Mashed Sweet Potatoes & Ham Gravy

Just as we often use the juices from roast beef, roast pork or roast chicken to make gravy, the juices from baked ham shouldn't be overlooked, and ham gravy is super. It should not be confused with "red-eye gravy," which is typically made from the drippings of ham fried in a skillet to which black coffee is added (the fatty ham drippings and coffee produce a reddish brown sauce that looks like a red eye).

 

These mashed potatoes are a great side dish next to some freshly baked ham. I like sweet potatoes to be sweetened further for sweet potato casserole, but I only use a small amount of sweetener when I have mashed sweet potatoes, and at times, I don't add any sweetener. So, you can certainly add sweetener in the amount you prefer. 

Ingredients:

 

1 1/4 pound sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 to 2 inch chunks

1 1/2 tablespoons butter

2 to 4 tablespoons canned milk (evaporated milk, NOT sweetened condensed milk)

1 or 2 tablespoons honey (or maple syrup)

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg (or mace)

1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper

pinch of salt

 

For the gravy:

 

3 strips bacon, chopped

4 tablespoons flour

1 1/2 cups ham broth

1/4 cup canned milk

1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper

2 tablespoons finely chopped ham

salt not needed due to broth and bacon

 

Cover the peeled and cut sweet potatoes with water in a pan over high heat, add a pinch of salt. Bring the water to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium to maintain a steady, but not a rolling boil. Cook the sweet potatoes for 8 to 10 minutes, then use a fork to see how close they are to being done; and proceed until they are tender, but not mushy. 

When the sweet potatoes are done, drain them and return them to the same pan over very low heat. I add the butter, honey and the 2 tablespoons of milk to the pan. If you add more milk  than that right off, you may end up with runny sweet potatoes, so it's best to add it a little at a time, if or as needed. Stir the ingredients around until the butter melts, then remove from the heat. Add the nutmeg, white pepper and a pinch of salt. Use a hand mixer to mash the sweet potatoes until they are smooth and creamy. During this process, if you feel they need more milk, add one tablespoon at a time and continue with the mixer. 

For the gravy: Add the chopped bacon to a pan or skillet over medium heat. Let the bacon cook to render the fat, then sprinkle in the flour and stir to make a roux (if there is not enough bacon fat to make the roux, add a tablespoon of butter, let it melt, mix it around, then add the flour). Cook the roux for just a minute or two to remove the raw flour taste. Use the liquid in the baking pan from the ham; that is, the ham juices, and add enough water to it to make 1 1/2 cups. Begin adding the ham broth (about 1/4 cup to start), and keep stirring to get it incorporated with the roux; then, add 1/2 cup broth and repeat the process, continue until all the broth is used and the gravy is smooth (except for the bacon bits), then add the milk and do the same process. Add the finely chopped ham and the white pepper and stir well to mix it all in.

 

Serve the ham gravy over the mashed sweet potatoes ...   

  

 

WORD HISTORY: 

Trek-This word, related to "drag" and to "draw," both original English words from Old Germanic, goes back to Indo European "dhragh," which had the notion of "to pull." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "dragan(an)," with the same meaning. This "seemingly" produced a somewhat later West Germanic variant form, "trakjanan," meaning, "to drag, to pull roughly, to scrape." I say, "somewhat later," because apparently English did not have a form, and the Germanic dialects that became English left the continental North Sea areas beginning in the mid 400s and into the 500s AD. The variant form gave Dutch "trecken," with the meaning, "to drag, to pull;" thus also, "to travel by cart/wagon" (which, of course, was pulled by animals). This then became "trekken." The Dutch began a strong colonial involvement in southern Africa in the mid 1600s. Many Dutch colonists settled there, and a Dutch dialect gradually developed in southern Africa, more recently declared to be a language in its own right, Afrikaans. Dutch "trekken" was naturally carried to the Dutch settlements in southern Africa; thus to early "Afrikaans," by which time, the word had come to mean the more generalized "to travel, to move from one area to another," and this then became "trek," in Afrikaans, also meaning, "to travel, to migrate, to transport," which also then developed the like spelled noun, meaning, "a migration, a journey." The verb and noun were borrowed into English in the mid 1800s, as English speaking colonists were also present in southern Africa by that time. Other relatives in the Germanic languages: German has "trecken" ^ (Treck is the noun form, from Low German in the later 1800s), verb form meaning, "to hike, to move/travel in a migration;" Low German Saxon "Treck" (noun, "migration;" the verb seems no longer to be used); Dutch "trekken" (to pull, to drag, to migrate, to travel; noun "trek," meaning "draught (air flow 'traveling through an opening'), migration"); West Frisian "trekke" (to pull, to drag); Danish "trække" (borrowed from Low German, "to drag, to pull").

^ The original German form was diminished to dialectal use, but it was revived, to some extent, as something of a borrowing, or reinforcement from Low German. Also, the Germans were involved in southern Africa, which provided some reinforcement from Dutch/Afrikaans.

No Cook Stuffed Peppers

This is a dish that requires no cooking, as it is a good way to use already cooked ham. Bright red bell  peppers have lots of Vitamin A and Vitamin C and you simply remove the tops of the peppers, the seeds and the pithy ribs.

For the cream cheese, you can use the low calorie or low fat type, if you'd like, but the thing to do is to have it somewhat softened. You can let it sit out to come to room temperature, unless you live within in an igloo inside the Arctic Circle; in which case, bringing it to room temperature likely won't help, or you can put it into a bowl and pop it into the microwave for maybe 10 to 12 seconds. You want to be able to have the cheese soft enough to mix the other ingredients into it without having to rent a cement mixer; on the other hand, you don't want it to be almost liquid, although you'll be putting the finished peppers into the refrigerator to have the cream cheese firm up again. You can adjust the amount of filling ingredients a little, if you'd like, as I've made these to just give a basic guideline. One other thing, fresh herbs are pretty easily available in stores today, so get some fresh thyme to use. Dried thyme is great in soups, stews and gravies, because it has hot liquid to soften it, but in this dish, dried thyme could have some sharp and pointed stems that will not be fun to bite into, as in "YEEOW!" 

