Cumberland Sauce

This is a traditional British sauce, apparently - i made it for the first time this Easter, to serve with baked ham. It was impressively tasty - so much so that i helped myself to an extra piece of ham, just to have an excuse to eat more sauce! It is served cold, and will keep, covered, in the refrigerator for a week or so.

• zest of 1 lemon, cut in wide strips
• zest of 1 orange, cut in wide strips
• juice of 1 lemon (use the one you just zested ... and the orange can be cut up for a pineapple glaze)
• 1/2 cup of red currant jelly
• 1 Tblsp port
• 1 Tlbsp powdered sugar
• 2 tspn Dijon mustard
• pinch ground ginger
• pepper

Bring a small saucepan of water to a boil; add the lemon and orange zest, and boil for 5 minutes, 'til zest is soft. Drain and rinse, discarding the water. 

Cut the zest into very thin strips, and return to saucepan. Stir in lemon juice, currant jelly, port, sugar, mustard, and ginger, and place on very low heat. Cook, stirring often, very gently, until jelly melts and mixture is smooth; be careful not to let the sauce boil or scorch. Use a small whisk to remove any final lumps of jelly or mustard, and remove from heat. Season with pepper, to taste, and refrigerate 'til ready to use.

If the sauce seems more thick than you like, use a bit of port to thin it.

Traditionally served with ham, venison, beef, and other "non-white" meats.

Easter Ham with Pineapple Glaze

We had a hickory-smoked ham this year for Easter (i know, ever-so-Kosher!), mostly because i waited too long to go shopping for a ham, and they were completely out of the honey-glazed, spiral-sliced one that i usually buy. This one was bought at Aldi, for $1.29/lb.

• Smoked ham - butt or shank portion
• 1/2 cup of finely chopped fresh pineapple
• 1 Navel orange, finely chopped
• 3/4 cup of brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• whole cloves

Preheat oven to 325. Place ham in a shallow pan - make sure you've taken off ALL the wrappings ... i failed to do that, one year - and cover. Cook for 15 minutes per pound.

While ham is cooking, combine pineapple, orange, brown sugar, and ginger for glaze, and set aside.

45 MINUTES BEFORE HAM WILL BE FINISHED

Remove ham from oven, and uncover. Score the fat in whatever pattern you like - i prefer the traditional diamond pattern - and stud with whole cloves. Apply pineapple glaze mixture, and return ham (uncovered) to the oven for the final 45 minutes of cooking.

If you have extra pineapple mixture, it can be heated up gently, on very low heat, in a small saucepan, and passed at the table.

Excellent served with Cumberland Sauce.

Pasta Carbonara

This is one of my favorite dishes, despite the fact that it is in no way "healthy," when judged by today's dietary standards and concerns. Nonetheless, it's easy and relatively inexpensive, and uses ingredients that are almost always on-hand in the pantry and refrigerator. The following quantity makes a generous main course for two, or enough to serve 4-6 as a starter. This is traditionally made with prosciutto, which is an unsmoked Italian bacon; i use plain bacon, whatever i have in the meat drawer, and if it is strongly flavored of hickory, i sometimes rinse it first.

• 3-4 slices of bacon, chopped
• 1-2 cloves of garlic, peeled and smashed
• splash of olive oil
• 1/2 # of spaghetti, linguine, or other straight pasta
• 2-3 eggs
• 1/2 cup of grated Parmesan cheese
• salt & pepper

Combine the bacon, garlic, and olive oil in a skillet, and set on low heat. Stir regularly, and slowly increase the heat to render the fat and cook the bacon 'til crispy - this will likely take 15-20 minutes. Drain the bacon, reserving the fat in the skillet.

In the meantime, cook the pasta according to the package directions.

Beat the eggs in the serving bowl you plan to use, and then stir in the Parmesan cheese.

Combine the pasta and bacon fat, and then stir carefully into the egg and cheese mixture - if you aren't careful, you can end up with scrambled egg, instead of the creamy sauce. When pasta is well-tossed in the cheese, egg, and fat mixture, season to taste with salt and pepper and divide into individual bowls. Sprinkle each serving with the cooked bacon bits, and serve immediately. Pass extra Parmesan cheese at the table.

