Christmas Dinner

Good bread and good drink, a good fire in the hall, Brawn, pudding, and souse, and good mustard withal. Beef, mutton, and pork, and good pies of the best, Pig, veal, goose, and capon, and turkey well drest, Cheese, apples and nuts, and good carols to hear, As then in the country is counted good cheer.
~Thomas Tusser

Christmas dinner! Ham, Au gratin potatoes, gougére, and fresh broccoli florets, with (of course) cookies for dessert! Everything was excellent, as evidenced by the fact that the only thing left over is a bit of ham - which I already have some recipes in mind for.

After dinner, we watched the totally awesome Transformers movie, which Santa had left under our tree. I hadn't really expected to enjoy this movie, but it was really fun!

The Recipes:

Ham: A 10# ham, cooked in the oven at 325 for about 3 1/2 hours. I poured some honey and orange juice over it, and basted it every 40 minutes or so. Once I took it out of the oven (let it rest for about 20-30 minutes before carving) I mixed some of the pan drippings with a little more orange juice, some orange marmalade, and brown sugar over medium heat. This is a nice glaze for the sliced ham - but should be applied as a condiment, not a gravy.

Au Gratin Potatoes
Ingredients:
5-6 large potatoes
1/4 cup butter
1 1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese
Salt and pepper to taste
2/3 cup heavy cream
Preparation:
Lightly grease an oven safe glass dish
Peel and thinly (about 1/4") slice the potatoes
Put a layer of potato in the dish, a little salt and pepper, very thin butter pats, and cover with cheese
Repeat layers until all the ingredients are in the dish
Pour in cream
Cover and cook right along side the ham in the oven for about 1 1/2 hours
When you take the ham out of the oven, uncover the potatoes and raise the oven temp to 400 - which, conveniently, is the temp to cook the gougére
Cook and additional 20 minutes, or until the top is golden brown

Gougére

Broccoli: Fresh florets blanched (3 minutes in boiling water)

Served with a chilled Pinot Grigio.