Jeff, the A.D.D. Chef

If you followed my recommendation and made the glazed ham then you will probably have a pound or two of leftover ham. No need to worry. Here’s one way to use some of that leftover ham. Make a quick Cuban Sandwich. Though I cut a corner or two (didn’t use Cuban bread), nonetheless, it is easy to make and tastes great.

INGREDIENTS

• 2 “Hoagie” Rolls
• 3 tbs Mayonnaise
• 1 tbs brown mustard
• 4 slices of pickles (such as the Vlasic Kosher Dill Stackers)
• Enough thin slices of ham to cover one side of the hoagie
• 1/4 lbs of Swiss Cheese

DIRECTIONS

1. Mix the mayonnaise and mustard in a small bowl.
2. Spread this mixture on the insides of the hoagie.
3. Using the photo below as a guide, slice enough ham to cover one side of the hoagie.
   
4. Place two slices of pickle on top.
5. Then cover the other side with swiss cheese.
6. Melt the butter.
7. Spread a light coating of butter on the outside of the hoagie.
8. If you have a sandwich press, follow its instructions.
9. If you do not have a sandwich press, you will need two pans. A very large one to grill the sandwiches in and another one to place on top of the sandwiches. Cast iron pans are ideal because of their weight.
10. Place the sandwiches in the large pan, place a smaller one on top and press down to squish the sandwiches.
11. Grill at a low heat for several minutes on each side. Essentially you want to grill the bread a bit and you want the cheese to melt.

We’d love to hear about your recipes for using leftover ham and, if it passes the culinary editorial board (currently composed of one member), it may be posted right here for all the world to see.

You can contact us at: info at JeffTheAddChef dot com.

This is the perfect A.D.D. recipe. It cooks in the oven for about three hours (so you can hyperfocus on something else for awhile), it requires almost no skills, it requires no more than three ingredients and there are always leftovers that can be used to make another meal.

INGREDIENTS

• One ham such as the Butt Portion. Seven lbs. will feed about four people.
  
• 1 1/4 cups Brown Sugar
• 1/4 cup Dijon Mustard (or other mustard of your choice like Zatarain’s Creole Mustard)
  

DIRECTIONS

1. Remove the ham from its packaging including the little plastic piece that is inserted over the bone (it resembles the little plastic piece used in a pizza box).
2. Place the ham in a baking pan. The pan should have a depth of at least one inch since the cooking process will create juices.
   
3. Heat your oven to 325 degrees F.
4. Cooking time is based on 20 minutes per pound. This ham was 7.5 pounds so total cooking time was 150 minutes, or 2 1/2 hours. To be on the safe side, add an additional 30 minutes. This will assure that the meat closest to the bone gets cooked.
5. Mix all of the glaze ingredients (just brown sugar and mustard) when you are just about ready to put on the glaze. You should have something like this:
   
6. At the 2 1/2 hour mark the glaze goes on.
7. Before putting on the glaze, use a very sharp knife to lightly score the ham. You don’t have to apply much pressure, the ham will split open a bit by itself.
   
8. Now you are ready to put on the glaze. I spoon it on beginning from the top of the ham. Your glazed ham will look like this:
   
9. Put the ham back in the oven for at least 30 minutes.
10. When you take out the ham let it rest for about 10 minutes. You can then transfer it to a platter.
11. If you like, you can pour all of the drippings into a pot to make gravy. I scrape off any caramelized sugar that is in the bottom of the pan and put that in the gravy too. Stir it continually with a whisk while it boils. Do this for about five minutes. To thicken the gravy you can whisk in a few tablespoons of flour.
    

VARIATIONS

You can use these two links to find alternate “glaze” recipes.

1. Mustard and … ??
2. Brown sugar and … ??

When vegetables are in-season, buy them fresh and ripe. “Off-season,” frozen vegetables will give you a high concentration of nutrients. Choose packages marked with a USDA “U.S. Fancy” shield, which designates produce of the best size, shape and color; vegetables of this standard also tend to be more nutrient-rich than the lower grades “U.S. No. 1″ or “U.S. No. 2.” Eat them soon after purchase: over many months, nutrients in frozen vegetables do inevitably degrade. Finally, steam or microwave rather than boil your produce to minimize the loss of water-soluble vitamins.

Source: Fresh vs Frozen Vegetables

FYI: Clarence Birdseye is considered the founder of the frozen food industry. See: Clarence Birdseye: Father of Frozen Food.