Ingredients (4 to 6 servings):  

3 large red bell peppers

1/2 cup finely chopped already cooked ham

1/4 cup white Cheddar cheese, chopped or shredded

3 green onions, chopped (including green part)

12 green and black olives, sliced

3 tablespoons finely chopped pickles

1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves 

1 1/2 cups cream cheese, softened

1 or 2 teaspoons milk or cream

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 teaspoon salt 

mustard and horseradish for serving

Cut the tops off of the peppers and remove all seeds and and the whitish colored ribs or veins inside the pepper (it's called pith). In a bowl, add the softened cream cheese and 1 teaspoon milk or cream. Use an electric hand mixer to whip the cheese. If needed, add another teaspoon of milk or cream and whip. Now add the other ingredients; mix carefully, but well with a large spoon; this can take a little time. Spoon the mixture into each pepper, pressing it down with the spoon so that it is tightly packed in. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours, if you are in a hurry, or preferably several hours otherwise. Cut the peppers into 1/2 to 1 inch slices for serving. Serve with mustard and horseradish on the side and I cut off the pepper parts around the stems and use them to garnish the pepper slices.  

 

 With some grainy mustard and horseradish ...

WORD HISTORY:

Icicle-This is a compound word formed from "ice" ^ and the addition of what was once spelled "ikel." This second part goes back to Indo European "eyhso" meaning, "frost, solidified water from cold." This gave Old Germanic "jeykilaz," which meant, "piece or chunk of ice," "seemingly" also with the secondary notion of  "cone or wedge shaped." This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "gicel" (likely pronounced with a beginning "gy" or even "y" sound),^^ meaning, "piece of ice, icicle." This later became "ikil." It was put into a compound to give English "isikel," before the modern form, "icicle." There are (and were) Germanic relatives of the compound word and of the second part of the compound (naturally there are relatives of "ice" in the other Germanic languages, see link below): German once had "isilla, isel," and it has "Kegel" (cone, bowling pin, which is cone shaped), Low German has "Iesjökel" (icicle, Ies=ice + Jökel=icle), Dutch "ijskegel" (icicle), Icelandic has "jökull" (ice formation, glacier), Danish has the antiquated (dialect?) "jisegel" (icicle), Norwegian has "isjukel" (icicle). 

^ For the history of the word "ice," this is the link:  http://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2011/01/german-question-part-seventy-one.html

^^ Low German is a close relative of English and its "g" is typically pronounced "y," a characteristic carried over to the dialect of Berlin ("Berlinerisch"), a former Low German speaking area, where certain Low German elements have survived for centuries since High German spread to Berlin.

German Ham with Sour Cream: Schmantschinken nach Ostpreußischer Art

There are other recipes in German cooking called "Schmantschinken" (also spelled "Schmandschinken"), but this general recipe originated in East Prussia (German: Ostpreußen), a former German province in northeastern Germany, and the provincial capital was Königsberg (now the Russian city of "Kaliningrad"). The "nach Ostpreußischer Art" means, "East Prussian style." 

 

After World War Two, East Prussia was divided between Poland and the then Soviet Union (Russia), with Königsberg itself renamed Kaliningrad as part of the Soviet Union. East Prussia had come to be known for dairy products, including sour cream, a product in common use in much of eastern Europe. The Germans arrived in what became East Prussia in the 1200s and many of these German settlers were Low German speakers; and thus, Low German formed the basis of the particular dialect that developed in East Prussia. The dialect incorporated some vocabulary from the Slavic people in the area, as well as additional German settlers from elsewhere and also Dutch speaking settlers. As the Russians approached the region in the last months of World War Two, the German population was largely evacuated from East Prussia into the interior of Germany. While I'm not completely certain of this, I'd have to believe that there are few East Prussian dialect speakers still around, especially those truly fluent in the dialect. East Prussia was known for having been cut off from the rest of Germany as part of the territotrial adjustments after World War One, with the Polish territory between East Prussia and the main part of Germany being called the "Polish Corridor." It is also known to World War Two history buffs as the location of Adolf Hitler's main military headquarters from 1941 until late 1944. It was at this headquarters that the Nazi nutcase was nearly assassinated when a bomb was placed under the map table during a military conference on July 20, 1944. The area of Hitler's former headquarters has been a part of Poland since the end of the war, but remnants of its many structures remain.  

 

I use a center slice ham steak, which has the small round bone in the middle, with the ham being about a half inch thick. 

 

Ingredients:

 

1 center slice ham steak (with the small round bone), about 1 1/2 to 2 pounds  

3 tablespoons butter

1 1/2 tablespoons flour

1 cup sour cream

1/3 cup milk (I use canned evaporated milk, NOT sweetened condensed milk)

1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon ground white pepper (or black pepper)

1/2 teaspoon salt

 

Heat a large (12 inch) skillet over medium heat and melt the butter. Add the ham slice and brown it lightly on both sides. Remove the ham and add the flour to the melted butter used to fry the ham and stir lightly until the mixture turns light brown/tan. Add the sour cream and stir well, then stir in the milk to thin the sour cream a little. Stir in the lemon juice, sugar, white (or black) pepper and salt; mix well. Add the ham slice back to the skillet to reheat it and cut it into serving pieces. Serve with ham pieces topped with the sour cream sauce, and boiled potatoes and a salad alongside.    

