Easter preparations

[wiseheart]

I've started preparing the food stuff for Easter - it's a somewhat time-consuming process, so I chose to do it in several stages. Today, I'm making the Easter ham.

It's long tradition in Hungary (and other European countries) to have smoked and picked ham for Easter Sunday, often cooked or baked. I've been doing it according to an Austrian recipe for the last 15 years or so - it's excellent.

First, I cook the ham (pork; this is one of the very few times we actually eat pork) in a mixture of water, milk, laurel leaves, carrots, parsley roots, celery, thymian, salt and pepper. That takes an hour and a half.

Then I rub the whole slab of ham with garlic and cumin (takes vampires out of the house, hehehe), put it into a baking tin, pour pre-made baking sauce over it and put it into the oven for another hour and a half. That melts the excess fat away (well, almost completely), and the meat is delicious and keeps a long time afterwards. You can cut it in paper-thin slices, after it's been in the fridge for a couple of hours.

That's for today. Tomorrow, I'll probably boil and colour the eggs. The day after tomorrow I'll bake the raisin bred and perhaps even the little bunny- and lamb- and chicken-shaped biscuits.

Oh, and in the meantime, I intend to have some more writing done. Theoretically, I should be able to finish two more stories during Spring Break, but that's by no means a sure thing.

Comments

The lost warrior

[(Anonymous)]

Please, I hunger for more!!!!!

Re: The lost warrior

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

If the muses cooperate, I promise there will be more. :))

[jilba.livejournal.com]

Damn, it sounds like so much good food at your house! Mind you, you work hard to make it all.

Enjoy the fruits of your labour and have a lovely Easter.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Oh, it sounds worse than it actually is. Save from the fact that I was so distracted that I rubbed the whole ham with black pepper instead of cumin, so I'm not sure what it will be like. :((

But the biscuits and the lamb-shaped almond cake turned out great.

[jilba.livejournal.com]

Black pepper instead of cumin..I do wonder how that turned out!

Great the biscuits and the almond cake were fine.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Well, to general surprise, the ham turned out delicious this way, too. Still, I miss the cumin favour, so I'll try to pay better attention next time. *g*

If you want the recipe for the almond cake, just yell. I think it'd make great muffins or tarts, too. The shape is seondary, after all.

[jilba.livejournal.com]

I'd love the almond cake recipe, and please may I have the ham one too? I promise to pay attention and not use black pepper by accident!

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Well, there isn't more to the ham one than what I've described in the entry itself. I'll hunt down the almond cake recipe for you shortly and post in a separate entry. Or do you want it to be mailed to you?

[jilba.livejournal.com]

Whatever is easiest for you, darl. Email addy is jilba25@hotmail.com if you want to email it.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

I see you've found the other entry already. I hope you'll have lots of fun with the cake. :))

[jilba.livejournal.com]

We will, thanks.

[lhun-dweller.livejournal.com]

Mmmmmmm... I'm drooling at my desk at work. Very unprofessional! Enjoy the holiday!

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Hehe! I knew you'd jump at the garlic. *g*

[the-wild-iris.livejournal.com]

That sounds absolutely delicious.

I do admire people who prepare food in advance for holidays (and wonder how they manage it!). I like to cook, but I don't bake, if you know what I mean :)

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Heh. It was the first time I baked in this new gas oven, too. Considering that, I only burned the raisin bread a little, but not beyond resuce.

Comment reposted because of stupid spelling mistake. Sorry.