Earl Cooks Ham Steak & Eggs & Smashed Fingerlings

Just Yesterday I cooked a ham steak with veggies, and today I am turning that into a yummy breakfast from some of the leftovers. You may know that I do this a lot, since there is just the two of us and "Turkey" sometimes eats like a bird. Today I was lucky enough to not only have HAM, but potatoes too. Once I added eggs, breakfast was nearly there. I had a few eggs left in a carton and I wanted to make space in the fridge, so I decided to cook them all. What I found was that it was an 18 count carton and it wasn't a few but FIVE left. Lucky me! 
—I put some butter in a hot pan to crisp up the potatoes. I smashed them with my meat mallet and placed them in the hot, buttered pan until they were crispy and brown. They were cooked previously, so this went fast. —Next I put the ham in the pan to heat through. When the potatoes were crisp and the ham heated through, I removed the ham and potatoes to a plate and put the 5 eggs in the pan to cook, keeping the butter and juices to steam the eggs and add a bit of flavor.


I should probably say it was too much, but it wasn't. It was just right!

Earl Cooks Ham Steak, Rainbow Carrots & Russian Banana Fingerling Potatoes

I have posted about cooking this dish before, though not quite in this combination of ingredients. I found some lovely rainbow carrots and fingerling potatoes to which I added onions, celery, cream of mushroom soup and a ham steak. This is one of the best ways to use ham, and creates a dish which is both loaded with veggies and meaty and savory, and is a one skillet dish that feeds the soul and the body.

⚉ I start by sauteing the ham steak to give it a bit of browning, even though the steak is fully cooked. It adds a fuller flavor to the dish with just those few minutes of browning.
⚉ When that step is complete, remove the ham to a plate so as to not over cook it. To the pan, I add the carrots and potatoes. These take the longest time to cook. I add to the pan about a half cup of water and cover, allowing them to cook until almost done.
⚉ Then I add one yellow onion quartered and separated into chunks, and distribute them on top of the veggies to cook.
⚉ Now add the cream of mushroom soup ans stir into the potatoes & carrots. Allow them to cook without the cover. The dish is best when the soup blends with the veggies and reduces.
⚉ Add the celery, cut into chunks and return the ham to the top to heat-through again, with the veggies. And there you have a satisfying dinner for 4, depending on how thick the ham steak is.

Hint's
⚉ Don't add salt. The canned soup and ham already have LOTS of salt. The reduced soup make a nice sauce—unless it is too salty to eat!
⚉ Use small potatoes or cut into small pieces. YOu can also use baby carrots. Smaller hard veggies reduce cooking time drastically.
⚉  Us any herbs or seasoning you like that DON'T ADD MORE SALT. Be careful if you chose to season with Worcestershire or Soy sauces, since they are quite salty.

Earl Cooks Grilled Ham & Eggs -- Breakfast from Leftovers

I am not Sam. Neither my Eggs nor my ham are green but still:

"I WOULD EAT THEM IN A BOAT. AND I WOULD EAT THEM WITH A GOAT...AND I WILL EAT THEM, IN THE RAIN. AND IN THE DARK. AND ON A TRAIN. AND IN A CAR. AND IN A TREE. THEY ARE SO GOOD, SO GOOD, YOU SEE!"

Just as Dr. Seuss was a part of my childhood, my kids childhood and my grandkids childhood, EGGS were also a big part of my childhood thanks to my mom, and I have tried to make it part of my family's childhoods too. My Grandboys call them Dippin' Eggs and they are simply large eggs with the yolks RUNNY and the whites SET. I like them with any type of breakfast meat—bacon, sausage or ham, but today I had a breakfast-sized piece of grilled ham steak from earlier in the week which I knew was perfect. A slice of "Turkey's" homemade bread now turned into toast and slathered with butter. A dash of freshly ground pepper and I have a meal fit for an EARL. I posted my directions when I first started my blog so here is the link:

Dippin' Eggs

Thanks to Dr. Seuss for his green eggs and ham, but thanks to my mom for steamed eggs and ham!

"SO I WILL EAT THEM IN A BOX. AND I WILL EAT THEM WITH A FOX. AND I WILL EAT THEM IN A HOUSE. AND I WILL EAT THEM WITH A MOUSE. AND I WILL EAT THEM HERE AND THERE. SAY! I WILL EAT THEM ANYWHERE! I DO SO LIKE STEAMED EGGS AND HAM!"

Earl Cooks Grilled Ham Steak and Two Squashes while Dog Sitting

Recently, my wife a.k.a. "Turkey" and I had the opportunity to dog sit for daughter #2's family, so I got the chance to cook on a nicer, newer stove than I am used to, and it is gas while ours is electric, so it was an adventure all around. I chose to cook something simple and satisfying that we enjoy often, a ham steak, but with a twist we had never tried, grilling it! My daughter has a stove-top grill! I decided to make it simple and have grilled zucchini squash and grilled yellow squash as sides. I halved the squashes and placed a bit of oil on the cut side and added the seasoning, placing them on the grill cut side down. I then placed the center-cut, bone-in ham steak (about 1½ lbs.) on the grill. It was about half an inch thick and great for this application. Most people would serve a starch of some kind, as we would normally, but for the two of us it was just right...summer squash in the dead of winter with a winter favorite HAM! I really liked the gas stove-top.