Harmony Kitchen

March 14, 2025 Recipe of the Week

We have been experimenting with some different versions of glazed hams and pea soups and have found some all time favourites.

I love having a Sunday family meal that leaves you with lots of leftovers and all set for another easy weeknight meal that everyone looks forward to. In my family, ham is the ultimate meal that keeps on giving.

Pantry items: 3 Medium Onions, 5 Carrots, 5 Celery Stalks Butter and extra virgin olive oil One bag (900g) of dried split peas Cognac, sherry or brandy, ~1/4 cup (optional) 2 Bay leaves, 1 tbsp Thyme Salt and Pepper to taste For the glaze: 1/4 c dijon mustard 1/4 cup brown sugar 1.5 tbsp balsamic vinegar

Method

Take your ham out to thaw in the fridge a day or two before you plan to make this.

On Ham Day, pre-heat your oven to 325 degrees then start by making your glaze. Combine Dijon, brown sugar, balsamic vinegar, 2 cloves of minced garlic and a good pinch of both salt and pepper.

Dry the ham off and place it, cut side down, in the roasting pan. Using a paring knife, score a diamond pattern, about 1/2 to 1″ deep, on the top and sides of the ham. Brush your glaze over the scoring, allowing it to get into the cut surfaces.

Once your oven is heated, put the ham in the oven, uncovered, and baste it every 20 minutes or so (getting the glaze in the cracks each time) until it is done (temp reads 130-140 degrees in the middle). This should take about 2 hours.

While the ham is cooking, prep your potatoes and accompanying veggies. Our favourite way to do the potatoes is to give them a good scrub and trim then cut them into 1″ cubes and put them in the instapot with about an inch of salted water and cook on high pressure for 5 minutes. When they are done, they can quick or slow release (depending on how quickly you need them), strain them and add salt and butter and mix them together. If you have any herbs on hand (or better yet Quebecois herbes salees!), they are a great addition.

We had maple carrots with our ham since I bought a big bag of carrots for the pea soup! For maple carrots, peel and slice the carrots and steam them until they are just al dente (just a few minutes) then set them aside until just before the ham is ready. When dinner is five minutes out, boil some butter and syrup together until it thickens slightly then add the carrots, coat them in the syrup, add some salt and pepper and cook them down a few minutes more until they are sticky and delicious!

When you are done with your glazed ham dinner, save the ham bone in the fridge (or freezer, depending on how soon you feel like cooking again) for your next awesome meal!

On Soup Day, start by covering your ham bone with water (up to the max fill line in the standard instapot) and adding a couple of bay leaves. Set on high pressure for 25 minutes and let it do its magic while you prep everything else.

Melt a few tablespoons of butter in a few tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil over medium heat in your stock pot. You can add your veggies as you chop them and allow them to slowly caramelize and build flavour as you go. Start with your onions then carrots then celery. Cut them in a fine or medium dice, depending on how you like them in your soup. Add the dried thyme and season with pinches of salt and pepper to taste as you go. Have extra veggies in the fridge? Please, throw them in, that is the beauty of soup! Stir the veggies occasionally and adjust the temp to allow them to build up a bit of colour (ie flavour!). When there are just a few minutes left on your instapot countdown, add the full bag of split peas to the veggies, mix them in then add the cognac/brandy/sherry or whatever you have on hand (if you are using it, it not, it will still be delicious!) and give it a minute to cook down.

When the instapot countdown is done, cover the valve with a tea towel, stand back and quick release the pressure then strain the stock into the veggie pot and set the bone aside to cool. Bring the soup to a boil and then let it simmer until the peas have disintegrated. This will take about 30 minutes. Once the bone has cooled, you can shred any meat that was left on the bone and add it to the soup.

Serve with some crusty bread and butter and top with some microgreens or extra virgin olive oil or a drizzle of balsamic vinegar.

Time Savers, Storage Tips and Spin off Recipes

• If you have more ham left over than you would like to use in the soup, it is great sliced, with some mustard and cheese in a sandwich or dice it small and freeze it in small portions to use in omelettes, crepes or pizzas
• Leftover mashed potatoes are one of my faves. Fry them with some onions and garlic, any crunchy veggies in the fridge and some meat if you have some (maybe some chopped ham?!). Top with a fried egg and some hot sauce and you have a killer hash that is great for breakfast, lunch or dinner. I like to cook the onions first then add the veggies then the garlic and get everything nicely caramelized before adding in the potatoes and letting them get nice and crusty…SO GOOD!

Did you Know?

A diet rich in legumes has been shown to improve cholesterol levels, help with weight maintenance and is associated with lower risk of heart disease, type two diabetes and colon cancer…go ahead, have a second bowl!

This Recipe’s Plant Count: Seven in the soup plus any extra veg you added in or threw on top for a delicious garnish!

Time Required: ~2 -2.5 hours for the ham, 20 minutes active ~1 hour for the soup, 20-30 minutes active

Number of Servings: Our family of four had dinner, leftovers and enough soup for dinner and two sets of frozen leftovers