What could be more traditional….or delicious? A fragrant, delicious ham is what Christmas Dinner is all about! If you’re an experienced cook, you probably have your favorite way of fixing a ham, but if you’re new to all this, a ham can feel a bit intimidating!

Just about all hams are fully cooked, meaning that all you are doing is re-heating. That makes it easy and takes the fear out of the project, because you have no worries about undercooked meat and food poisoning!

If your ham is a spiral-cut beauty, it will come with instructions. Generally they’ll tell you to put the ham in a pan and bake it for 15 minutes per pound—that’ll mean about an hour to 90 minutes. They often come with a glaze packet, which you may choose to skip. It will add a sweet tang to the meat, but I kind of like it better plain! With a spiral-cut ham, you’ll cut around the center bone and then the pieces fall away on their own. Pretty nice!

If you ham is uncut, the procedure is still pretty much the same. Put the ham in a pan, add a half-cup of water, and cover with foil. Bake 20 minutes per pound. Brush on a glaze in the last 20 minutes of cooking, if you wish. A glaze can be as simple as a drizzle of honey, or some apple jelly. Serve by cutting long slices around the bone.

See? Easy peasy, but the perfect Christmas (or New Year’s) dinner. Enjoy!

Prep Time: 20 minutes · Cook Time: 70 minutes
Serves 10

Ingredients:

1 lb ground beef or sausage

3 1/2 cups (32 oz) Ragu Spaghetti Sauce

1 1/2 cups water

2 cups ricotta cheese

2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

1/2 cup Food Club Grated Parmesan Cheese

2 eggs

1/8 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

8 oz Barilla Lasagne Noodles

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350° F.

Brown meat in a large pan; drain off any excess fat. Add the spaghetti sauce and water; simmer about 10 minutes. Combine the remaining ingredients, except the noodles, for the filling.

Pour about 1 cup of sauce on the bottom of a 9×12 pan. Layer 3 strips of uncooked noodles over the sauce and cover with 1 1/2 cups additional sauce. Spread half of the cheese filling over that. Add another layer of lasagna, sauce and cheese. Top with a final layer of lasagna and remaining sauce.

Cover with foil and bake for about an hour. Remove the foil and bake 10 minutes longer. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Nutrition Information:

Calories: 377, Fat: 14 g (7 g Saturated Fat), Cholesterol: 115 mg, Sodium: 527 mg, Carbohydrates: 28 g, Fiber: 2 g, Protein: 31 g

© 2009, Brookshire Grocery Co. Nutrient counts are rounded to the nearest whole number. All dietary and lifestyle changes should be supervised by a physician.

This recipe fits with the cold weather—apples and pork are a great duo. Cook this easy dinner in under an hour and listen for the compliments!

Apple-Roasted Pork Tenderloin
Serves 4

Prep time: 10 minutes; Cook time: 40 minutes

2 large sweet-tart apples, such as Fuji or Braeburn, sliced
1 large bulb fennel, trimmed, cored and thinly sliced (or use several ribs of celery)
1 large onion, sliced
1 Tbs plus 2 tsp canola oil1 lb pork tenderloin, trimmed
1 tsp kosher salt
¼ tsp black pepper
3 Tbs cider vinegar

Preheat oven to 475° F.

Toss apples, fennel and onion with 1 Tbs oil in a large bowl. Spread out on a rimmed baking sheet. Roast on the lowest oven rack, stirring twice until tender and golden, about 30 minutes.

About 10 minutes after putting the apples in the oven, sprinkle pork with salt and pepper. Heat the remaining 2 tsp oil in a large ovenproof skillet and sear the pork about 2 minutes per side. Then transfer the pork and pan to the upper shelf of the oven. Roast until just barely pink in the center, to a reading of about 145° F (about 12 to 14 minutes).

Transfer the pork to a cutting board and let rest 5 minutes. Stir vinegar into the pan and scrape up any browned bits. Add the vinegar mixture to the pan of apples.

Slice the pork thinly and serve with the apples. If desired, sprinkle with a few fennel leaves as a garnish.

Nutritional Information
Calories Per Serving: 279,   Fat: 10 g (2 g  Saturated Fat), Cholesterol: 74  mg, Sodium:371 mg, Carbohydrates: 25 g, Fiber: 5 g, Protein: 25 g.

© 2009, Brookshire Grocery Co.  Nutrient counts are rounded to the nearest whole number.  All dietary and lifestyle changes should be supervised by a physician.

Parties are fun. But parties can be expensive! Do you need some ideas on hosting an inexpensive party?

Here are some starters for great holiday parties—on a shoe string.

• Just have appetizers and dessert. Lots of people enjoy the more casual feel of snacking and nobody will miss the rest.
• Do brunch. Eggs are one of the best bargains in the store, so take advantage of them with a casserole or omelets.
• Stick to one drink. You don’t need to have a professional bartender serving exotic cocktails. Instead, mix up a pitcher of something that fits your theme—that’s enough!
• Make it BYO. Whether they bring their own cooler of beer, or a bottle of nice red wine, let everyone know that they can add to the stash—and everybody enjoys!

You know it’s the holidays when the big meats are on sale. Brookshire’s has whole and sliced hams and standing rib roast advertised this week. This is the perfect time for some investment cooking: that’s where you cook up something big like this, and end up with enough meals to last a week! Stock your freezer or feed the family!

Ham? Day One is the sliced ham. The next day is ham sandwiches. On the weekend you cook up the ham bone for some split pea soup. And if there’s still some left, how about a mac-n-cheese  casserole with ham chunks?

