The Gazpacho Diaries

I purchased a small spiral sliced ham to take down to Orange County after Christmas and fix for Rob and forgot to take it with us!  Decided I needed to use it as a base for meals this week.  

I had never had a ham loaf until at Christmas Dinner prepared by my mother-in-law  Jane about 30 years ago, she served "Ham Loaf".  It was basically the meatloaf recipe off the Quaker Oat carton with ham rather than pork.  Nothing memorable.  Never having the desire to replicate it at home ham loaf was not part of our diet, until I clipped this recipe from a copy of Bon Apetit in the late 90's.  I found it to be yummy comfort food.  Trying to eat as heart healthy as we can its something I only make once a year, if that often.  I use the leanest pork sausage Jimmy Dean makes, red pepper and cut the recipe in half which makes 2 dinners and left overs for lunch for us.  A friend served a corn pudding a few months ago, her secret recipe.  I think I'll try one on Allrecipes.com and add green chili's and some cheddar cheese as a side to the ham loaf. 

 

Pork and Ham Loaf with Marmalade-Mustard Glaze

Makes 6-8 servings

Ingredients:

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter

1 cup finely chopped onion
3/4 cup finely chopped green bell pepper
1 1/2 pounds ground pork
1 pound finely chopped smoked ham (about 3 1/2 cups)
1 cup finely crushed saltine crackers
1 cup milk
2 large eggs, beaten to blend
1 teaspoon black pepper
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup orange marmalade
1/2 cup Dijon mustard
1/3 cup (packed) golden brown sugar

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Melt butter in heavy medium skillet over medium-low heat. Add onion and bell pepper. Cover and cook until vegetables are tender, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes. Cool mixture completely.

Mix ground pork, ham, crushed crackers, milk, eggs, pepper, salt and cooled onion mixture in large bowl; combine thoroughly. Transfer pork mixture to shallow baking pan. Shape into 9x4x2 1/2-inch loaf. Using long knife, make shallow crisscross (diamond) pattern in top of loaf. Bake loaf 30 minutes. 

Meanwhile, blend orange marmalade, Dijon mustard and brown sugar in small bowl for glaze.

Drizzle 1/3 cup glaze over loaf; bake 15 minutes. Drizzle another 1/3 cup glaze over loaf; bake 15 minutes. Drizzle remaining glaze over loaf and bake until thermometer inserted into center of loaf registers 165°F, about 20 minutes longer. Transfer loaf to platter; let stand 10 minutes. Pour pan juices into small bowl; whisk to blend.

Cut loaf crosswise into 3/4-inch-thick slices. Serve with pan juices.

Source:  Bon Appétit  | February 1998