 

WORD HISTORY:

Finch-This name for a common type of bird is closely related to "fink" (keep reading). "Finch" goes back to Indo European "(s)pingo/(s)pingos," the name for the "chaffinch," the name for which seems to come from the idea of the birds feeding on seeds found in the chaff of harvested grains. The Indo European form gave Old Germanic "finko" (the 'p' becoming 'f' in Germanic), which then became "finkiz," as a diminutive. This gave Old English "finc," which meant "finch," and this then became "fynche" (ending 'e' would have been normally pronounced 'ah/eh'), and this then became the modern form "finch." Relatives in the other Germanic languages: German has "Fink," Low German has "Fink," but it seems to now be limited to regional usage (in Westfälisch dialect?), although it was long in broader usage as "fink(e)" and "vink(e)" until a couple of hundred years ago, West Frisian "fink," Dutch "vink," Danish and Norwegian have "finke," but this is a borrowing from Low German in the Middle Ages, Icelandic "finkur" (from English or Low German?), and Swedish has "fink," but also borrowed from Low German. Note 1: The North Germanic languages seem to have had a Germanic form with a beginning 's' and the 'p,' instead of 'f.' This gave forms like "spink, spinke," which was used for a type of sparrow, but the West Germanic form was borrowed and overtook those forms and they also took forms of "sparrow" from West Germanic. Note 2: German "Fink" (all German nouns are capitalized) is the strong candidate for English "fink," used to indicate a person of contemptible ways, especially "a person who provides information to law enforcement about another person or people." This developed in the German criminal world from the idea of a finch (German: Fink) being a talky and singing bird, and in the American criminal world it was often said, "If the cops press Randy, he'll sing about us to the heavens, fink that he is." Hey, I can hit the high notes too!

Austro-German Stuffed Bread: Jägerwecken

"Word History" slightly edited 8-20-22

"Jägerwecken" undoubtedly developed as a tasty food that could easily be toted along in a knapsack with a hunter ("Jäger" means "hunter" in German). In more modern times, it is just as easily taken along in a picnic basket for an afternoon outdoors, or it can be served as part of a light lunch or a snack. "Jäger," pronounced as if "yea-gah," is a word derived from the verb "jagen" (pronounced as if "yaw-gen," and once spelled "jagon," with a long 'o'), which meant, "to pursue, to chase;" thus, "to hunt." The verb is of unclear origins, although perhaps West Germanic, with its strongest development coming after the Anglo-Saxons left the Continent for Britain; thus, English does not have a form of the word. The noun form "Jäger" came from the notion of "one who hunts or pursues," and as time passed the word branched out into the military meaning of, "a lightly armed soldier or military policeman;" thus, "a rifleman, light infantry," then even later for military aircraft, "a fighter plane." "Wecken" is closely related to English "wedge" (originally spelled "wecg"), and it has long been a regional German word for "bread roll," although in various spellings like: "Weck," "Wecke," "Wegg," "Weckle," "Wecksche."   

"Jägerwecken" are often associated with "Steiermark," which is rendered as "Styria" in Latin, and is often used as such in English. Known as "Steiermark" in German, it is located in southern Austria, and the second part, "Mark" (English relative is "march," not the military kind, see Word History, below) shows it has long been a border region, and was such in the Old German Empire. "Jägerwecken" are known beyond Steiermark, and they are commonly served at Christmas time, but they are also good for lunch or for a snack during break time. "Break time" has many names in German-speaking areas, with probably two of the best known terms being "Brotzeit," literally "bread time,'' which is extensively used in Bavaria, and also "Jause," a word German adopted as a borrowing from Slovenian. "Jause" is used in many parts of Austria, but there are many other terms in use throughout German language areas.* These "snack times" are commonly accompanied by beer, even in many business locations, a practice that might cause some American business people to faint, but it is generally expected in German cultural areas.

This is simply my version of "Jägerwecken," but there are a great many variations. You may need to adjust the ingredient amounts to fit with your type of bread loaf, so keep that in mind, but none of this will require a government-sponsored scientific research effort. 

Ingredients:

1 loaf bread, halved, middle removed, you want to leave the outer crust and some of the soft inside
1/2 cup chopped dill pickles
3 tablespoons mustard
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup chopped ham
4 or 5 slices of smoked bacon, chopped
1 medium potato, peeled, chopped/diced 
1/2 cup chopped cheese (like Gouda or Edam)
1/3 cup shredded carrot
1/3 cup cream cheese 
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt

In a skillet over medium heat, add the chopped bacon. Once the bacon fat begins to melt, add the chopped potato. I prefer to turn down the heat to low and let the bacon and potato cook slowly. You don't want the bacon or potato pieces to be too dark or too hard, so keep an eye on the skillet and stir things as needed. When the potato pieces are lightly browned, remove the skillet from the heat and let the mixture cool down somewhat. In the meantime, cut the loaf of bread and remove the center, leaving a small amount of the soft inside around the crust. Chop or tear the removed center of the bread and add it to a bowl. In a small bowl or a cup, mix together the mayonnaise, cream cheese and mustard. Add this and all of the other ingredients to the bowl, including the lightly browned potato pieces and bacon and gently keep folding the ingredients over and over for a few minutes, until everything is well mixed (you don't want to break up the potato pieces into mashed potatoes). Fill the hollowed out bread loaf with the mixture and take care to pack it into the bread, but not to break open the loaf structure. Wrap the Jägerwecken in plastic wrap or foil and refrigerate it for about 90 minutes to 2 hours. Remove the wrapping and use a good knife to cut the filled loaf into slices about one inch thick.   

