Ham & Broccoli Casserole

We are preparing for our winter vacation which means we need to use up what is in the refrigerator before we leave. I've froze what I could. Last night I made a lovely casserole using up a bit of the frozen ham from Christmas entertaining. Some of the best casseroles come together simply by tossing simple but compatible ingredients together.

Ham & Broccoli Casserole

This really was a clean out the fridge casserole but there was a plan. In my mind ham is best served with scallop potatoes and not those fancy scallops but the real scallops the way my Mom made them. Whenever we have a ham I cut a thick slice into cubes then freeze for a quick start. These handy packets are great additions for casseroles and soups.

Ham & Broccoli Casserole

2 c ham, cubed
1½ c broccoli, chopped
4 mushrooms, sliced
4 med potatoes, cubed
1 tsp Old Bay Seasoning
3 tbsp unbleached flour
2 c shredded cheddar cheese
3 c milk

Prepare ham and vegetables. Pour the seasoning and flour over the ham and vegetable mix. Stir to mix. Shred cheese and add to the ham and vegetable mix. Stir to mix. Pour the mixture into a casserole dish. Scald the milk. Pour the milk over the mixture. Bake at 350ºF until casserole is bubbly and potatoes are cooked through. Garnish with dried parsley or chives.

Introducing Kitchen Quick Tips

I came up with the idea of doing a weekly Kitchen Quick Tips back in November but didn't follow through on it until now. Over the years I've picked up a lot of little tips and tricks that make cooking a bit easier. While some are sprinkled throughout the regular posts and will continue in that fashion I thought it a separate label of quick tips would help you find these little tidbits easier and making it easier for you to collect them. The quick tips will not be limited to just cooking. They will be short, sweet and to the point likely averaging one sentence. You will be able to identify these tips by the banner I made just for them and searching the new label kitchen quick tips. Kitchen Quick Tips will appear each Thursday. I hope you enjoy these quick tips and find them useful.

Here's your first Kitchen Quick Tip:

Wipe your counters with hydrogen peroxide to kill germs just as effectively as chloride bleach without the harmful nature of chloride bleach. Hydrogen peroxide will keep your counters stain free as well.

Frugal Kitchens 101 - Using Left Over Bread

Buying store made croutons or breadcrumbs is a colossal waste of money regardless of how convenient they are. Even if you do not make your own breads making your own is going to save you money. If you make the majority of your own breads at some point you are going to need to use up some of that bread that went stale before you had a chance to use it. Not only is this a frugal practice it basically will give you at least two more homemade products for your pantry that will eliminate store bought and save you money. Virtually any homemade yeast breads can be used to make croutons or breadcrumbs but pumpernickel and dark rye being stronger flavoured are a bit more difficult to use later.

• croutons - Slice the bread into ½ inch slices. Cut across the slices to form strips then cut across the strips to form cubes. Spread onto a Silpat lined baking sheet. Spray lightly with a health mister using extra virgin olive oil. Add seasoning if desired but go lightly. Bake at 350ºF until golden brown. Turn and bake until the other side is golden brown.
  
• moist breadcrumbs - Moist breadcrumbs are ideal for things like quiche and stuffings. Grind these using a KitchenAid® stand mixer with food grinder attachment or similar, a blender or a food processor. Pack into a freezer container. Freeze until ready to use.
• dry breadcrumbs - Dry breadcrumbs are suitable for using in meat loaves. Oven dry the bread until dry but not browning. Use a KitchenAid or similar with a food grinder attachment to grind the dry bread. Do not use a blender or food processor as it will be too much of a stress load for either. Grind finely. Store in vacuum sealed mason jars for up to 3 months in the pantry or for longer term storage freeze.
  

Home Canned Clementine Oranges

Living in the northern hemisphere means certain fruits and vegetables simply are not grown locally so must be bought at the grocery store. These include the fruits and vegetables in season from the southern American states as well as tropical and southern hemisphere fruits and vegetables. These fruits and vegetables are imported into Canada from several foreign countries. Even though most of these fruits and vegetables are available year round in Canada the prices fluctuate depending on when they are in season in their home country.

Prep

Clementines (a variety of mandarin oranges) are a normally available in our area from early December to mid January earning them the title of Christmas oranges. They are the smallest (about 2" diameter) of the mandarin oranges. They are easily peeled without squirting juice. Their easily separated segments are seedless. The clementines commonly available here are imported from Morocco, a coastal country in Northern Africa.

Clementines are usually sold in 2.3 kg (5 lb) thin wooden crates covered with plastic mesh to protect them during shipping. Each crate contains about 34 of the sweet, candy like clementines. When they first become available in the stores a crate costs about $5.99 but some stores put them on sale. Yesterday my husband bought a crate for $3.99 so I decided to can a few. Why?
Commercially canned mandarin oranges are sold in 125 ml cans for about $1.49 and they never seem to go on sale. At the sale price the clementines worked out to be 12¢ each. Each 250 ml jar (double the size of store bought) would use about 2 clementines (24¢), a little bit of sugar, lids (8¢) and the electricity (4¢) for processing so 5 - 250 ml jars cost a total of $1.76 compared to the cost of store bought (125 ml x 2 x 5) or $1.49 x 2 x 5 = $14.90 for a total savings of $13.14. The total amount of sugar used for the syrup was 6¢ per cup and was factored into the final cost. I'd say based on the savings this is one home canned product well worth making.

Bottling

The prep work for canning the clementines was very, very easy. The clementines peel very easily and there are no seeds to worry about. I peeled the clementines and removed any of the white pith mainly a bit of stringy white in the core and set aside. The pith needs to be removed as it turns bitter during canning. I simply made a thin syrup using 2 cups organic sugar and 5 cups of water. While that heat to just the boiling point I filled the hot, sterilized jars with clementine segments leaving ½ inch headspace. Then I ladled the hot syrup over the segments leaving ½ inch headspace, wiped the rims and adjusted the two piece lids. The jars were processed in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes. If you are over 1,000 feet above sea level use the processing adjustment

Home Canned Clementines

Pictured are the five 250 ml jars fresh from the canner waiting for the ping indicate the jars sealed. You will note that while I did remove any pith I did not remove the membrane surrounding the segments. Some sources indicate the membrane can turn bitter when canned while other sources indicate only the pith turns bitter. I plan on canning another small batch of clementines with the membrane removed then compare the two to see which ones we prefer. I will report back on the comparison.

Aesthetically the clementine segments are pretty in the jars. I do think that removing the membrane will give a pretty product but won't know for sure until I try a batch. I plan to use the home canned clementine segments in fruit based salads, in fruit smoothies and in a couple of poultry dishes.