Home for a Hoosier Holiday

The recipes in this post are in "Home for a Hoosier Holiday", an article in the December 2015 Edition of Center Grove Magazine

I really enjoy writing an occasional food related article for Towne Post Publications, a group of community magazines. I am especially grateful for the publishers of the Center Grove and Greenwood editions who gave me the initial chance to submit an article, and then for the past three Decembers have asked me to write one with seasonal recipes. For the first article, I took the recipes straight off the blog. The second year, I got the great idea, (not really), of making and photographing favorite family dishes from all the contributing writers. My kitchen looked like a bomb had gone off in it. Jenny was helping me, but we were going through every measuring utensil, pot, and pan as we rushed to cook things in time to photograph them before the short winter daylight was gone. I ran out of the correct ingredients and found myself substituting items such as oil for butter. Of course we saw the humor in it and laughed all day long, but we collapsed at the end.. Neither one of us wanted to cook for a long, long time! This year I wrote about the traditional Indiana recipes that are in this post. My kitchen still reached the boiling point where I wasn't keeping up with the cleanup, but it was much more manageable! I was also motivated because Roy's family was coming over to eat the results and celebrate his mom's birthday. Everyone raved about the food - especially the ham. It is scrumptious if I do say so. I hope your family will like it as much as ours did!

Sorghum Glazed Ham

Ingredients:

 A cured ham that is large enough to yield ½ pound serving per person

1 cup sorghum (or maple syrup)

1 cup Dijon mustard

½ cup apple cider vinegar

4 minced garlic cloves

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1 teaspoon dried rosemary

¼ teaspoon crushed red chili flakes

Procedure:

Whisk the sorghum, mustard, vinegar, garlic, coriander, rosemary, chili flakes. Set aside.  Preheat oven to 275.  Roast 15 minutes per pound. Pour glaze on during the last hour of cooking.

Apple Butter, Corn Relish, and Indiana Fried Biscuits

Apple Butter

Ingredients for a 5 cups of apple butter

 46 oz. unsweetened applesauce

 2 ½ cups light brown sugar

1 cup sugar

2/3 cup apple cider vinegar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon ground cloves

1/8 teaspoon salt.

Procedure:

Place all ingredients into crock pot and mix well. Cook covered on high setting for 1 hour. Then set the lid ajar. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally, 4 to 5 hours until mixture is thickened. 

Corn Relish

Ingredients for three cups of Corn Relish:

1 (15 0z.) drained can whole kernel corn

¼ cup vinegar

1 cup pickle relish

¼ cup minced onion

¼ cup diced pimientos

3 tablespoons sugar

1½ teaspoons celery salt

Procedure: 

Mix all ingredients together in a glass casserole dish, cover with wax paper, and microwave on high for 10 minutes. 

Indiana Fried Biscuits

Ingredients for 24 biscuits: 

1 ½ cups vegetable oil

2 ½ cups flour

1 rounded tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 ½ cups milk

3 tablespoons vinegar

Procedure:

 Mix dry ingredients in a bowl. Combine wet ingredients and stir in. Roll out on floured surface to ½ inch thickness. Cut into biscuit rounds, then cut each in half. Heat oil to 325. Fry a batch at a time in covered skillet, three minutes per side. 

Green Bean and Sweet Potato Casseroles

Classic Green Bean Casserole from Campbell’s Soup Company

Ingredients for 12 servings:

  4 cups cooked green beans

1 can Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup

½ cup milk

1 teaspoon soy sauce, dash pepper

1 1/3 cups canned fried onions

Procedure:

 Preheat oven to 350. Mix 2/3 cup of the onions and other ingredients together in 9 x 13 pan. Bake 30 minutes. Top with remaining onions and bake 5 additional minutes.

Sweet Potatoes with Miniature Marshmallows

Ingredients for 8 servings:

4 cups cooked and mashed potatoes

1/4 cup butter,

1/4 cup orange juice

1/2 cup miniature marshmallows

1/4 teaspoon salt

Procedure:

 

Preheat oven to 350. Combine ¼ cup of the marshmallows with the other ingredients. Place in 9 x 13 pan and bake 30 minutes. Top with remaining marshmallows and bake 5 additional minutes.

Sugar Cream Pie and Persimmon Pudding

Sugar Cream Pie from Taste of Home

Ingredients:

Prebaked single crust pastry shell

1 cup sugar

¼ cup cornstarch,

2 cups 2% milk

½ cup butter cubed

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

¼ teaspoon cinnamon

Procedure:

Preheat oven to 375⁰. In pan, mix sugar with cornstarch, then add milk and stir until smooth. Bring to boil. Reduce heat and cook 2 minutes to thicken. Remove from heat, stir in butter and vanilla. Pour into pie crust and sprinkle top with cinnamon. Bake 15 to 20 minutes until browned.

Persimmon Pudding from Tuttle Orchards

Ingredients:

1 pint persimmon pulp
2 cups sugar
2 beaten eggs
1 ¾ cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup half and half,
1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/3 cup melted butter, dash cinnamon

Procedure:

 Preheat oven to 325⁰.   Combine persimmon, sugar and eggs. Alternate adding the flour and baking powder with the half and half, buttermilk, and baking soda. Stir in butter and cinnamon. Pour in greased 9 x 13 pan and bake 1 hour.