* Many items are served at break time, but two well known specialties in the southern German areas are large pretzels and white sausage (Weißwurst). Oh, did I mention beer?

WORD HISTORY:
March-There is more than one word of this spelling in English, although, with the exception of the version used for the month of "March," they are all likely related, and therefore, they are related to "mark," a word from the Germanic roots of English (read further), and to "margin," a Latin-derived word borrowed by English (related through Indo European). As you will notice, there is much uncertainty as to many of the specifics of "march,"^ although the general trail of the word is much more clear. This form of "march" means  "borderland," a meaning now somewhat antiquated in English, except for academics. It goes back to Indo European "mereg," which meant "border, edge, boundary." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "marko," with the meaning, "boundary, edge, border area." This gave Old English "mearc/merc" (depending upon dialect), which continued the same basic meaning with "boundary, limit, border area." Old French absorbed a form of the word, "marche," from Germanic Frankish "marka," and "perhaps" passed this form along to Latin, which had "marca" (or perhaps Latin got its form from the Lombards, another Germanic tribe that settled in what became northern Italy?). The English forms "seem" to have been dwindling in usage, although the English kingdom of "Mercia" is simply a Latinized form of Old English "Mierce," which seemingly originated along the "border" with what became Wales; thus, "a border area." The Normans brought along the French form which melded with the waning English form (circa 1200?). Thus reinforced, this gave new impetus to the English word and influenced the pronunciation of the word, as the actual English form of "mearc" developed into modern "mark," initially meaning, "a sign of a boundary or border." As I noted above, there are other forms of the basic word in English and in the other Germanic languages, so it is often difficult to separate out words to fit this exact meaning of "border, boundary," as several are really closer to English "mark" in meaning,^^ but here are a couple of examples of relatives to the English word in other Germanic languages: German and Low German have "Mark" (boundary, territorial limit),^^^ Dutch has "mark" (although apparently, like its English cousin, the word is antiquated).

^ I frequently try to convey some sense of uncertainty by the use of words like "perhaps," "seem," "seemingly," "possibly" or "likely."

^^ That is, "a stain or blemish on a surface, often, but not always done by error," as in, "The spaghetti sauce spattered out of the pan leaving a mark on my shirt," but also, "The Israelites put a mark of lamb's blood above their doors, so that the angel of death would pass over them."   

^^^ Perhaps because "Mark" was an old form (?), German borrowed what became its word for "border" from Slavic, that word being "Grenze," but "Mark" remains associated with the "border areas" of the Old German Empire, especially with Steiermark and Mark Brandenburg (the state around Berlin), and what is now modern Austria was once called "Ostmark;" that is, "East Border Area," a term Hitler revived for his homeland, as he sought to tie modern German areas to the Old German Empire.         

Croque Monsieur/Croque Madame

Apparently invented in Paris in the years before World War One, the original sandwich was the "Croque Monsieur." "Croque" is from the French verb "croquer," which has several meanings to do with eating, like: to munch, to bite, to crunch." The idea seems to have been a "man's," or "gentleman's," crunchy bite, as the toasted sandwich is crunchy. Decades later an egg was added to make the female version, "Croque Madame," supposedly because the egg was like a lady's hat topping off the sandwich. While these are sandwiches, they are not the kind of sandwiches you make while there are commercial breaks during your favorite television show. You need to make the sauce, you then need to make the basic sandwiches, then you need to fry (toast) those sandwiches, then you need to add the sauce, then you need to brown the top under the broiler, then you need to fry or poach the eggs and to add them, if you choose to use them. Nothing here is terribly difficult to do, although it does take a little time, but the result is well worth it, as the sandwiches are great.  

Ingredients (4 sandwiches):

Bechamel Sauce (actually a Mornay Sauce):

2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
1 cup milk, with a pinch of thyme and a bay leaf, well heated, but not boiled/scalded
1/2 cup shredded Swiss or Gruyère cheese
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt

8 slices of white bread
ham, thinly sliced, but not paper thin
4 slices Swiss cheese (Emmentaler or Gruyère cheese) + about 1/3 to 1/2 cup shredded  
"about" 3 to 4 teaspoons Dijon mustard
butter for frying the sandwiches (+ more if frying eggs)
4 eggs (if using) 

Heat the milk, pinch of thyme and the bay leaf over low heat. Remove the milk from the heat if it is heated before you finish making the roux (butter and flour). Melt the 2 tablespoons butter in a heavy bottomed pan over medium heat (do not brown the butter). Stir in the flour to form a paste and cook just about 90 seconds (do not let the roux brown), and turn down the heat if need be. Remove the bay leaf from the milk. Gradually whisk the heated milk into the roux, and let the milk come to a bare simmer, whisking constantly as the mix thickens. Season with salt and pepper and stir/whisk well again, turn off the heat. Heat a griddle or large skillet (cast iron is good for this) over medium heat. While the skillet or griddle is heating, on four slices of the bread, spread a thin layer of Dijon mustard. Top this with some thin ham slices and then some thinly sliced or shredded Swiss or Gruyère cheese. Butter one side of the other slices of bread and place them on top of the sandwiches. Place the sandwiches, buttered side down, onto to the skillet/griddle. Now lightly butter the top slice of the bread in the skillet (on the griddle). When the bottom of the sandwiches are nicely browned, turn the sandwiches over to brown the other side. Turn on your broiler, spread about 2 to 3 tablespoons of the bechamel sauce on top of each sandwich (the bechamel sauce should be nice and thick, but still fluid). Put the sandwiches on a baking sheet (bechamel side up) and let the sauce brown a bit under the broiler. Do not put the sandwiches too close to the broiler (I put my sandwiches about 10 inches below the broiler) and keep a close watch, as the bechamel sauce will likely brown pretty quickly. If you are making the "Madame" version, fry the eggs lightly in butter (they should not have crisp edges), or poach the eggs, if you'd like, and the yolks should be runny. Serve the sandwiches with the eggs on top and bon appétit! Or, as Charles Boyer would have said, "Bon appétit!" Ah... something wrong there?  

