Easter!

It was a beer-centric Easter. Big shock, eh?

Our tradition over the past few years has been to host the family - whoever can come - at our house for the big meal and festivities. Lately, this has dropped down to just my in-laws...

When it comes to food, they are probably my most critical audience (excluding the boys, whose taste preferences change seemingly week-to-week). This is not a problem (they have always liked everything I've ever made), but it is major consideration. The centerpiece of my Easter meal has become a home-cured ham.

My recipe has evolved over the years, beginning with a recipe that I found calling for a lot of dried dark fruits, salt, and tawny port. Then I discovered beer brine (thank you Sean Paxton at www.homebrewchef.com)! Note that at no stage did I actually smoke my pork (if you really miss that smokiness - which is often an additive rather than a process - you can either smoke your ham after it is brined, or use a beer that utilizes smoked malt like rauchbier or smoked porter) but technically speaking, ham is cured leg of pork...

This year, I forgot to buy my Dijon mustard (a critical ingredient in the "crust" of my ham). This forced another evolution this year (the recipe has stayed mostly the same the last couple of times)... I made a dry mixture of brown sugar, dry mustard powder, paprika, garlic powder, paprika, and savory instead of the usual mustard crust. And I opted for "slow and low" - 250* for 6 hours (covered for the first 5 hours).

Wow! The meat was the most tender ever! And it has spectacular flavor...

Here was our menu:
• Brined Mustard-Savory Ham (home-cured) w/ Gravy
• Scratch-made 3-Cheese Red Potatoes au Gratin
• Mashed Mixed Root Vegetables (3 types if sweet potatoes/yams, rutabagas, turnips, parsnips...)
• Steamed, Sautéed Basil Brussels' Sprouts and Kohlrabi

I accompanied my flavorful meal with a 750ml of Brasserie DuPont Vielle Provision - THE Saison.