Jack Daniels meets Porky the Ham

So we have a ham. I'm not a big ham lover. I am making ham because frankly I need to get to the store and stock up on the stuff I like (primarily poultry...it's my favorite) and well, when you slaughter a pig, you have a lot of meat stored in your freezer that you eventually have to eat even if it isn't your favorite.

I have a small bottle of Jack Daniels in my spice cabinet for the times I make Filet Mignon with a whiskey peppercorn sauce. I like Jack because he is sweet and goes so well with different meats. Tonight I decided that he was going to meet Porky the Ham. I mixed him up with some brown sugar, some pineapple juice, cayenne pepper, just a little bit of honey and some freshly ground black pepper. I baked the ham slowly, glazing every hour or so.

I served the Jack'ed up Ham with some red smashed garlic potatoes, smashed cauliflower and broccoli. I also served the pineapple tidbits from the can that I opened to get the juice from. All in all, a decent meal. I still don't like ham, but the glaze was really good as were the potatoes and veggies.

Jack'ed up Glaze

1/4 c. Jack Daniels
1/4 c. pineapple juice
2/3 c. tightly packed brown sugar
1 Tbsp. honey
Few shakes of the cayenne pepper (probably 1/8 tsp.)
3-4 grinds of the pepper mill

Mix together and baste meat while baking. If grilling meat, I would likely wait until the last few minutes of cooking time so that you don't have charred outsides.


Smashed Garlic Red Potatoes

10 small/med. red potatoes
2-3 cloves of garlic
1/4 c. diced yellow onion
2 Tbsp. butter or margarine
1/2 c. plain yogurt
3 oz. grated cheese (your choice)
salt & pepper

Wash potatoes well, cut in half and place in large pot. Cover with water and add garlic, onion & a good pinch of salt. Boil until fork tender. Drain water. Add in butter, yogurt, grated cheese and pepper. Smash with a potato masher. Add salt and/or pepper according to taste.

Cook's Notes:

I primarily use dried minced garlic for this recipe because I always have it on hand. This last time I used Dubliner imported cheese (a very tangy cheddar type from Ireland). It really works very well because it is strong and you don't have to use so much. Parmesan, Romano or Feta work well too.


I pretty much cooked the cauliflower the same way as the potatoes, less the garlic and yogurt & with a bit less water, and added in a couple grates of the Dubliner cheese while mashing. The kids all tried one small spoonful and LOVED it. I will be adding fresh cauliflower to our shopping list each week. Perhaps I might even serving the cauliflower instead of potatoes.

Dessert was dubbed "Baby Ruth Bars". I found the recipe at AllRecipes.com. I followed it loosely. This is my way of making these bars. Feel free to look up the "right" way.

No Bake Chocolate PB Bars

1 c. smooth peanut butter
1/2 c. crunchy peanut butter
1 c. corn syrup
6 c. corn flakes
1 c. choc. chips (6 oz.)

Melt the peanut butter & corn syrup in a large pan. Remove from heat. Quickly add in the cornflakes & chocolate chips. Spread into a greased 9x13 pan. Allow to cool to room temp and then cut into bars.

Cooks Notes:

We all LOVED these. Seriously. The pan is more than 1/2 gone already. Even Thomas, who can be very picky about textures & tastes, thought these were the bomb. The cornflakes stay relatively crispy while the pb & chocolate mixture is smooth.