 A Croque Monsieur

A Croque Madame

WORD HISTORY: 
Bechamel-This word for the famous French white sauce comes from the Marquis Louis de Béchamel, an aide to King Louis XIV of France. While the sauce is very much associated with French cuisine, it actually "seems" to have been taken to France from Italy in the 1530s by the cooking staff of Catherine de Medici of Florence, who married Henry, who later became King Henry II of France. It was only later in the 1600s, during Louis XIV's rule, that the sauce was popularized with the Béchamel name. The term was borrowed into English circa 1770.

Country Pâté (Pâté de Campagne)

"Pâté" is simply the modern French word for "paste," and the old form of the French word was also spelled "paste." The word provided the basis for a dish of chopped or ground seasoned meat. Some pâté is spreadable, and other pâté is firmer and better suited for slicing, as in this recipe here, but whatever the texture, pâté is not a fat free food. When you get right down to it, this is actually a kind of meatloaf. It is "typically" served with some Dijon mustard, bread (sometimes toasted) and cornichons (small pickles). 

Ingredients:

1 onion, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
2 pounds ground pork
1/2 pound slab bacon, chopped
1/2 pound pork liver, coarsely chopped (or chicken livers)
1/2 pound smoked ham, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup Cognac
2 tablespoons butter
1 pound sliced bacon
1 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon white pepper
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground mace
2 teaspoons dried thyme
2 eggs
1/2 cup heavy cream 
1/2 cup bread crumbs (I used panko)

Melt the butter in a skillet over low heat. Add the onion and cook until softened; let cool. Mix together the ground pork, the chopped slab bacon, the chopped pork liver, the chopped ham, garlic, softened onion, white pepper, salt, cayenne pepper, cloves, mace, thyme, Cognac, eggs, cream and bread crumbs. Mix very well. Cover and refrigerate for about 12 hours.

Line a loaf pan or terrine with parchment paper or foil, then line the dish with bacon strips, leaving any length of bacon slices to be folded over the top, once the meat is smoothed out in the pan/dish. Leave up to an inch of space between the top of the meat and the top of the pan.* Cover and top the meat with the folded over bacon and finish covering the top with lengthwise slices of bacon. Cover the pan/dish with a lid (if using a terrine) or foil. Put the loaf pan or terrine into a somewhat larger pan and add warm or hot water about 2/3 of the way up the loaf pan. If you are using a metal or heavy crock ware loaf pan or terrine, you can use hot tap water, but I used a glass loaf type dish, so I used just "warm" tap water, as hot water could crack the dish filled with the cold mixture. Put this all into a 350 F oven and let bake for 2 hours. Let the pâté cool, then place the loaf pan/terrine into the refrigerator for at least 12 hours.** Because I had the glass dish, I put a couple inches of warm water into the sink and I let the dish sit in the barely warm water for about 3 minutes, just to loosen it. You want the pâté to remain cold, not only for serving, but if it warms up, you will have fat running everywhere. You should be able to grasp the parchment paper or foil to make sure the pâté is loosened. Turn it out onto a plate/platter, cover with plastic wrap or foil and put it back into the refrigerator for about 20 to 30 minutes. Slice and enjoy. 

* I had just a little of the mixture left over and I just fixed it separately. 

** Some put a piece of foil or plastic wrapped cardboard over the top of the pâté and then they put canned food or other such things on the cardboard to act as a weight to compress the pâté while it is refrigerated. This step does help to firm the pâté even more, but it's up to you, as it isn't totally necessary.          


After the wrapping was removed, I returned the meat to the loaf dish for this photo. Say "Cheese!"

Served with some Dijon mustard, slices of baguette and some cornichons (small pickles)

WORD HISTORY:
Grind-This word has a somewhat difficult history, but it is distantly related to Latin "frendere," which meant, "to rub, to gnash the teeth." It is related to "ground," the noun meaning, "the Earth's surface, the soil making up the Earth's surface." It goes back to Indo European "ghrendh," which had the notion, "to rub, to rub together to break a substance down," with the extended meaning, "to crush." This gave Old Germanic "grindanan," with the same meaning. This then gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "grindan" (as well as a couple of compounds) meaning "to crush, to mill." This then became "grinden," before the modern form. The noun form was derived from the verb (circa 1000?), originally with the meaning, "a grinding or gnashing with the teeth." Until more recent times, if water power was not available, grinding grain required animal or human power to move the stones to crush the grain. This likely gave rise to the expression "the grind;" that is, "hard and boring work." Many of the modern Germanic languages use forms of "mill" and "to mill" for their words related to "grinding grain," but Dutch has the noun "grind" for "grit;" thus also, "gravel." I found a form in West Frisian, but whether this is a borrowing from Dutch or English, or an original form, is unclear. Swedish has "grand," meaning, "particle, dust particle, atom." German once had "grint," a noun meaning "skin ailment of flaky skin," which later progressed to mean, "crusty sore or wound," and also, "skin ailment of the scalp, ringworm (Kopfgrind)." Low German once had "grint," meaning "sand, grit," and Old Norse had "grand," meaning, "particles, grains, grit, pebbles," which also might have been borrowed by Low German as "Grand," but meaning "wheat bran." As can be seen, all forms tie in with "small items, particles of something."    

