Creole Easter

CREOLE EASTER
Our Easter dinner menu was inspired by the distinctive cuisine of New Orleans. The centerpiece of the feast: roast ham brushed with a sweet-and-spicy Creole glaze, which combines cane syrup with piquant mustard and a touch of allspice. Accompaniments include crispy potatoes Lyonnaise and Southern-style collard greens embellished with toasty benne (or sesame) seeds.

Roasted Ham with Creole Glaze
Popular in Creole cooking, cane syrup is a very sweet, thick syrup made from sugar cane. Here, we combine the syrup with a piquant mustard and allspice to create a spicy-sweet glaze for roasted ham.

1 fully cooked smoked half ham, about 5 lb.
8 whole cloves
1 cup water
1/2 cup cane syrup
1/4 cup spicy mustard, such as Gulden's
Pinch of allspice
Potatoes Lyonnaise for serving

Position a rack in the lower third of an oven and preheat to 350ºF.Using a sharp knife, score the ham in a diamond pattern at 2-inch intervals, making slits 1/4 inch deep. Place the ham, scored side up, on a rack in a small roasting pan. Stud the ham with cloves at 2-inch intervals. Pour the water into the roaster, cover tightly with aluminum foil and roast for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan over medium-low heat, whisk together the cane syrup, mustard and allspice and heat until warm. Set the glaze aside. Uncover the ham and brush generously with the glaze. Continue roasting, uncovered, until the ham is warmed through, about 45 minutes more, brushing it with glaze every 15 minutes. Transfer the ham to a carving board and cut into thin slices. Arrange on a warmed platter and serve immediately with potatoes Lyonnaise. Serves 10 to 14.

Potatoes Lyonnaise
4 Tbs. (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
2 yellow onions, sliced 1/4 inch thick
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
1 Tbs. olive oil
2 lb. baby Yukon Gold potatoes, boiled until just tender and sliced 3/8
inch thick
2 Tbs. finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

In a large electric skillet or fry pan over medium-high heat, melt 2 Tbs. of the butter. Add the onions, salt and pepper and cook until tender and lightly caramelized, 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer to a small bowl. Wipe out the pan with a damp paper towel. Melt the remaining 2 Tbs. butter with the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the potatoes and cook, stirring occasionally and being careful not to break up the slices too much, until crisp and golden brown, 8 to 10 minutes. Add the onions and parsley to the pan and stir to combine. Transfer to a warmed serving bowl and serve immediately. Serves 6 to 8.






Collard Greens with Benne Seeds and Chili Oil
The unexpected flavors of this dish exemplify contemporary Southern cuisine at its best. The greens are not cooked for hours as was often done in the past, and the toasty flavors of the benne (sesame) seeds pair nicely with the bitterness of the vegetable. If you prefer, use hot-pepper vinegar instead of the cider vinegar and chili oil.

2 lb. collard greens, mustard greens, turnip greens or broccoli rabe, tough
stems and wilted leaves discarded
2 Tbs. olive oil
6 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
2 dried hot chilies, broken in half crosswise
1/4 cup sesame seeds
1 Tbs. chopped fresh rosemary
2 Tbs. honey
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
2 Tbs. cider vinegar
1 Tbs. hot chili oil

Cut the greens into 1-inch pieces. Bring a large saucepan three-fourths full of lightly salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the greens and stir to immerse completely in the water. Return to a boil, reduce the heat to medium and cook until crisp-tender, about 10 minutes. Drain the greens and place under cold running water to stop the cooking. Transfer to a large kitchen towel, wrap well and squeeze out as much excess water as possible. In a large fry pan with deep sides over medium heat, warm the olive oil. Add the garlic, chilies, sesame seeds and rosemary and cook, stirring, until the sesame seeds begin to lightly brown, about 1 minute. Stir in the greens and honey. Sauté, stirring occasionally, until the greens are well coated with the other ingredients and heated through, about 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer the greens to a large bowl and drizzle with the vinegar and chili oil just before serving. Serves 6.