Cookaholics Bulletin Board

I have a regular full size ham in my fridge I bought for some unknown reason (okay, I admit it, the reason was a really good sale). There are only two of us and other than cutting it up in portions and freezing I am not sure what to do with it.

I do have a party coming up this weekend, which I traditionally make appetizers for. Does anyone have any appetizery suggestions to serve a whole ham other than sliced cold.

--Lisa

Mini biscuit sliders with slices of hot glazed ham. I might do a spicy cheddar biscuit with a red pepper or mango chutney glazed ham (or one of those commercial chutneys made to go with cheese). Maybe frittata squares with chunks of ham. Ham, cheese, and chutney paninis cut into bite sized pieces? Or do ham chunks in grape/chili sauce (like Vienna wieners) in the slow cooker?

Ham freezes well too, so what you don't use you can freeze.

Lisa, you could use part of it for appies and part for my favorite non-black bean recipe. It CC's Meaty Beans. It is really good and with a salad makes a meal for me. (Could use some garlic bread, but we are trying to cut down on carbs.) Let me know if you'd like the recipe. You could do ham roll-ups. Fill with a creamy cheese, some finely diced green onions, maybe some piquillo peppers. Or you could a mini ham and cheese open sandwich using manchego or smoked gouda on good lightly toasted Cuban bread, broiled for a few minutes to soften the cheese. Or just mini Cuban sandwiches if you have some leftover pork from your lechon.

I usually try to keep a nice, meaty bone for split pea soup, but I can see where that might not be Florida food.

It does freeze really well, and it's nice to have on hand to toss in egg dishes or on pizza. You can also just grind it up and make some deviled ham spread -- Eat it on a Ritz when no-one's looking.

Thanks all, some good ideas here! The mini cuban sandwiches sound really good but the lechon is long gone. I will maybe get some pork and roast a bit for that.

I promise I will not be throwing out the hambone!

--Lisa