German Kloppschinken: Encrusted Ham

This dish is from the German region of Mecklenburg, which borders on the Baltic Sea (German: "Ostsee;" that is, "East Sea"). Mecklenburg is part of the German state of "Mecklenburg-Vorpommern," with the latter literally being "Fore Pommerania;" that is, "forward part of Pomerania," but often rendered as, "West(ern) Pommerania," in English. About 900 years ago, "Pomerania" was populated ("perhaps" sparsely so?) by Slavic people, who later "mixed" with the incoming Germans, who then took control of the area, with many of the Slavic elements thus losing their Slavic identity, although in the eastern part (near Poland), Slavic dialects and identity persisted. Pomerania is located along a stretch of coast of the Baltic Sea and during the period of Napoleon, the western part was under Swedish rule, with the larger part being part of the (then) German state of Prussia. After World War Two, most of Pomerania was ceded to the newly reformed Poland, with the exception of Vorpommern. The area fell within the Soviet occupation zone, and thus, it became part of the German Democratic Republic, most commonly called "East Germany" in Britain and the U.S. The Germans who settled there 900 years ago were Low German speakers; thus, the area remained so until the last century or two, as standard German was taught in schools, although Low German continued to be frequently spoken in every day life there until more recent times, and the number of inhabitants who are actually fluent in Low German has declined. So the "Klopp" part of name of the dish for this article is actually Low German, but it is "Klopfschinken" in standard German; that is, "knock or tap ham" (the German verb "klopfen" means "to knock, to tap, to rap") from the notion of "knocking or tapping on the crust to break it to get to the ham." Low German "Klopp" and standard German "Klopfen" are related to English "clap," as these words initially developed from the idea of the sound produced, rather than the action; thus the usage, "clap of thunder" (as a noun).

Ingredients:

1 pound smoked ham, cut into 4 slices (1/4 inch to 1/2 inch thick)
1 cup milk (more if needed)
2/3 cup flour
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup fine bread crumbs (not panko style)
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
oil or clarified butter for frying
1 tablespoon oil (for batter)
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt

Soak the ham slices in milk for about 2 hours. Heat oil in skillet over medium heat. Combine the other ingredients, except oil or clarified butter, into a thick batter. Pat ham slices dry and dip into the thick batter, coat well all over. Fry ham slices on both sides until golden brown. When tapping the ham with a fork or spoon, there should be a sound similar to the sound of tapping a loaf of freshly baked bread.   

Mustard greens are delicious, with a horseradish flavor, especially when uncooked. They are available in many produce sections of supermarkets, often sold in bags with the large stems already removed and with the mustard greens chopped, or you can also buy mustard greens in individual bunches that you must trim and chop yourself (this is what I buy). My grandmother used spinach for a similar dish (she used no chili pepper).

Braised Mustard Greens

2 pounds mustard greens, trimmed from any big stems
1 large onion, chopped
2 large cloves garlic, chopped
6 slices bacon, chopped
1 serrano or jalapeño chili, chopped
1/2 cup cider vinegar
4 tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup beef stock
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon black pepper

In a heavy bottom skillet, fry the bacon over medium heat for about 2 to 3 minutes. Add the onion and fry about two minutes, then add the garlic and the chili pepper. Cook until the onion softens a good deal. Add the beef stock, then about a minute later, add the sugar, then the vinegar. Stir well. Add the mustard greens, which will cook down. Season with salt and pepper and stir. When the greens cook down, remove the skillet from the heat. I prefer the greens themselves to cook only a couple of minutes; just until they cook down, but still have a little "life" in them.

"Kloppschinken" with braised mustard greens

WORD HISTORY: 
Shank-This word goes back to Indo European "skeng," which had the notion of "crooked, bent." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "skankon," which continued the general meaning, but also developed the more specific meaning "leg," from the notion of "the part that bends." In some Germanic dialects the meaning "awry, askew" developed from the "crooked, bent" idea. The Old Germanic form gave Old English "sceanca," which meant "leg." This later became "shanke," before the modern form, and the meaning tended to be applied to the "upper part of the leg." Related forms in other Germanic languages are: German "Schenkel" = thigh, leg;^ Dutch "schenkel" =knuckle, leg; West Frisian "shonk" =leg; Low German "Schanke" (now archaic); Icelandic "shakkur" ="mistaken, awry;" ^^ Norwegian "skank" =shank, calf of leg; I could not find a modern word in Swedish or Danish.

^ Typically modern German uses "Oberschenkel" (literally translated into English as "over /upper shank") for "upper leg," and "Unterschenkel" (literally "under shank") for "lower leg," but "Schenkel" is still in use. "Schinken," the German word for "ham," developed from the same Germanic form that produced English "shank" and German "Schenkel;" so, "the meat from the 'Schenkel'. "

^^ Old Norse, the forerunner of Icelandic, had "skakkr," with similar meaning, and it "may" have originally been "skankr," but the "n" sound died out.

Cubano, Cuban Sandwich

The Cuban sandwich, also known as a "Cubano," is a pressed grilled ham, pork and cheese sandwich. The sandwiches are common in Florida, especially in Miami and Tampa, and in the latter, they add Genoa salami. I'm not claiming this is totally "authentic," mainly because Cuban bread, which has lard in it, is used in the real thing. Further, a sandwich press, which also heats the sandwich, is often used to toast and compress the sandwich.

