If you have a pressure cooker, try this curry. Curry in a Hurry This recipe from Lorna Sass's Pressure Perfect is a quick and easy way to make a pretty tasty curry. You can make it with chicken, beef, lamb or pork, and vary the hotness by using mild or hot curry paste. 2 tablespoons of mild curry paste makes a pleasant-but-wimpy curry; 4 tablespoons of mild paste makes it pleasantly zingy; 4 tablespoons of hot curry paste makes it very hot, near my limit of tolerance (and I really like hot food). I generally use 2 tablespoons of hot and 2 tablespoons of mild curry paste. If you don't want to mess with the yogurt, peas and cilantro, don't bother--the dish will still be very tasty, but the sauce won't be as rich or velvety-smooth. ( I personally don't like cilantro, so I don't use it.) The recipe calls for 3 pounds of bone-in chicken; I find it easier to use about 2 or 2.5 pounds of boneless skinless chicken thighs. --Once you get the pressure cooker up to pressure, make a pot of rice. By the time the rice is done, so is this. 1 cup water 4 tablespoons Patak's Mild Curry Paste 1 medium onion, coarsely chopped 3 pounds bone-in skinless chicken thighs or breasts, or 2-2.5 lbs boneless skinless thighs, or 2 lbs. other meat (see chart below) 1 cup plain yogurt 1 1/2 cup frozen peas 3 tablespoons cilantro, chopped (optional) Pour the water into a 4-qt or larger pressure cooker and blend in the curry paste. Place on high heat and add the onion and meat of your choice. Lock the lid in place. Over high heat bring up to high pressure. Reduce the heat just enough to maintain high pressure and cook for the time indicated in the chart. Turn off the heat. Allow the pressure to come down naturally. (If cooking chicken, release any remaining pressure after 4 minutes.) Remove the lid, tilting it away from you to allow steam to escape. If the chicken or meat isn't tender, cover again and simmer until done. If necessary, skim off the fat that rises to the surface or degrease the broth in a fat separator. Blend the yogurt into 1 cup of the broth. Stir the peas into the curry and simmer until they are defrosted, about 1 minute. Turn off the heat and stir the yogurt mixture into the curry. Stir in the cilantro and salt to taste. Serve in bowls over rice. Meat choices Cooking times Chicken (see notes above) 8 minutes high pressure, 4 minutes of natural release, then quick release Beef (boneless chuck, 1" cubes) 8 minutes high pressure, then natural release Pork shoulder (1" cubes) 8 minutes high pressure, then natural release Lamb (boneless, 1" cubes) 12 minutes high pressure, then natural release If using beef, pork or lamb, trim off excess fat and cut the meat into approximately 1" cubes before cooking..

Bogue's Restaurant, here, bakes and sells this ham for Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter. You to get your name on the list, ahead of time, cause they sell out. People go gaga over this ham. Dr Pepper Ham 1 6/8 lb fully cooked ham (either shank or butt portion) 1 can of Dr. Pepper Wrap ham in heavy duty foil, leaving top open to pour in Dr. Pepper. Place in a large enough pot to hold the ham. Pour in Dr. Pepper & close foil tightly around the ham. (You don't want the Dr. Pepper to leak out of the foil if possible.) Cook in preheated 250 degree oven for 6 to 8 hrs. (Put it in the oven in early morning & forget about it til dinner.) .

Here is my family's favorite...I have used it again and again through the years. "Makes 8 Main Dish Servings" Source: "From Ladies Home Journal, March, l977" Yield: "12 cups" Basic Vegetable Soup: 2 or 3 pounds Soup Meat and Bones, Beef Shank w/bone Veal Knuckle (have butcher crack) for a rich brown broth; brown meat and bones in a 350° oven. 3 quarts water (can use vegetable liquor) 2 tablespoons salt 1 (28 ounce) can tomatoes, undrained 1 or 2 large onions, chopped 1 cup green peas 1 cup diced potatoes 1 cup sliced carrots 1 cup sliced celery 1 cup baby lima beans 1 cup cut green beans 1/2 cup uncooked medium barley 2 tablespoons choped parsley 1/4 teaspoon crushed thyme 1/4 teaspoon sugar In a large stock pot, place meat, bones, water, crushed thyme (also 8 to 10 pepper corns). Heat to boiling. Simmer 2-1/2 to 3 hours, or until meat is tender. Remove meat and bones. Cut up meat and reserve. Strain broth and skim off fat. Add cut up meat. Add barley, parsley, and simmer for 1/2 hour. Then add vegetables in order required for doneness, peas last....over a period of another 1/2 hour. Take care that vegetables do not become mushy. At this point adjust seasoning...salt and pepper to taste. Add 1 tablespoon Aromatic Bitters (optional) just before serving. My Own Note: Any addition or substitution can be made; pasta, lentils, rice, corn, broccoli, etc. Double recipe for freezer. I am always looking for marrow bones to make Marrow Dumplings to be added to this soup.

Basically a fresh ham is like cooking a pork roast. Season it as you like (a good rib rub works well) and bake it to 160ð and you're done. Some like soy sauce, teriyaki and of course the FAS afflicted demand sugar and or syrup but I wouldn't. I'd expect it to have the legbone still in it. ("Ham" is the upper part of a pig's leg.) You'd be able to tell if he had deboned it and I can't see that he would have. Some people are very fussy about having the bone in a ham. If you can smoke it, I'd smoke as much as I could. To me, that's the best ham, nice heavy smoke flavor. Cutting it up is a good idea. A "Sawzall" is a brand of reciprocating saw. Some use the term in a generic reference as some use Kleenex or Jell-O for facial tissues and flavored gelatins. A whole fresh ham is a lot of meat. If you don't divide it up, you're not too likely to go through it in one sitting..