Easiest Easter Ham

 

 

It's Easter next weekend. Time for another family meal. You better have a Costco membership card in your wallet...otherwise you will miss out on one of the greatest epicurean delights known to modern man. Kirkland Ham. Bone-in and spiral sliced. Pre-cooked. Hickory smoked. I'm here to tell you it is the greatest ham you will ever taste.

Not only is the taste of this ham astounding, the price will absolutely blow you away. It's just $3.59 a pound. Cheaper than ground beef. Cheaper than wieners. Cheaper than that 47-week supply of Kirkland toilet paper. You've gotta be plum crazy not to take advantage of this. The world's greatest ham at the world's greatest price.

The ham also comes with a package of glaze. My advice.....throw the glaze away the minute you get home. The pit master has put the absolutely perfect amount of hickory smoke in this ham. The glaze is over-the-top sweet and detracts from hickory greatness. Plain ham and Potato Kugel for my Easter dinner, please.

So let's tick off the boxes. World's best tasting ham. World's cheapest ham. And now for the trifecta...world's easiest ham recipe! 

Ingredients
One Kirkland spiral sliced ham (7-14 pounds)
Aluminum foil
1 cup water


Directions

1. Remove ham from store packaging and wrap tightly in aluminum foil.
2. Add water to bottom of slow cooker, then add ham and cover.
3. Turn slow cooker to low and cook for 8 hours. When done, remove foil and serve.

Wine pairing: Zinfandel

Grilled Ribeye with Jalapeño Horseradish Butter

 

Now that  the cooking with charcoal season has started, I've become obsessed with compound butters to dress my freshly grilled steaks. This butter brings two big hits of heat to my very favorite cut of steak... a well-marbled ribeye.

INGREDIENTS

1 stick of butter (8 ounces) at room temperature*

2 medium jalapeño chiles, seeded and minced

3 tablespoons freshly grated horseradish

1/4 cup minced flat leaf parsley 

4 ribeye steaks, 16 ounces each and 1-1/2" thick

Kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper

*A note on butter. Choose a European butter if possible (me loves Kerrygold).  European butters have a higher butter fat content...which makes them both creamier and tastier than their American counterparts.

DIRECTIONS

1. Make the Jalapeño Horseradish butter. Put the first 4 ingredients in a bowl. Use an immersion blender to combine all the ingredients until the compound butter is completely smooth.
2. Set a piece of parchment or wax paper next to the bowl. Scrape the bowl clean onto the parchment/wax paper. Form the butter mixture into a log by rolling it up in the shape of a tootsie roll. Refrigerate for a minimum of 2 hours before use.
3. Prepare your grill for a 2-zone fire: High heat on one zone and no heat on the other. Season the steaks on both sides with the salt and pepper.
4. When your grill is hot, place the steaks over the high heat zone and grill the steaks for 4 minutes (grill covered). Then flip the steaks and grill for 4 more minutes (grill covered)
5. Move steaks to the indirect zone and cook for 5 minutes (grill covered). (Note: This timing will yield medium rare steaks when cooked over charcoal. Your mileage may vary.)
6. Place steaks on a platter. Cut the butter log into coins about 1-inch thick. Put a butter coin on each steak, then cover steaks loosely with foil and let them rest for 10 minutes. Then serve.

Wine pairing: Cabernet Sauvignon