Ingredients:

6 inch hoagie rolls
honey ham, thinly sliced
pork roast, thinly sliced (preferably some leftovers from a homemade roast, but store bought is fine)
Swiss cheese, thinly sliced
mild dill pickles, thinly sliced lengthwise 
yellow mustard
butter for outside of the rolls

For each sandwich, split a hoagie roll, then spread some mustard (to taste) on both the upper and lower parts. Layer some ham onto the bottom part (I used four folded slices for a 6 inch roll). Next, add a layer of the pork roast in slices (I again used four slices), then add the Swiss cheese, and finally the pickle slices. Press the sandwich down along its entire length, then butter the outside on both parts. A cast iron skillet is great for this, but use whatever skillet you have. Heat the skillet on medium low, then add the sandwich. Cover the top of the sandwich with parchment paper, then add a pan filled with water (for weight) or another heavy object to weigh down and compress the sandwich. After a few minutes, turn the sandwich over to the other side and repeat the process. The roll should be toasted to a light brown and the cheese should be melted. Cut the sandwich on the diagonal.   

WORD HISTORY:
Pork-This word, distantly related to English "farrow" (young pig), goes back to Indo European "porko," which meant "swine, young swine." This gave Latin "porcus," which meant "swine, farm raised swine." This was rendered in Old French, a Latin-based language, as "porc," with the same meaning, but also, "meat from a swine." This was carried to England by the Normans and it was later borrowed into English in the latter part of the 1200s, along with the "meat from a swine" meaning.

Brazilian Salted Tapioca with Ham & Cheese Filling (Tapioca Salgada)

First, "tapioca" is a starch made from cassava root. Cassava is a plant commonly grown in tropical and subtropical parts of South America, especially Brazil, parts of Africa and also southern Asia. Americans and Canadians, also likely the people of Britain, would almost surely think of pudding upon hearing the word "tapioca." The pudding is sweet and usually made with vanilla and pearl tapioca, a form which looks like fish eggs, and the pudding is even commercially produced for sale in supermarkets, typically sold in little tub-like containers. In some parts of the world, however, tapioca is an important starch, often used as flour in cooking. Unlike wheat flour, tapioca is gluten free, an important dietary consideration for people with digestive reactions to gluten, which is a protein in wheat and many other grain products. Tapioca flour, also known as tapioca starch, can be found in Latino markets, or in many supermarkets, often in the Latino/Hispanic section, although I found it in the "gluten free" section of one supermarket.

This recipe is from Brazil, where Portuguese is the language. This is unlike the other countries of South America, and Central America, for that matter, where Spanish is the common language.* The second word of the name of the dish comes from the meaning "salted," from the ham, which like true "country ham," tends to be dry cured by salting, and not necessarily by smoking of the ham. In fact, the Portuguese word for ham, "presunto," is from the same Latin source as "prosciutto," the Italian word for "ham." These are not difficult to make at all, as making the crepe is the only real work to it, and it's not much.

Ingredients (4 servings):

9 to 10 tablespoons of tapioca flour (depending upon your skillet size)
a pinch or 2 of salt
3 to 4 tablespoons of water
8 thin slices of ham (I used the very thin deli sliced ham, and it was smoked, but finding dry cured ham, like prosciutto, is not always easy, and it can be expensive, but if you have it, use it)
4 slices of mozzarella cheese or you can use it shredded
4 teaspoons of ricotta cheese, thinned very slightly with some milk (Brazilians have "requeijão," a type of  creamy cheese
slices of tomato
1 teaspoon dried oregano leaves

Put the tapioca flour/starch into a bowl and mix in a pinch or two of salt. Add 1 tablespoon water at a time and mix lightly, until a sort of crumb or streusel mixture forms. Not all of the starch has to be in one of the clumps, which can vary in size. No rocket science here. It should not be wet or runny AT ALL. Heat a small skillet over medium heat, do not add any oil! Brazilians do the next step right into the skillet, but I used a separate large plate. Use a sieve with relatively small openings and rub the starch clumps through the sieve to reduce the clumps to about the size of fine cornmeal or grits. Add about two + tablespoons or so of the starch mixture to the skillet, making sure to even it out in a round thin layer. Within about 30 seconds, the mixture should begin to meld together into a crepe or thin pancake. Layer on 2 thin slices of the ham, then a slice of mozzarella, then some tomato slices, then drizzle on a teaspoon of the thinned ricotta, and sprinkle on a little oregano. The mozzarella should be melting slightly by then. Fold the crepe over in the skillet. Ready to go. Repeat the process for the others. Serve warm.

* Portuguese and Spanish are both Latin-based languages from the Iberian peninsula in southwestern Europe. They are similar in many ways, and mutually intelligible to "some" degree, more so in writing, and I'm sure speakers of each find it pretty easy to learn the other language. Actually, Portuguese is much closer to Galician, a language of northwestern Spain, although it is perhaps thought by some to be a Spanish dialect.

The top picture shows more of the filling, and the bottom picture a bit more of the tapioca wrap.

WORD HISTORY:
Crepe/Crêpe/Crisp-These closely related words go back to the Indo European root "sker/skre," which had the notion of "bend, turn, twist." This gave Latin "crispus," which meant "curly, wavy," and this was "seemingly" borrowed into Old English directly from Latin, as "crisp," and with the meaning "curly, wavy." Later the meaning began to change to the modern sense of "crackly, brittle," "perhaps" from the idea of some foods being grilled or fried to the point where they, or the skin of meat, "curled, became wavy," which often then resulted in them being "crackly." In England later, the noun form, "crisp/crisps," was used for what Americans call "potato chip(s)." In the meantime, going way back again, Latin "crispus" was inherited by Latin-based Old French as "crespe," with the "curly" meaning. The French later used the term for a thin pancake which "curled" when fried. English borrowed the word as "crepe," still the preferred spelling in American English, but it later also borrowed the modified French form "crêpe," with the "^" mark, called a "circumflex," which is a modern way of showing that there is a missing letter from the original spelling of a word, often an "s."

