Easter Brunch

At Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter, the holiday menu is pretty set; it doesn’t seem the right time to be innovative. Yet, I like to throw in some new twists on the old favorites.

For many families, lamb is the traditional meat for Easter. At our house, it’s ham. Ham lends itself so beautifully to some lovely sweet glaze that not only makes it look beautiful but results in that sweet and salty combination that is just right. Ham comes in myriad styles: whole, half, bone-in, boneless, Smithfield, Virginia, country, fresh, ready-to-eat, turkey ham, canned ham, ham steaks, spiral sliced—the list is indeed endless. And, on top of being delicious, nutritious, and giving you lots of great leftover dishes, it’s very economical.

The rest of the menu is pretty traditional, too. We like scalloped potatoes or potatoes au gratin, asparagus with Hollandaise, parmesan rolls and a fruit salad. For dessert, I can be a little more adventurous—but it really ought to include strawberries and/or pineapple in some form.

This year, I’m going to just veer to the side of tradition a little with this menu stolen and adapted from Bon Appetit 1999:

Marmalade-Glazed Ham with Sweet Orange-Tea Sauce (Bon Appetit)
Pineapple-Mint Relish
Asparagus with lemon butter
Potatoes with leeks and Gruyere
Green onion Biscuits
Strawberry Basket Cake

Ham (12 Servings)

1 16 to 19 pound fully cooked bone-in ham
36 whole cloves
1 cup orange marmalade
14 cup Dijon mustard
2 Tbsp plus 1 ½ cups water

Sauce

2 cups water
4 orange-spice herb tea bags (such as Constant Comment)
2 cups canned low-salt chicken broth
1 cup orange juice
3 Tbsp orange marmalade
1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
1 Tbsp cornstarch dissolved in 1 Tbsp. water

Score ham in diamond pattern and insert 1 clove into center of each scored diamond. Place ham in heavy large roasting pan. Bake until center of ham registers 120 about 3 hours 45 minutes at 325. Melt marmalade over medium heat. Whisk in ¼ cup mustard and 2 Tbsp. water. Boil until mixture thickens enough to coat spoon without dripping, about 6 minutes. Set mixture aside. Transfer ham to cutting board and increase oven temperature to 425. Place same roasting pan atop burner set on medium heat. Whisk remaining 1 ½ cups water into pan, scraping up browned bits from bottom. Transfer pan juices to 4-cup glass measuring cup. Freeze pan juices 15 minutes. Spoon fat off top of pan juices. Reserve/. Line same pan with foil. Return ham to pan. Generously spoon marmalade mixture over ham. Bake ham until glaze is set and begins to caramelize, about 20 minutes. Let ham stand 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare sauce: Bring 2 cups water to boil in heavy saucepan. Add tea bags. Remove from heat; cover and let steep 10 minutes. Discard tea bags. Add 2 cups chicken broth, 1 cup orange juice and 3 Tbsp orange marmalade to tea. Boil mixture until reduced to 3 cups, about 12 minutes. Whisk in 1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard and reserved pan juices. Return to boil. Whisk in cornstarch mixture. Boil until sauce thickens slightly, about 4 minutes. Season sauce to taste with pepper. Carve ham and serve with sauce and Pineapple-Mint relish.

Pineapple-Mint Relish

½ large pineapple, peeled, cored, cut into ¼-inch pieces (about 3 cups)
½ cup finely chopped green bell pepper
½ cup finely chopped red onion
¼ cup chopped fresh mint
2 tsp. grated lemon peel

Stir all ingredients in large bowl to blend. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Chill until ready to serve.

Potatoes with Leeks and Gruyere

1 Tbsp butter
1 pound leeks (white and pale green parts only), thinly sliced
1 8-oz pkg. cream cheese, room temperature
1 ½ tsp. salt
1 tsp. ground black pepper
¼ tsp. ground nutmeg
1 cup whole milk
3 large eggs
2 pounds large white-skinned potatoes, peeled, shredded
3 cups grated Gruyere cheese (about 12 ounces)

Preheat oven to 350. Butter a 9x13 baking dish. Melt 2 Tbsp butter in large skillet over medium heat. Add leeks; sauté until tender, about 10 minutes. Transfer to large bowl. Blend cream cheese, salt, pepper and nutmeg in processor. Add milk and eggs. Process just until blended. Transfer to bowl with leeks. Add potatoes and Gruyere. Stir to blend. Transfer mixture to baking dish. Bake until cooked through and top is brown a bout 1 hour.

Green Onion Biscuits

3 cups flour
1 ½ Tbsp baking powder
1 ½ tsp salt
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
2 1/3 cups chilled whipping cream
½ cups thinly sliced green onions
2 Tbsp butter, melted.

Preheat oven to 425. Mix flour, baking powder, salt and pepper in large bowl. Mix cream and green onions in medium bowl. Add cream mixture to dry ingredients. Stir unt8il moist clumps form. Transfer dough to floured work surface. Knead just until dough holds together, about 8 turns. Shape into 8-inch square. Cut out sixteen 2-inch square biscuits. Transfer biscuits to large baking sheet, spacing 1 ½ inches apart. Brush top of biscuits with melted butter. Bake until golden, about18 minutes.