Maple Horseradish Glaze

This is adapted from a recipe by Bobby Flay, who mostly irritates me, but i was flipping channels one day, and heard him mention maple syrup and horseradish in the same breath, which gave me reason to pause. The original recipe uses it on BBQ pork ribs; we have also used it on salmon and chicken, as well as various other cuts of pork, and it is simply wonderful. The meat, except for salmon, which cooks so quickly anyway, should be nearly done before you apply the glaze, or the maple syrup will burn too quickly, and not crystallize quite right. The recipe calls for ancho chili powder, which i make by toasting dried anchos (bought in the Hispanic spices section of the local grocery store) in a skillet, and then processing them to a powder in a coffee grinder that i keep especially for these sorts of things. That being said, i have used plain, store-bought chili powder as a substitute, and it tastes just fine. Finally, i don't see how this recipe could work properly, nor taste right, without REAL PURE maple syrup, so please splurge and get the good stuff, and don't use maple-flavored Mrs. Butterworth's, or anything like that!

• 
  
• 2 cups pure maple syrup
• 1/2 cup prepared horseradish, drained
• 2 heaping tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 1 tablespoon ancho chili powder
• Salt and freshly ground pepper

Mix everything together, and use on whatever meat you like. This keeps, covered, in the refrigerator for at least a week.

Cruisin' the Caribbean

I made this a few weeks ago, and we really liked the dressing. In fact, I will probably make the dressing again, whether or not I make the rest of the salad. This is very lightly adapted from a recipe I found at allrecipes.com. I think the original recipe called for serving this with tortilla chips broken up and added to the salad for crunchy bits; I am not wild about this aspect of a salad and omitted them accordingly.

Caribbean Chicken Salad

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts halves
½ cup Teriyaki sauce
2 tomatoes, seeded and chopped
½ cup chopped onion
2 tsp. minced japapeño pepper
2 tsp. chopped fresh cilantro (I loathe cilantro and use parsley instead)
¼ cup Dijon mustard
¼ cup honey
1 ½ Tbs. White vinegar
1 Tbs. vegetable oil
1 ½ Tbs. cider vinegar
1 ½ tsp. lime juice
Salad greens
Pineapple chunks, fresh or canned

1. Place the chicken in a bowl, and cover with the Teriyaki sauce. Marinate at least 2 hrs.
2. In a small bowl, mix the tomatoes, onion, jalapeño pepper, and cilantro (or parsley). Cover and refrigerate.
3. In a small bowl, mix the mustard, honey, sugar, oil, vinegar and lime juice. Cover and refrigerate.
4. Grill chicken on high, ‘til juices run clear – 5-10 mins. per side, depending upon the size of the chicken breasts. Cut chicken into strips.
5. Arrange salad greens on plates. Spoon some of the salsa over each salad and sprinkle with pineapple chunks. Lay some of the grilled chicken strips on each salad. Drizzle dressing over each salad and serve.

Fish Florentine

 My local Kroger had Fresh Wild-Caught Cod on Manager's Special this week, ergo, it's what's for supper this week!

 i found this recipe, which originally called for flounder, in my 1950s Good Housekeeping cookbook and have made it several times already.  Last night was the first time i'd substituted cod for the flounder, and i do believe it's even better!  i suppose, however, that any mild whitefish would work just fine.

 i served this last night with brown rice and crusty French dinner rolls (the Pillsbury frozen ones, which are truly awesome & doubly so when bought on sale with a coupon for 40¢ a package, which works out to 4¢ each).

Fish Florentine

(1) 10 oz. package frozen, chopped spinach

1# whitefish fillets ... cod, flounder, etc.

1 Tbsp. butter

Salt

Pepper

Pam cooking spray

1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese (we used 2% Mexican blend last night)

1/2 cup evaporated milk

1 tsp. dry mustard

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

1 tsp. fresh dill, minced

Paprika

1. Preheat oven to 375° 
2. Cook spinach according to package directions; drain and season with butter, salt and pepper.
3. Spray a brownie pan with Pam and spread the spinach evenly across the bottom.
4. Arrange fish fillets on top of spinach; try not to overlap the fish, if possible
5. Mix cheese, milk, mustard, nutmeg and dill, and pour mixture over fish.
6. Bake, uncovered, until fish is done and flakes easily with a fork - about 25 minutes.
7. Sprinkle with paprika before serving.