Rutabaga and Ham Stew with Dumplings

A "rutabaga" is generally a softball-size root vegetable, resembling a large turnip. In England it is often referred to as a "Swede," seemingly because they were popular in Sweden. They are hearty and have been used as a cold weather vegetable in some places. During World War One in northern Germany, rutabagas were given credit for keeping many people from starvation in winter. This is my own recipe, although I must admit to likely being influenced by several recipes from northern Germany I've seen over the years.

ingredients:
1 softball size rutabaga (peeled and diced)
1 carrot, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 cup chopped ham (I use lean cottage ham)
2 1/2 cups water
1 tablespoon marjoram leaves
3 tablespoons ham soup base
salt (minimal, if any, as the soup base is salty)
1 tablespoon black pepper
(to thicken: 2 to 3 tablespoons of flour mixed well with the same amount of butter or with the same amount of water, plus 1 tablespoon)*
dumpling mixture (1 cup all purpose flour, sifted with the other dry ingredients; 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 2 tablespoons butter, 5 tablespoons milk)**

Add all of the ingredients to a heavy-bottomed pot (with tight-fitting lid), except for the flour and water or butter, and the ingredients for the dumplings. Simmer the ingredients until the carrot and rutabaga are tender, but not falling apart. Mix the flour with the butter, or water, making sure it is smooth. Gradually add the thickening mixture to the hot ingredients, stirring constantly to prevent lumps. Keep the heat low. Make the dumpling mixture by cutting the butter into the sifted dry ingredients with a fork until it is a coarse mixture. Add the milk and gently mix until just mixed together. Do not keep mixing. Drop tablespoons of the dumpling mixture into the hot stew, cover with a lid and let cook for 18 to 20 minutes. The extra cooking for the dumplings will help to cook the raw flavor out of the flour used to thicken the stew.

* You can always adjust the amount to thicken the stew as you prefer.

** I often cheat ... I mean, I take a short cut by buying a tube of biscuits and using several of them in the stew. I cut them in half and add them to the stew, put the lid on and leave to cook for about 10 to 12 minutes. They make great dumplings. 

WORD HISTORY:
Stove-There is much about the origin of this word that is uncertain, so try to follow along. It "possibly" comes from Old Germanic, or it "could" be an ancient borrowing from Latin, as there are similar words in the descendants of both Germanic and Latin, although I "suppose" it is just as possible to have been borrowed into Latin from Germanic. Whatever the case, where either Germanic or Latin got the basis for the word is also still an open question. "If" Germanic, it may well be derived from Germanic, "staubfmaz," a form of which, "staumaz," gave modern English "steam," Dutch "stoom" (steam) and Low German Saxon "Stoom" (dust, from the notion of steam, mist). "If" from Latin, that language had "stupha" (and the "assumed" word "extufare," from the common people), a word seemingly borrowed from Greek "tuphos," which meant "smoke," but also "vapor, steam." As you can see, the possible ancestors of "stove" are so close, it is difficult to say which is THE ancestor. Anyway, Old English had "stofa" (also "stofu"), which meant "room with a heated bath; that is, a bathroom." Later the English meaning was influenced by Dutch, itself seemingly influenced by French or Italian, where forms of the word had taken on the meaning "appliance used to cook food" (from the notion of "heated room, chamber), but this meaning didn't really take hold in English until the 1600s. The other Germanic languages have: German "Stube" (warmed room, family room, also sleeping room in a barracks, with the 'warmed' meaning implied), Dutch "stoof" (stove), I did not find a modern form in Frisian, nor in Low German Saxon, which once had "stove," although I did find "Stow," which is perhaps used on a limited basis by some dialects for "room," Swedish "stuga" (cottage), Icelandic "stofa" (living room), Danish "stue" (living room), Norwegian "stue" (living room).

NOTE: In Britain the word "stove" also has a secondary meaning of "greenhouse" (a warmed room to grow plants).

Smoky Bean Stew

This a relatively simple dish to make. Here's what you'll need for about 4 servings:

3/4 to 1 lb of cottage ham or and ham slices, for that matter, cut into small chunks, and the ham needs to be smoked, not just cured, in order to give the proper taste to the stew, or you could use smoked bacon
1 medium carrot, peeled and diced
2 medium potatoes, diced (peeled or for extra nutrition with the skin on, but thoroughly washed)
3/4 cup water
1 cup beef broth
1 15.5 oz. can cannellini beans (or you could use Great Northern beans or navy beans), well rinsed
pepper to taste
1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon of ham soup base
3 tablespoons flour + 3 tablespoons butter (or oil) to make a roux, but I like stew extremely thickened, so you might want to only use 2 tablespoons of each

Put the water and carrots into a medium sauce pan, let cook over medium heat for just a couple of minutes and then add the potatoes. Once both the carrots and potatoes begin to soften, add the beef broth, then the ham. Bring to a simmer and add the ham soup base, stirring well. Let gently simmer for about 4 or 5 minutes, then add the beans and season to taste with pepper. Simmer a further couple of minutes to heat the beans. Check to be sure the potatoes and carrots are tender, and you are ready to serve. You will not need to add salt, as the beef broth and ham base will add the necessary salt, as will the beans to some extent, although they should be well rinsed.

WORD HISTORY: 
Ham-This word goes back to Indo European "konemo/kanema," which meant "shin, shinbone." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "hamma/hammo," which meant "back of the knee, hollow area behind the knee." This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "hamm," with the same meaning, but also a further development of just "a part of the leg." Later the second "m" was dropped and the meaning altered more to be applied to part of the leg of an animal, most often of a swine. While the other Germanic languages once had forms of the word, many eventually replaced those words with forms related to English "shank," as their word for ham, although, "shank" is often used, at least in the U.S., for a type of ham. Dutch still has "ham," and some German dialect has "Hamme," and some Low German dialect has "hame," although it may now be little used.