Mama I want to cook


Everybody has a fantasy. Mine is to be the host of a cooking show. I am a foodie. I can’t walk past Sur La Table without buying something. It’s almost as bad as my shoe shopping addiction. Twenty five years ago my Mom bought me a set of Le Creuset when I moved to my first apartment that I still cook on and they look good as new.  I love to devour food memoirs and cookbooks.  When I could be biking, yoga or playing tennis I am in wrapped attention watching "The Mind Of a Chef".
These are my fav cookbooks that I go back to over and over again..  

I love certain recipes like Union Square's Marinated Fillet of Tuna, FLOTUS book recipe for linguine with mushroom bacon sauce and The Barefoot Contessa's croissant bread pudding and  Nigella's lemon chicken. Julia Child's Way to Cook" is just my cooking bible. I don't know what cook book it comes from but I love Tyler Florence's Smoked Ham with Bourbon, Brown Sugar and Cola.

Ingredients
1 (7-8 lb.) smoked ham, fully cooked with bone in
1 cup bourbon
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 cup cola
1/4 cup dijon mustard
1/2 cup honey
4 fresh thyme sprigs, leaves only
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Directions
Preheat oven to 325 F.
In a small saucepan combine the bourbon, sugar, cola, mustard and fresh thyme. Simmer gently over low heat stirring to dissolve
sugar. Reduce until thick and syrupy and liquid coats the back of a wooden spoon.
Take ham out of plastic and score (lightly cut) the top of the skin with a sharp knife. Make large cuts in one direction across the ham
and then in the other direction to form a pattern of large diamonds. Place it in a large roasting dish fat side up and make sure it is
brought to room temperature if refrigerated (approximately one hour). Pour and brush the glaze over the ham and add 1 cup of water
with 3 tablespoons of bourbon to the bottom of the roasting pan before baking. Pop it into the oven on the lower rack.
Bake for 90 minutes, basting with pan juices every 30 minutes. Check for internal temperature -- it should reach 140 F on a meat
thermometer and the meat should be tender and falling apart when done. When done, remove from oven, tent loosely with foil and let
stand for 15 minutes.
Skim fat from pan juices and drizzle juice over carved ham slices.

"A good cook is like a sorceress who dispenses happiness."
Elsa Schiaperilli

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