Shaved ham is not just for sandwiches - Featured in Group Recipes

Last Night my family celebrated my belated birthday.  We had a fusion of Western and Chinese food served  buffet style.  For the Western infulence, we had shaved honey roast ham, sharp red cheddar and havarti cheese slices, sliced ciabatta bread and various condiments & accompaniments to make a sandwich board.  My "quaylo" huband prepared a salad of fresh coriander parsley, soft mozarella balls, and roma tomatoes chunked instead of sliced. He made a balsamic reduction and tossed the above with a bit of virgin olive oil. The result is, of course, a different arrangement of a "Caprese" salad.  I contributed a Caesar salad done in the traditional  recipe with romaine lettuce and garlic/anchovy laced dressing. For the Chinese side , my Mum made an old family favorite; braised pork shoulder with peanuts (my husband says that cooking with peanuts was new to him when he first came here and loves the rich legume in our stews and soups).  I made a garlic ginger stir fried prawn which my God son Darryl helped to cook off for our party. Darryl is an aspiring chef and at our affairs he is always willing to jump into the kitchen.  We bought a green vegetable preparation from an outside restaurant to balance the meal.  While this is quite a common dish for us here in Malaysia my husband says it isn't usually seen in the states. It was potato leafs stir fried with eggs, a typical Cantonese veggie.  For dessert, Gary had bought a birthday cake and I made a Pavlova. It was a sumptuous meal and everybody enjoyed the food. There was considerable amounts of shaved ham and sliced cheese left over. Tonight I made a shaved ham casserole for dinner.

Shaved Ham Gratin (1)

Ingredients

 1 pound fresh asparagus (fat spears)

 1 pound cauliflower (thinly sliced)

 3 tablespoons butter or margarine

 2 tablespoons flour

 1/2 cube chicken stock

 1 cup milk

1 cup shredded cheese (we used well aged  sharp red Cheddar and ½ cup Havarti cheese)

 2 hard-cooked eggs peeled and sliced

 2 cups shaved ham

Method:

Wash asparagus and break off tough ends. With vegetable peeler, remove scales from     stalks if necessary. (Peeling the bottom inch or two of stalk eliminates any possible fibrous part.) Bias-cut stalks into about 2-inch lengths. Cook in boiling water until just tender; drain and dunk them in cold water and drain again. Place half of the asparagus and cauliflower in a six inch casserole dish.

Bechamel sauce: Melt butter in a small saucepan. Add flour and salt; whisk until blended well.  Add milk and whisk again. Cook slowly on a low flame and stir until smooth and thickened. Remove from heat.

In a shallow baking dish, begin with a bottom layer of  mixed cauliflower and aspargus tips in the bottom of the casserole and pour some of the sauce over that layer.  Add a layer of shaved ham & sliced eggs, then pour some of the sauce over them.  Continue layering in this fashion, alternating between the vegeteables and the ham & egg layer until the top of the baking dish is  reached.  Finish with the top layer featuring the vegetables again. Pour  the rest of the sauce overe the top evenly and spirinkly with a bit more shredded cheese. 

Preheat oven at 180 degrees C (212 degrees F) and bake for 25 to 30 mins keeping a close eye on the top to avoid exceeding the caramelization stage and burning the dish.

The result (as shown in the pictures) is a traditional gratin(1) heavily featured in French cooking. This method offers considerable room for experimentation in terms of ingredients but usually features cheese,, butter, bread crumbs and /or egg  as common elements to creat the crusty top. Cheese is not typical in Chinese food recipes and yet, with the exception of the stoic palate of my mother, cheese has been enthusiastically accepted in our family.

(1)  "Gratin is a widely used culinary technique in food preparation in which an ingredient is topped with a browned crust, often using breadcrumbs, grated cheese, egg and/or butter. Gratin originated in French cuisine and is usually prepared in a shallow dish of some kind. A gratin is baked or cooked under an overhead grill or broiler to form a golden crust on top and is traditionally served in its baking dish." - Wikipedia

Tweet

Pin It