Souper-Easy Supper

This has been one of my favorites ever since i was a little girl; Mama used Pillsbury Golden Layers Biscuits, but otherwise it's exactly as she always made it.

i think the original recipe came from the back of a Campbell's Chunky Soup can.

Cheesy Soup Casserole

2 cans Chunky Soup - we prefer Sirloin Burger with Country Vegetables

1 small can (4) Pillsbury Crescents

2/3 cup shredded cheese

1. Empty both cans of soup into a 2-quart casserole dish with cover. Heat, covered, in oven while preheating to 400 - about 15 minutes. The soup needs to be hot before proceeding.
2. Separate dough into 4 triangles & lay across the top of the hot soup; it is not necessary to seal completely.
3. Cook, uncovered, 8 minutes. Sprinkle cheese on top of dough & return to oven another 5-6 minutes, until nicely browned.
4. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Pulling It All Together

So, to assemble the perfect Pulled Pork BBQ Sandwich, you need:

Hamburger buns

Pulled Pork (preferably homemade Crockpot Pulled Pork, recipe below)

BBQ Sauce (preferably homemade Carolina-Style Mustard BBQ Sauce, recipe below)

Cole Slaw

Chips

Pickles

1. Toast buns lightly.
2. Heat Pulled Pork in a small saucepan over low heat, adding enough BBQ Sauce to moisten to taste.
3. Squirt BBQ Sauce, to taste, on both sides of buns.
4. Spoon warmed Pulled Pork onto bottom of buns.
5. Spoon Cole Slaw onto Pulled Pork & top with remaining half of buns.
6. Serve with chips & pickles on the side.

Pulled Pork BBQ, part 3

This is a modified version of Tyler Florence's Cider Vinegar BBQ Sauce.  i make it while the pork is cooking in the crockpot, & allow it to simmer as long as possible; the vinegar smell is over-powering at first, but mellows the longer you simmer the sauce.

This is a Carolina-style, mustard-based BBQ sauce, similar to Cattlemen's Southern Gold, except that it's significantly tastier & much cheaper!

This makes about 3 bottles (cleaned out ketchup bottles & other squeeze bottles) of sauce; it keeps indefinitely in the refrigerator.  This recipe can easily be doubled or tripled if you are entertaining a large crowd.

Carolina-Style Mustard BBQ Sauce

3 cups cider vinegar

2 cups yellow mustard

1 cup ketchup

2/3 cup packed brown sugar

4 cloves garlic, smashed

2 tspn salt

2 tspn cayenne

1 tspn black pepper

Reserved drippings from pork roast

1. Combine the vinegar, mustard, ketchup, brown sugar, garlic, salt, cayenne, & black pepper in a heavy saucepan over medium heat.
2. Once sauce starts to bubble gently, reduce heat to low & simmer gently as long as you can, stirring frequently to scrape up caramelizing sugars at bottom of pan.  The longer you simmer, the less vinegary the sauce.  Do not be overwhelmed by the initial vinegar smell!  It goes away!  (I've heard of folk throwing the entire pot of sauce away after the initial 5 minutes of simmering - lol!)
3. When pork roast is cooked & drippings are settling in measuring cup, take the sauce off the heat & use a hand blender to smooth it out & incorporate the chunks of garlic.  If you don't have a hand blender, you could process it in batches in a regular blender or a food processor; be careful, as hot liquids can be dangerous & tricky to work with in those appliances!
4. Once drippings have separated somewhat, pour off as much fat as possible & add remaining goodness to sauce, stirring well to incorporate (you can leave this part out, if you want to make a vegetarian BBQ sauce, although i fail to see the point of that!).

Pulled Pork BBQ, part 2

This assumes you've already made the Dry Rub posted below.  This is adapted from Tyler Florence's Oven-Roasted Pulled Pork Sandwiches, but rather than baking the roast in the oven at 300F for 6+ hours, i use my crockpot.

Crockpot Pulled Pork

1 recipe BBQ Dry Rub

1 (5-7#) pork roast, preferably shoulder or Boston butt

1. Rub the spice blend all over the pork & marinate for as long as you have time for, as little as 1 hour or up to overnight, covered, in the refrigerator.
   
