Please sing like you’re Richard Burton singing to Gwen in the forest to the tune of Camelot.

Hamalot! (da da da da da da) Hamalot!
For Easter we did bake a very large ham
We did not want to see it go to waste
It was so very good
We just knew that we should
eat all of it we could
that’s why last week we ate and ate and ate
Hamalot!

Okay. Not great lyrics but it’s the best I could come up with and I’ve procrastinated with this blog post long enough. Be done!

Really, it’s true. Last week was Hamalot week at our house. We ate ham—alot. The ham was actually “free” having acquired it by spending enough money at the ShopRite within a certain amount of time to earn the points to get either a ham, turkey or large frozen Stouffer’s lasagna. (Don’t ask about the lasagna, I can’t explain other than to say we live in a very Italian area.) It was one of the best hams we’ve ever eaten, so we wanted to pay homage to the pig who gave it’s life and not waste any of it. I went on a mission to seek out recipes to incorporate the ham. I had the idea to photograph each thrifty meal as we went.

After our Easter meal of baked ham, baked white sweet potato (or Jersey potato as Colorado likes to call them and not sure why) and creamed brussel sprouts with bacon, the second night’s meal was this:

Pan-fried ham slices with panko roasted asparagus.

If you like asparagus, you’re going to love this way of cooking it. Thick spears are coated with a mixture of mayonnaise, (I use Hellman’s Light)  a touch of lemon juice and dijon mustard then rolled in panko crumbs. Roast until toasty. Yum.

Third Hamalot night was a salad with thin slices of ham and Jarlsberg cheese, mushrooms and celery served on a bed of mixed salad greens and a white wine-dijon style dressing.

Fourth night was an old family recipe that I have never made before: Cheese Pie. My mom used to make this around Easter time for my dad who loved it. The recipe came from my Nana (grandmother on my father’s side) who was Italian. The origins of the recipe I think are in fact English or Scottish since her husband was of English descent. I’m not really certain. Maybe it was really Italian, but I don’t think so. If anyone knows anything about the origins, please let me know! It didn’t seem to have the same consistency of mom’s but it was pretty good. The ham was finely ground and added to cottage cheese. Who knows what “cottage” cheese may have meant at the time the recipe was written? I tried to use the thickest curd I could find but it still lacked something.

The next night was a pizza. Store-purchased wheat pizza dough, homemade easy tomato sauce, chopped ham (of course) and leftover pineapple pieces from another meal (shrimp tacos, I think). I can’t tell you how good this was!

The last and final night I made split pea soup using the bone and chopping up the rest of the meat. I always look forward to split pea soup after having ham!

And so ends our Hamalot week. I think you’ll agree that we did the old pig justice! Now neither of us want ham for another year!
~oink oink~