiss Chard - my new vegetable crush. Tastes so good, and looks so cool on the plate  !! Not much of a recipe for this - chop into largeish sections, heat up some oil in a big saute pan (or in Mark's case, a wok)...saute a little crushed garlic for a minute or so, then throw the chard in, put the lid on, and turn it down. Cooks down in a few minutes...salt, pepper, and serve :

Rainbow Chard, sauteing away...

Home to cook....but first a light lunch : deviled eggs. Mark was making pickled eggs today, but I was able to snag a few for deviled eggs. I love, love, love deviled eggs. Nothing fancy about these...halved, hard-cooked eggs, smash up the yolks with mustard and mayo, back into the egg whites, sprinkle with parsley and smoked paprika. Heaven :). We also had a few cherrystones...they looked so good in the store, and really that's about all the excuse we need . We did them two ways - topped with caviar, and with Mark' killer homemade cocktail sauce - OMGWTF amazing :

What, so I keep caviar in my fridge..doesn't everyone ?

seriously, the cocktail sauce is killer....

Just a few light bites, in preparation for today's main kitchen guest : a country ham from the Fox Country Smokehouse in Canterbury, NH. We've been going to this smokehouse for years...it's one of those places that you need to know how to get to : down a series of dirt roads for miles, through gorgeous rolling countryside...and then what looks like a barn in the middle of nowhere, filled with the most delicious smoked food imaginable. (Yes, you can order online from them as well...not nearly as fun though ! ). Mark's go-to ham glaze is good old Boar's Head  ...really the best stuff out there. He did an 8 1/2 pound bone-in ham 250 degrees for 3 hours, then 30 minutes at 375 after reglazing....and it was fantastic :

piggy goodness...

Along with the chard, we had the usual accompaniment to ham, at least usual around these premises : my infamous mac and cheese. I've posted my lobster variation on this before, but for ham, we go old school. I adapted this recipe out of a Yankee Magazine cookbook years ago...nothing fancy, but absolutely nothing better. This is what Culinary Orgasms are all about :

Baked Macaroni and Cheese

8 oz of your favorite short pasta
4 T butter, plus 2 T for topping
4  T flour
1 cup milk
1 cup light cream
3 cups grated cheese  - Cabot Extra Sharp preferred 
1/2 cup plain breadcrumbs 

Cook pasta according to package directions; drain.

For cream sauce : melt 4 T of the butter in saucepan and whisk in flour. Slowly whisk in milk, then cream. Simmer 5 minutes or so, to get rid of raw flour taste.

Melt the remaining butter, and stir in the breadcrumbs.

Layer the pasta, cheese, sauce in a baking dish...then another layer of pasta, cheese, sauce...then top with a last layer of cheese. Top with the buttered crumbs, and bake in a 375 oven until bubbling and a bit golden (20 - 30 minutes, depending on your pan)