Standing rib roast is the diamond cut of beef. It’s an over-sized prime rib, so the meat is fork-tender and juicy enough to skip the gravy. Fix an elegant roast, and then cook up the bones and scraps to make the best tasting beef broth you’ve ever had. That’s the start of awesome soup, casserole sauce or an amazing beef, gravy and noodles.

Yup, this is investment cooking. Cook now, enjoy several times down the road!

Manufactures really do listen to customers. General Mills has responded to the many requests for gluten-free foods by establishing a website with information and education about their gluten-free products.

The General Mills site is not associated in any way with Brookshire Grocery Company.

We’re becoming such an international culture. We think nothing of eating Mexican, Italian, Asian or Thai foods. As the international scene becomes more commonplace, we find that many ‘foreign’ foods are downright delicious! Tortillas are very mainstream, for instance.

Have you ever tried panko? It’s a Japanese type of bread crumbs. The only real difference is that they’re extra toasty, so whatever you coat in breadcrumbs will come out extra crunchy. Pretty nice, huh?

You’ll find panko bread crumbs in the baking goods aisle, right by regular and seasoned bread crumbs. Give them a try sometime and see if you aren’t impressed!

Where to start? How about pork chops? Dip them in panko crumbs before cooking and prepare to be amazed!

Looking for something special to fix this weekend? There’s no need to go to a restaurant when you can fix a five-star meal with very little fuss—right at home! And here’s something special: this rich and creamy sauce is dairy free!

Chicken with Mushroom-Pecan Cream Sauce
Serves 6

Prep time: 6 minutes; Cook time: 11 minutes

3/4 cup toasted pecans, roughly chopped
1 cup water
1 tsp salt
6 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
1 tsp black pepper
1/4 cup finely chopped shallots or onion
1 ( 8 oz) pkg sliced mushrooms
4 cups hot cooked egg noodles
Chopped parsley, optional

Place the pecans in a food processor and process until smooth (about 1 minute). Scrape the sides of the bowl and with the motor running, add water and ½ tsp salt.

Sprinkle the chicken pieces with the remaining ½ tsp salt and the pepper. Heat a large skillet, spray with nonstick coating and sauté the chicken 3 minutes per side, or until done. Remove the chicken from the pan and keep warm.

Add shallots and mushrooms to the pan, sauté 3  minutes. Stir in the pecan cream and bring to a simmer. Simmer 1 ½ minutes. Place 2/3 cup noodles on each of 6 plates. Top each serving with 1 chicken piece and 1/3 cup sauce. Garnish with parsley.

Nutritional Information
Calories Per Serving (without pasta): 229,   Fat:13  g (2 g  Saturated Fat), Cholesterol: 64  mg, Sodium: 447 mg, Carbohydrates: 4 g, Fiber: 2  g, Protein: 26 g.

© 2009, Brookshire Grocery Co.  Nutrient counts are rounded to the nearest whole number.  All dietary and lifestyle changes should be supervised by a physician.

Pets are curious , and pets love to eat. That can make a dangerous combination any day of the year, but especially so around Christmas. With so many new and interesting scents and sights, most cats and dogs just have to investigate. Do you know what hazards to watch for? You might be surprised at the items that are dangerous for pets, but fine for humans.

• Onions and garlic: They contain sulfur compounds that can cause digestive problems and harm red blood cells. While few of us would ever feed a cat or dog onions or garlic, they are often ingredients in many soups, roasts and casseroles.
• Grapes and Raisins: Yummy and healthy for people, grapes and raisins can be deadly to dogs. They can trigger vomiting, diarrhea and kidney failure.
• Macadamia nuts: Just a handful can cause real problems. There’s a toxin that can lead to muscle weakness, sometimes paralysis, vomiting and diarrhea. Macadamia nut poisoning isn’t fatal, though, and most pets recover within 48 hours.
• Medications: Nobody would deliberately leave medications out for a  pet to eat, but if left out, dogs can crush the bottle easily and get to the contents inside. Keep pets away from all medications—keep the bottles in a drawer or cabinet.
• Plants: a surprising number of plants are poisonous to cats and dogs, including lilies, poinsettias and others.
• Sugar substitutes: Xylitol is a common sweetener used in many sugar-free candies, gums, baked goods and toothpastes (it’s sometimes listed as a sugar alcohol) and can cause low blood sugar and liver damage in dogs. Small amounts can cause big trouble, so resist the urge to give your dog a bite of Christmas cookie!

Often, pets find the dangerous materials by rooting through the trash. Make sure tempting scents aren’t available, and keep the trash can secured in an area where it’ll stay safe.

A burger’s a burger, right? Actually, no. The type of beef that makes up your burger has a big impact on how it’s going to taste. Extra-lean, ground sirloin, ground beef, ground chuck….which to choose?

It might surprise you, but the really-really lean beef isn’t the best for a basic burger. You see, burgers need a little bit of fat to maintain juiciness. If you get 97% lean beef, you’ll end up with a lean but tough sandwich.  Ground chuck is the way to go. There’s a bit of fat, but not so much that you have burger shrinkage to deal with.

And you know what else is great about chuck? Factoring in the fat that cooks out, chuck is a better deal than cheaper ground beef! If you take a pound of ground beef and a pound of ground chuck, cook and drain, you’ll have more usable meat left at the end if you use the chuck. Pretty nifty!

Brookshire’s has ground chuck on sale this week, so take advantage of the great price and stock the freezer. You can brown up several pounds of it, divide among freezer bags, and be ready for last-minute casseroles. And this time of year, that’s always a smart move!