2. Brown roast on all sides, either on outdoor grill, or in a large skillet on the stove.
3. Place roast in large crockpot, & cook on low for 8-14 hours, or on high 4-7 hours.  Basically, cook the pork until it's falling apart & an instand-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part registers 170F.  In my experience, it is not possible to overcook the roast this way.
4. Remove the roast from crockpot & pour accumulated juices into a measuring cup to allow fat to separate from drippings (reserve for sauce).
5. While roast is still warm, take 2 forks & "pull" the meat to form shreds, steadying the meat with 1 fork & pulling it away with the other.

Pulled Pork BBQ, part 1

i made pulled pork BBQ last week, complete with homemade BBQ rub & sauce.  It's very, very tasty & very easy.  The recipe is based on Tyler Florence's Oven-Roasted Pulled Pork Sandwiches with various changes throughout.

i'm going to break this into 3 posts - 1 each to make the BBQ rub, the BBQ sauce, & the meat itself.

The following makes enough BBQ rub for a good-sized roast.  i often quadruple the recipe & store the remainder in an air-tight container in the spice cupboard; it's very good on all sorts of meats & seems to keep indefinitely, although you do need to stir it before using, as the brown sugar tends to clump up over time.

BBQ Dry Rub


3 T paprika (x4 = 3/4 cup)
1 T garlic powder (x4 = 1/4 cup)
1 T brown sugar (x4 = 1/4 cup)
1 T dry mustard (x4 = 1/4 cup)
3 T coarse salt (x4 = 3/4 cup)

Mix all ingredients together

Mmmmm ... Pork!

We had very yummy pork burgers tonight, recipe from All Recipes - minor changes made listed in red below.

Mostly, i halved the amount of meat & all other ingredients, except the apple & egg, which i did not reduce.  i added 1/4 cup of Panko bread crumbs, & set the formed patties in the freezer for ~30 minutes before Russ grilled them.  I also skewered the pineapple slices so Russ could grill them while the burgers were cooking.  We had this with couscous (used the reserved pineapple juice for part of the water), mixed lettuce salad & fresh tomatoes.

Pork Apple Burgers

2# ground pork (i used 1#)
1 Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored & chopped
1 sweet onion, finely chopped (i used 1/2 an onion)
3 cloves garlic, minced (i used 1-1/2 cloves)
1/4 cup Teriyaki sauce (i used 2 Tbsp)
1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup Panko bread crumbs
Buns
1 (20 oz) can sliced pineapple, drained, juice reserved (i used the smaller-sized can)

1. In a large bowl, mix together ground pork, apple, onion, garlic, Teriyaki sauce, egg & bread crumbs.  If too dry, add some juice from the can of pineapple slices.  Form into eight (4) patties.  Chill 30-60 minutes, while grill is pre-heating.
2. Skewer pineapple slices.
3. Lightly oil grill grate.  Grill pork burgers & pineapple slices for 10 minutes, or until well done.  Toast buns on grill.  Serve burgers on toasted buns topped with pineapple slices.

Individual Tomato Aspic Salads

Russ asked me to post this - we found this to be a flavorful tomato dish for when decent fresh tomatoes are not available (most of this past Summer, unfortunately).

Individual Tomato Aspic Salads

3 cups V8

1 stalk celery

1 onion, sliced

2 lemon slices

1 bay leaf

1 tspn salt

1/8 tspn pepper

2 envelopes unflavored gelatin

2/3 cup cold V8

1/4 cup vinegar

Pam

1. Combine 3 cups V8, celery, onion, lemon, bay leaf, salt & pepper.  Simmer, uncovered, 10 mins; strain.
2. Meanwhile, sprinkle gelatine over cold V8 & vinegar to soften; stir in hot mixture until dissolved.
3. Pour into 7 greased individual molds.
4. Refrigerate 'til firm.
5. To Serve:  Unmold onto salad greens; serve with italian dressing mixed with equal parts mayonnaise or half-&-half.

Tuna Casserole Redux

Perhaps this is only new to me, but i was impresed by this recipe & found it to be significantly better than i expected.  It's from the "Budget" section of the Good Housekeeping Cookbook, 1963.  i served it with fresh corn-on-the-cob, baked in-husk while the casserole cooked, & Tomato Aspic; McEntyre's Bakery Red Velvet Cake for dessert again.

Changes are indicated, as usual, in red.

