Cooking at the Campbell’s

Aside from the general craziness that involves holidays at the Campbell house in Charlotte, we did manage to cook a few tasty meals.

It is a family tradition to eat Smithfield Ham on Christmas, and this year also brought us the salty treat!

We soaked the ham in water for about 8 or 9 hours, changing out the water ever 2 hours. Then we refrigerated it overnight. The next morning we put it on the stove, covered in water until it boiled. Once boiled, we let it simmer for 5 hours before pulling it out of the water and letting it cool for a bit. Once cooled, we cut the skin off the ham.
Our skinless pork product was then scored (diagonally in the fat) and then baked at 425° for 30 minutes. Now it was ready to eat!

We served it up with green beans and scalloped potatoes (bacon/chive cream sauce).

We also cooked up a mushroom soup. Baby bellas and shitakes were sautéed with shallots and garlic and a bit of chicken stock.  We blended this with heavy cream and more stock, and returned it to the pot to simmer. Quick slices of toast (from a baguette) were topped with goat cheese for 5 minutes under the broiler.  The soup was served in a glass with a bit of truffle oil and topped with the goat cheese toast.

Tasty!