Getting Ready for Thanksgiving at The Farm

Well, supper this evening was good but nothing special. BBQ chicken, tabbouleh and fresh bread from the butcher shop with a simple tossed salad (red leaf lettuce, red onion, olive oil, rice vinegar, salt and pepper). But tonight wasn't about supper, I made the dishes that I'm responsible to bring to The Farm for Thanksgiving.

We've been doing this for quite a few years now and I think we've pretty much got it down. Everyone (15-20 people) brings something and we all pretty much know what we're bringing. I bring a ham and a meat loaf and usually some breakfast food (pound of bacon, dozen eggs, brick of cheese) I also try to bring something special.

A few years ago, I made bacon from scratch. Cured it for 4 days then smoked it on the BBQ Saturday morning. It was awesome. This year I'm bringing a case of fresh pesto, made tonight and some pickled El Jefe peppers that I made about 5 weeks ago. They should be ready to eat by the weekend. Or at least ready enough.

Anyway, I made the ham, the meatloaf and 12 x 250ml jars of pesto tonight.


Ham in Coca Cola
Courtesy of Nigella Lawson (Nigella Bites)

Ingredients
1 ham - I always look for the biggest butt half I can find, 3.7kg this year but I'd prefer at least 4kg.
3 2L bottles of Coke
2 onions, peeld and halved

2 Tbsp whole cloves
3 Tbsp dry mustard
3 Tbsp brown sugar
3 Tbsp molasses

Directions
1. Put ham and onions in a large stock pot and cover with Coke. Cover and simmer for 2.5 - 3 hours.

2. After 2.5 - 3 hours, carefully remove the ham from the pot and place on a roasting tray lined with heavy duty foil.

3. Preheat the oven to 450°F

4. Spike the cloves all over the ham, sprinkle on the dry mustard and brown sugar, then drizzle with the molasses.

5. Bake in the oven, uncovered for 10 minutes.

6. Baste the ham with the glaze in the bottom of the pan a few times as it cools on the counter.


Meatloaf
Courtesy of Mom and/or Gram

Ingredients
1.5 - 2 lbs ground beef (I used venison last year)
1 packet of dry onion soup mix
1 can evaporated milk

Directions
Mix all ingredient, bake in a loaf pan, at 350°F for 1 hour. Drain the fat from the pan when it comes out of the oven.

Pesto

I made some about a month ago and froze it in mini muffin tins. I had to run hot water over the bottom of the tin to get the pesto out so then I had to re-freeze them a bit on a plate. Not that big a deal and it worked out pretty good. I forgot to write down the recipe I used so I took another swing at it tonight and I think I got it pretty good.

Ingredients
6+ cloves of garlic, peeled
3/4 cup pine nuts
3/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
fresh basil leaves - enough to fill about 3/4 of the blender, lightly packed (about 4-6 cups loose)
olive oil - I didn't measure but if I had to guess, I'd say 2-3 cups.

Directions
1. Pulse the garlic in the blender.

2. Add a few Tbsp of oil, then lightly pack in the basil leaves until the blender is 2/3 to 3/4 full. Add the nuts and cheese. Poke down and stir a bit with the handle of long wooden spoon.

3. Turn the blender on and slowly pour in some oil until the pesto starts to mix at the bottom. Turn the blender off and poke and stir some more with the spoon handle. (Uhhmm... of course I unplugged it) Keep repeating these 2 steps until the pesto is smooth and as thick or thin as you like it.

Note
I started with a slightly smaller batch and got 3 x 250ml jars, not quite full. The 2nd batch was a bit bigger and gave me 4 jars. The 3rd batch was as described above and I got 5 jars. One full case to bring to the Farm to share with my family for Thanksgiving.