Tuna Corn Bread Pie

12 thin lemon slices

1 can tuna, drained

1/2 cup fresh bread crumbs

2 Tbsp minced onion

2 eggs, beaten

1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup

1 pkg corn muffin mix (Jiffy) (this requires 1 egg & 1/3 cup milk, but i used buttermilk)

Snipped parsley

1. Arrange lemon slices on bottom of lightly greased 10" pie plate.
2. Blend tuna with bread crumbs, onion, eggs and soup.  Spoon into pie plate over lemon slices.
3. Start heating oven to 400.  Prepare corn muffin mix as label directs, then spoon gently over tuna mixture until level with inner ridge of pie plate rim (turn any excess into a custard cup).  Bake 30 mins, or until golden.  Let cool 10 min.
4. Lossen sides of pie with spatula.  Invert onto dish & invert again onto serving dish.  Garnish with parsley before serving.

Fabulous Friday Fish

Although we are not a Roman Catholic household, i do still occasionally remember & recognise the "Fish on Fridays" tradition, & in its spirit, we had the following last night ... it was delicious both then & reheated this afternoon & served to my best friend, ACR & her daughter, ZAI ... love you both!

i served it with frozen potato patties, iceburg lettuce & tomato aspic; we had McEntyre's Bakery Red Velvet Cake for dessert.

Crisp-Coated Fish Fillets

2 cups finely crushed corn flakes

2 tspn salt

1/4 tspn pepper

2 Tbsp celery flakes

1 Tbsp paprika

1-1/2# flounder fillets (or haddock or sole)

1 cup flour

1/2 cup evaporated milk

Pam

1. Start heating oven to 375.  Line cookie sheet with foil.
2. Combine corn flake crumbs, salt, pepper, celery flakes & paprika.  
3. Dip fish fillets, first in flour, then in evaporated milk, then in crumb mixture, turning them to coat both sides.  Arrange fillets in foil-lined pan.  Spray generously with Pam.
4. Bake about 30 mins.

Thanks, Craig

I tried making Craig's Cocktail Sauce the other night to serve with fried clams.  It was OK, although not as good as our favorite, Crosse & Blackwell Zesty Shrimp Sauce.  Next time i'll try adding some onion powder, which i believe may be the missing flavor.

i made no changes to the recipe, except to scale it down to 1/9th of the original (4 oz ketchup), which is how much ketchup i had on hand.

Oven-Fried Drumsticks

This is, first of all, a test post using the email function …

 Tonight we had tasty Oven-Fried Drumsticks, which were very good –

 Oven-Fried Drumsticks

 ¾# drumsticks (about 7)
1 tspn curry powder
1 tspn paprika
1 tspn poultry seasoning
¾ tspn salt
¼ tspn pepper
½ cup flour
2 Tbsp butter, melted

1. Preheat oven to 450.
2. Combine curry powder, paprika, poultry seasoning, salt, pepper & flour in bag or bowl.
3. Brush ½ of the butter onto a foil-lined cookie sheet.
4. Toss chicken in flour mixture until evenly coated.  Arrange on greased cookie sheet.
5. Drizzle remaining butter over chicken.
6. Bake 30 minutes; turn chicken & bake another 15 minutes.

Venison & Salmon Stew w/Potatoes & Carrots

No, that's not what i made for supper tonight; that's what my DOG had for supper!  i keep Kit on an all-natural diet as much as possible, & i came across the Old Mother Hubbard brand of dog foods advertised at PetFoodDirect.com - they had them on sale for $1/can, & with an additional 22%-off coupon, it brought the price to 78¢/can, which is a phenomenal deal for all-natural dog food.  i got a case each of Venison & Salmon Stew, Duck & Sweet Potato Delight & Lamb with Spinach & Apples.

We, on the other hand, had leftover Hamburger Pot Roast with homemade egg noodles.  i'd never made noodles or pasta from scratch before & was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was & how yummy the egg noodles were.  i followed a recipe i found on AllRecipes.com - as usual, it's transcribed below with any changes i made in red.

Next time, i'll divide the dough into 2 or more portions before rolling, which i believe will make it easier to roll it out thinner & more evenly.  None of mine were more than 1/8" thick, but we thought those were a little too thick; we preferred the ones that were cut from the edges where i was able to roll the dough out quite a bit thinner.  It took a good 5-6 minutes for the thicker noodles to be properly cooked; i threw a few Knorr tomato & beef boullion cubes into the water for added flavor.  I cooked 1/2 the batch last night for supper & the other 1/2 is in the freezer for another night.

