New Life for Leftover Ham

The presents have been opened, the out of town company has gone home, the hustle and bustle of Christmas is over.  If you're like me, two things remain:  bills and leftovers!  I can't help with the bills, but I can share a recipe for leftover ham.


I always cook a ham for Christmas and freeze the leftovers.  Before I freeze the ham, I use some of it to make a quick and easy Broccoli Ham Ring.


The recipe consists of a filling made with ham and four other ingredients. One of the ingredients -- frozen chopped broccoli -- needs to be thawed so I combine the filling ingredients early in the day.  By the time I'm ready to cook supper, the broccoli is thawed.  The only thing left to do is arrange the filling atop refrigerated crescent rolls.


As the name implies, the finished dish is in a ring shape, but it's actually quite easy to make.  I prepare the ring on a large baking stone, but you could use a pizza pan or cookie sheet.  Just make sure whatever pan you use is big enough to accommodate the crescent rolls when they're spread out in a sunburst pattern.  If you don't have a pan big enough, you could make two rings using half of the ingredients for each ring.


A picture's worth a thousand words so I'll let these pictures be your guide in how to assemble the ring.

Put the dough in a circle with the points to the outside.

Put the filling on the wide ends of the dough.

Pull the points of the dough over the filling and tuck

them under the wide ends of the dough.

Some of the filling will show, but that only adds to the beauty of the dish.

I usually serve a salad -- green or congealed -- with the Broccoli Ham Ring.  Since I've got leftover Green Bean Bundles and Cranberry Orange Relish, I'll be serving those with the ham ring this time.  Those two sides were great Christmas day with the ham so they'll be good with the ham ring too.  After all, I don't want Christmas leftovers to go to waste!

Broccoli Ham Ring

8 Servings

1 cup chopped ham

1 cup frozen chopped broccoli, thawed

1/4 cup chopped onion

1 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese

1 tsp. lemon juice

2 (8 oz.) pkg. refrigerated crescent rolls

Combine the first 5 ingredients in a large bowl; mix well.

To assemble the ring, unroll crescent dough; separate into 16 triangles. Arrange triangles in a circle on a 15-inch round baking stone with wide ends of triangles overlapping in the center and points toward the outside (there should be a 5-inch diameter opening in center of stone).  Scoop ham mixture evenly onto widest end of each triangle.  Bring points of triangle up over filling and tuck under wide ends of dough at center of ring. Filling will not be completely covered.

Bake at 350° for 25 to 30 minutes or until deep golden brown.  Cut into 8 servings.

© Margaret's Morsels

The Saturday Special

Like most working parents with school age kids, weekday mornings are hectic at our house.  My husband has to be at work at one time, I have to be at work at another and our son has to be at school between the two. This leaves little time for me to prepare a sit down family breakfast during the week.  It's a different story on the weekend.

Several years ago, I started fixing a family breakfast on Saturday mornings.  My son promptly dubbed this meal, "The Saturday Special."  I usually fix bacon, eggs and biscuits.  Sometimes I make waffles, quiche or a breakfast casserole.  Once in a while, though, my family wakes up to the smell of cinnamon rolls.

My favorite cinnamon roll recipe is called Super Simple Cinnamon Rolls. The name may be a tongue twister, but the dish truly is super simple! Instead of making the dough from scratch, the recipe starts with two cans of crescent rolls.  I use Pillsbury Recipe Creations seamless dough sheets instead.  The dough sheets may cost a little more, but this is one time I'll pay extra for the sake of convenience.  If you use crescent rolls, make sure to press the crescent rolls into a rectangle and seal any perforations or holes.

The dough is easier to work with when it's cold so I leave it in the refrigerator while I mix up the filling.  If you're like me and forget to soften the butter, you can put the wrapped butter in the microwave and heat it at 10% power for 10 seconds.  This is long enough to soften the butter without it melting.

Once the filling is mixed up, I open the first can of dough and spread it on a cutting board.  The filling goes on the dough and the second can of dough is placed over the filling.  Most cinnamon roll recipes call for the dough to be rolled jellyroll style, but not this one.  The dough is cut into nine strips instead.  The easiest way to do this is with a pizza wheel.  You can get straighter lines if you roll the wheel away from you when you cut the dough.  If you don't have a pizza wheel, you can use a knife instead.  After you cut the dough into strips, roll each strip into a coil.  The rolls turn out prettier if you tuck in the sides of the dough as you roll it into a coil.

Cut into strips with a pizza wheel.

Ready to be baked.

As soon as the rolls are in the oven, I start preparing the glaze which is also super simple.  It's a powdered sugar glaze, but with a twist.  In addition to powdered sugar and milk, it also has a tablespoon of butter. The addition of the butter gives the glaze a wonderful flavor.

It's a good idea to sift the powdered sugar so there won't be any lumps in the glaze.  When adding the milk, it's best to start with the least amount called for because it's easier to add more than take away too much.  Once the glaze is mixed up, I put it in a pastry bag.  If you don't have a pastry bag, you could use a disposable resealable plastic bag instead.  If you don't want to mess with a bag, you can always apply the glaze with a spoon.

When the rolls come out of the oven, I put the pan on a wire rack and let the rolls cool a few minutes before adding the glaze.  It you add the glaze when the rolls first come out of the oven, it melts.  I like to swirl the glaze around the coils, but you can apply it in any pattern you like.

The aroma of cinnamon rolls will be wafting upstairs tomorrow luring my family into the kitchen.  Once they're up and have eaten breakfast, they can help me with some last minute Thanksgiving preparations.  The Saturday special isn't only for Saturday!

Super Simple Cinnamon Rolls

9 Servings

Filling:

1/3 cup packed light brown sugar

1/3 cup powdered sugar

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 cup butter, softened

Rolls:

2 (8 oz.) cans Pillsbury Recipe Creations seamless dough sheets or crescent rolls

Glaze:

1 cup powdered sugar

1 Tbsp. butter, softened

2 to 3 Tbsp. milk

Preheat oven to 375°.  In a small bowl, mix all filling ingredients; set aside.

Unroll one can of dough into a large rectangle.  If using crescent rolls, firmly press perforations to seal.  Spread filling over the dough.  Unroll second can of dough into a large rectangle.  If using crescent rolls, firmly press perforations to seal.  Place dough over filling, pressing dough onto filling.  Cut dough into nine 13-inch strips.  Roll from one end to the other, shaping each piece into a coil.  Place in a greased 13 x 9 x 2-inch pan. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown.  Remove from oven and place pan on a wire rack.

In a small bowl, combine all glaze ingredients, adding enough milk to make desired drizzling consistency.  Drizzle over warm rolls.  Serve warm.

© Margaret's Morsels