Easter Dinner on Tuesday

We had our Easter Dinner on Tuesday. Jim’s brother and sister-in-law arrived mid afternoon. Here was the menu.
Spiced Pickled Shrimp
Asparagus Pesto
Baked Ham with Sticky Meyer lemon-Spiced Glaze

Spring Potato Toss

Lemony Frizze Salad

Lime Angel Food Cake with Lime Glaze and Pistachios

This menu was surprisingly easy to make. I started about 9:30 AM and took a break for my workout and was all done by our guests’ arrival. I started with the appetizers.

Spicy Pickled Shrimp came from Southern Living March issue. This recipe made me mad. The last line says, “Cover and chill 24 hours.” This is like one of those trick tests teachers used to do in school. So I am stating it first. Cover and chill stirring occasionally for 24 hours. The other idiot thing was “2# of unpeeled large raw shrimp.” First instruction, Peel shrimp and cook in boiling water for 3-5 min. Give me a break! I also changed a few things in the recipe and I will note this.

2# 26/30 count peeled cooked shrimp. Mine were frozen so I thawed them.
3 small white onions, thinly sliced
½ C EVOO
¼ C tarragon vinegar (I used champagne vinegar)
2T pickling spices
2t salt
1t sugar
1t Worcestershire sauce
½ t dry mustard
¼ t ground red pepper
¼ C fresh parsley (I used chervil)

I used a Tupperware bowl so I could just shake it now in them while it marinated in the refrigerator. Layer the shrimp and onions in the container. Whisk together all the remaining ingredients and poor over the shrimp and onions.
Mine probably only marinated about 7 hours as they hid the 24 hr. announcement at the end. But they were delicious. I served with cocktails, but they also said that you could serve on lettuce leaves as a first course.

Next on my list was the Asparagus Pesto. This was in the same issue of Southern Living. Basically you make pesto with basil asparagus instead of Basil.

1# fresh asparagus
½ C grated Parmesan cheese
½ C pine nuts
1/2C olive oil
1 garlic clove
1T lemon juice
3/4t salt

Snap off and discard though ends of asparagus. I cooked the asparagus in the microwave. While it was cooking, I put the remaining ingredients in the food processor. When the asparagus had cooled I added it and turned on the unit. Scrape the sides a couple of times to mix well and get it all combined.
I served this with red and yellow pepper slices and crostini. They mentioned that you can use any left over to toss with cooked pasta.

Before our guests arrived, I wanted to get dessert done. This came from April Bon Appetit. The cake is an Angel Food Cake. You could skip making the cake and just buy one or use a mix and add the lime peel if you feel more comfortable. I made the cake from scratch. You need an angel food cake pan with a removable bottom.

Cake

1C cake flour
1 ½ C superfine sugar, divided
¼ t salt
10 large egg whites, room temperature
2 t finely grated lime peel ( I used key limes)
1 t vanilla extract
1 t cream of tartar.

Lime syrup and Glaze
½ C sugars
4T fresh lime juice, divided (again I used fresh Key Limes)
1/2 C unsalted raw pistachios, about 2 oz. Finely chopped in processor (I got Jim to peel the nuts)
½ C powdered sugar

Position rack in the center of oven and preheat to 350 degrees.

Sift flour, ½ C superfine sugar and salt into a medium bowl. Martha taught me to just put the items in a bowl and use your Wisk.
Using an electric mixer beat egg whites, lime peel and vanilla on med speed until frothy. Add cream of tartar and increase speed to high and beat until soft peaks form. Gradually add remaining 1 C of sugar a couple T at a time until you get stiff peaks.
Fold in the flour mixture gently about 1/3rd at a time. Transfer to the ungreased tube pan and smooth the top. Bake about 38 minutes until a tester comes out clean. My pan has feet so I just inverted it on the counter. If yours does not have feet, put the tube over the neck of a wine bottle.
After it is cool, cut around the sides and the tube to loosen. After you remove it loosen the bottom and place on a rack atop a rimmed baking sheet.
Next make the lime syrup. Combine sugar and 3T of lime juice in a small saucepan. Stir over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Brush syrup all over top and sides of cake. Immediately press pistachios onto the top and sides of the cake.
Next make the Lime Glaze. Stir powdered sugar with 1T lime juice until smooth. I used a little more than 1 T to make it drizzly.
This cake was absolutely delicious. I was very pleased and would make it again.


Baked Ham with Sticky Meyer lemon-spiced Glaze

This was tricky as there were no Meyer lemons available. Meyer lemons are a graft between lemon and orange. I got this recipe from Sunset Magazine. If I was still in CA I could have picked Meyer Lemons off the tree in my backyard.

1cooked bone-in half ham from the shank or butt. ( I bought the smallest one I could find)
¾ C packed light brown sugar
Finely shredded zest and juice of 5 med Meyer lemons (I used one orange and 3 lemons)
1 ¼ t ground ginger

I made the glaze in the morning. In a bowl, whisk sugar, zest, juice and ginger until smooth.
When ready to cook the ham, heat the oven to 350 degrees. I scored the fat in a crosshatch pattern. Place in the pan fat side up and tent loosely with foil and bake for 1 ½ hours. Uncover and baste about every 10 minutes for another 30 minutes until the temperature in 140 degrees.
Let the ham rest for 5 minutes and continue to baste. Carve the ham and spoon more glaze on top. I don’t know if it is the Apple wood cooked ham I bought from Wegman’s or the glaze, but it was good.

Spring potato Toss couldn’t be easier. Buy small red potatoes, cook and quarter. Cook frozen sweet peas. Mix with a jar of purchased pesto. In Southern Living they crumbled bacon on top, but I did not like that idea as I was serving with ham.

The salad dressing was simply 2 parts EVOO to 1 part lemon juice with salt and pepper.

Jim served David Bruce Pinot Noir 1997 and Nuits Saint Georges 1996 Red Burgundy with the dinner.

Easter dinner was a success.