This recipe is perfect for the A.D.D.er who thrives on hyperfocused multi-step processes. It begins with thinly sliced chicken breasts and progresses to a rolling, flouring, egg coating, bread crumb covering and frying process that is topped off with a sauce making and baking process. None of these steps are complicated…but there are many of them.

To make this an enjoyable cooking experience, queue up your favorite music CDs, turn up the volume and get ready to spend about 2 hours cooking. (With experience you’ll be able to cut this time in half.) The recipe below is very forgiving so precise measuring is not required. The suggested quantities will make enough for six people (two pieces per person).

INGREDIENTS

• 12 Thinly sliced chicken breasts
• 1/2 lb. virginia ham or some other flavorful ham
• 1/2 lb. swiss cheese (mild, not pungent)
• 2 cans cream of mushroom soup
• 1 package of fresh mushrooms, sliced
• 1/2 cup of white wine
• 1 cup flour
• 1 tsp garlic salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup unseasoned (plain) bread crumbs
• Olive Oil (for frying)

DIRECTIONS

To make sure that you don’t forget any of the steps involved in this dish, it makes sense to set up an assembly line.

1. Set up the right side of the assembly line (see below). On the right is the ham and swiss cheese, to the left is the sliced chicken breast.
   
2. Set up the left side of the assembly line (see below). From the right you have the flour which has been mixed with the garlic salt and black pepper. In the middle are two beaten eggs. On the left is the bread crumbs.
   
3. Here is a view of the full assembly line. You will start at the far end (where the ham, cheese and chicken are located) and move to the left. We are now ready to begin.
   
4. Place one piece of cheese on top of one piece of ham and roll it up.
5. Place this ham-cheese roll on a chicken breast and roll up the chicken breast. You should have something like this:
   
6. Roll this in the flour.
7. Roll this in the egg.
8. Roll this in the bread crumbs.
9. Each piece needs to be fried to a golden brown. It is up to you if you want to roll all of the pieces and then fry them or fry them one at a time.
   
10. Place all of the fried pieces in a large tray.
11. In a large bowl mix the two cans of cream of mushroom soup with the fresh mushrooms and white wine. Then cover the chicken with this sauce (see below).
    
12. Bake the chicken for about 15 minutes at 350 F. oven.

Note: Some variations, as noted at What is Chicken Cordon Bleu?, can be to substitute prosciutto for the ham or gruyere cheese for the swiss cheese. We’ve already seen prosciutto used in the Chicken Rollatini and Eggplant Rollatini. Gruyere cheese is often used in French Onion Soup. You might also want to add a small container (16 oz.) of sour cream to the sauce.

This side dish requires a small amount of preparation time and several hours of “place in the refrigerator and forget about it” time.

INGREDIENTS

• 2 bunchs of asparagus
• 2 cubanelles (sometimes referred to as Italian Frying Peppers)¹
• 1 small onion
• 1 can water-packed artichoke hearts
• Olive Oil
• Balsamic Vinegar

DIRECTIONS

1. Cut off about 2 inches from the bottom of the asparagus.
2. Steam the asparagus stems till they are soft but not mushy.²
3. When asparagus is done (remember, soft…not mushy) remove from steamer, place in a large bowl and put to the side. The asparagus will continue to cook as it cools down.
4. Cut the onion and the peppers into small pieces.
5. Fry the onions and peppers in about 2 glugs³ of olive oil. You want the onions to be limp and the peppers to be bright green. When done, place it in the same bowl as the asparagus.
6. Cut the artichoke hearts into small pieces and add to the bowl.
7. Drizzle about four glugs (about 1/4 cup) of balsamic vinegar over all of the ingredients (remember…you put them all in a large bowl) and mix everything around. It will be easier to do it with your hands. Using a utensil may break the asparagus stems.
8. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place in refrigerator for about 2-3 hours.
9. Remove from refrigerator about 1 hour before serving. This will bring it a bit closer to room temperature.

1. I stumbled across this interesting recipe for Marinated Cubanelles while googling. [↩]
2. You’ll want to “test” the asparagus after it has been steaming for about 3-4 minutes. When you bite into a piece it will be soft on the outside and will retain some firmness as you bite all the way through. If you have ever had asparagus from a can, they tend to be mushy with no detectable firmness. When steaming fresh asparagus, try to be aware of subtle color changes as it is cooking. [↩]
3. ”Glug” is a liquid measure. When you pour oil out of a large can, it makes a glug sound as it comes out of the spout. You’ll need two of these glugs. Those unfamiliar with this liquid measure might want to pour enough oil to cover the bottom of the frying pan. [↩]