Egg Noodles (from AllRecipes.com)

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Pinch salt

2 eggs, beaten

1/2 cup milk (i used 1/4 cup skim milk & 1/4 cup half-&-half)

1 Tbsp butter

1. In a large bowl, stir together the flour and salt.  Add the beaten egg, milk, & butter.  Knead dough until smooth, about 5 minutes (i used the dough hook on my mixer).  Let rest in a covered bowl for 10 minutes (i let mine rest more like 30 minutes).
2. On a floured surface, roll out to 1/8" or 1/4" thickness.  Cut into desired lengths & shapes.
3. Allow to air dry before cooking.
4. To cook fresh pasta, in a large pot with boiling salted water cook until al dente.

For Extra Deliciousness

In my ongoing efforts to identify tasty cheap meals, specifically ones that use ground chuck, we had a modified version of Hamburger Pot Roast, from 1963's Good Housekeeping Cookbook (recipe below).

It's essentially a braised meatloaf; the addition of caraway seeds to the meat mixture does give it a convincing "pot roast" flavor.  It was pretty easy to prepare, & very tasty.

Recipes in this cookbook are not as standardized as we expect from modern-day cookbooks, & the narratives are often charmingly informal.  This particular recipe includes the following gem:

. . . for extra deliciousness, stir in 2 tspn sugar, 1/2 cup light cream, 1/3 cup Burgundy wine, 1/4 tspn salt; heat gently; pass separately.

Unfortunately, although i followed these directions exactly, the resulting sauce was dreadful - it curdled & turned a particularly lurid shade of pink that i simply couldn't imagine serving on anything manly enough to deserve being called Pot Roast.

Thankfully, the meat & onions were just fine without any extra sauce, & we'll probably have the leftovers tomorrow night for supper, unless Russ wants to take some for lunch tomorrow.

We had it with some mixed vegetables & salad.

I'm transcribing the original recipe, as printed in the cookbook; my changes are indicated inline in red.

Hamburger Pot Roast (from Good Housekeeping Cookbook)

1 1/2# chuck, ground once (used 1# regular ground chuck)
2 Tbsp parsley, snipped
Salt
1/2 tspn onion salt (used 1 Tbsp dried onion flakes)
1 tspn caraway seeds
3 Tbsp evaporated milk
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 tspn paprika
3 Tbsp butter or margarine (used 2 Tbsp butter)
1/4 cup Burgundy wine
1 large onion, sliced
2 bay leaves

1. Lightly combine chuck, parsley, 1 tspn salt, onion salt, caraway seeds, milk.  Shape into loaf, 2-1/2" thick.
2. Combine flour, 1/2 tspn salt, paprika; use to coat meat loaf.
3. In hot butter in large skillet, gently brown meat loaf, turning once.  (Drain the fat!)  Add wine, onion, bay leaves.  Simmer, covered, 30 min, or until done (took ~45 min for onions to seem soft enough).
4. Carefully lift loaf to heated platter; top with onion slices from pan juice.  Remove bay leaves; serve juice as is.  Or for extra deliciousness, stir in 2 tspn sugar, 1/2 cup light cream, 1/3 cup Burgundy wine, 1/4 tspn salt; heat gently; pass separately.  Makes 6 servings (mine made ~4). 

Boston Bean Casserole

OK, i realise deviled ham is weird, but it really is very good in this dressed up baked bean dish; we usually have this with Superb Skillet Cheeseburger Loaf & the leftovers always get eaten!

Boston Bean Casserole

1 Tbsp vegetable oil

1/2 cup sliced onion, separated into rings

1 can Boston Baked Beans (20 oz)

1 (small) can deviled ham (2.25 oz)

1 Tbsp mustard

1 peeled tomato, sliced

1/2 tspn salt

1 tspn brown sugar

1. Preheat oven to 400.
2. Saute onion in oil until tender.
3. Combine beans, ham & mustard.
4. Arrange 1/2 bean mixture in 1 qt casserole.  Place 1/2 of onions & tomatoes over beans; sprinkle with 1/2 of salt & brown sugar.  Repeat layers.
5. Bake, covered, 30 minutes; uncover & bake 5 more minutes.