“Teen Chefs’ Awesome Easter Buffet” recipes

Monday, March 29th, 2010 at 9:12 am

1269853945 Teen Chefs Awesome Easter Buffet recipes

Baked Ham with Apricot-Honey Glaze

10-14 pound spiral ham or an unsliced fully cooked smoked ham

1 6-ounce can orange juice concentrate, thawed

1/3 cup apricot jam or preserves

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. place ham on a rack in a shallow roasting pan.

2. Stir together remaining ingredients in a medium bowl and set aside.

3. If using an unsliced ham, make crisscross marks across skin and place a whole clove where the lines intersect. (You can do this on a spiral-cut ham too. it looks great!)

4. Bake ham for 30 minutes.

5. Pour glaze over ham and continue to bake until ham is heated through and at least 145 degrees inside, basting as needed. If ham starts to brown too much, cover slightly with foil.

6. Serves 10 to 14 people.

Note: Chef Mary Kravec says most people bake hams too long and they become dry. Remember that the ham is pre-cooked, so it only has to be in the oven until it is heated through.

Scalloped Potatoes with Thyme and Bay

1 medium onion, minced

2 medium garlic cloves, minced or pressed

1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves, minced

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1-1/2 pounds (about 5 medium) russet potatoes, peeled and sliced 1/8 of an inch thick

1 cup low-sodium chicken broth

4 ounces Cheddar cheese, shredded

1. Adjust oven rack to the middle position in the oven and heat oven to 425 degrees.

2. Melt the butter in a Dutch oven over medium high heat. When foaming subsides, add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft and lightly browned, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic, thyme, salt and pepper and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

3. Add the potatoes, broth, cream and bay leaves and bring to a simmer. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until the potatoes are almost tender (a paring knife can be slipped into and out of a potato with some resistance), about 10 minutes. Discard the bay leaves.

4. Transfer the mixture to an 8-inch square baking dish, or other 1-1/2 quart gratin dish. Sprinkle evenly with cheese. Bake until the cream is bubbling around the edges and the top is golden brown, about 15 minutes. cool 10 minutes before serving.

5. Serves six.

Note: Recipe is from Cook's Illustrated magazine. it cuts the time for making scalloped potatoes by par-cooking the potatoes.

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

2 pounds carrots, peeled, sliced on an angle into 1/3" pieces

4 cups peeled, cored, chopped baking apples

1. Melt butter in a large skillet over low heat. Gently cook butter until it turns light brown. Add water, cider and cinnamon and cook over medium heat. Bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes.

2. Add the carrots and cook about 12 minutes. If the liquid reduces too much, add a little more water.

3. Stir in the apples and cook for about 5 minutes or until carrots and apples are tender.

4. Drizzle honey or maple syrup over carrot-apple mixture.

Individual Lemon-Meringue Cheese Cakes

2 6-ounce packages flaked coconut, toasted to light brown

1/2 cup chopped pecans, toasted

6 tablespoons butter, melted

In a medium bowl, combine crust ingredients and press into bottom of 12 4-inch tart shells or small pie shells.

4 packages (8-ounce size) cream cheese, softened at room temperature

1/2 cup fresh lemon juice

In a mixer, beat cream cheese and sugar until light. Add yolks one at a time, beating after each addition. Mix in lemon juice and vanilla. Pour over crust and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until light brown and center has a slight jiggle to it. Set tarts on a wire rack and cool.

2 jars, (7.5 ounces) Marshmallow Fluff

In a clean mixing bowl, whip egg whites and salt until foamy. Gradually add Marshmallow Fluff and beat until stiff peaks form. Spread tops of cheesecakes with meringue. place under broiler until meringue is slightly browned or brown with a hand torch.

Makes 12 4-inch tarts.

Note: Recipe is from "125 best Cheesecake Recipes" by George Geary.

"Teen Chefs' Awesome Easter Buffet" recipes

Tagged with: Cook • ham • honey glaze • Mary Kravec • medium • medium garlic cloves • medium onion • medium russet potatoes • oven • scalloped potatoes