When I make cornbread I like to use the Krusteaz Natural Honey Cornbread and replace about half of the milk with International Delight creamer flavors. My favorite creamer to use for this is the Irish Cream but I had White Chocolate Macadamia Nut flavor in my fridge so that's what I used. While I got the soup exactly the way I wanted it, I didn't realize until after I had finished baking the cornbread to a beautiful, puffy, golden brown that I had forgotten to put in the 1/3 cup of oil called for in the box recipe. Somewhat apprehensive, I tried the finished cornbread hoping that I wouldn't have to make a trip to Walmart this late at night for more cornbread mix. It turned out just fine. It's not quite as moist as my cornbread usually turns out (although for this same reason, most people think the cornbread is a cake) which is good because it will go perfectly with the soup. My current working theory is that there was enough fat in the creamer and milk that the oil was unnecessary.
The first meal I made with the 4 flavors of the evening was a "topping" for pasta. I sauteed the ham with onions, fresh rosemary, and fennel seed. After the ham and onions were cooked, I added a can of garlic and basil diced tomatoes. I simmered until the water was gone (adding pepper and some Italian Seasoning in the mean time). Once the water water was gone and the tomatoes were just about to start frying, I added half a cup of white cooking wine and removed from heat. I put the topping over hot 3-cheese tortellini. Best served hot.
There was a lot of leftover ham so I ended up making the soup over the course of 2 days. That said, it wouldn't have taken that long if I had needed it quicker. Here is the recipe as best as I can recall it.
Ham (cubed)
Water
1 lb dry lentils
oil for sauteing
2 onions diced
8 carrots, peeled and chopped
8-12 small golden potatoes chopped into manageable sized pieces
fresh parsley
fresh rosemary
1/4 to 1/2 cup of rice vinegar (pre-seasoned with sugar and salt)
1 teaspoon fennel
pepper to taste
1/2 cup white wine
The first day I simmered the cubed ham in a large stock pot of water for 5-6 hours. I was busy organizing my new room situations so it was a nice Sunday with soup smelling up the house. I then removed the ham cubes but left the water in the stock pot. The ham was put away in the fridge for further use the next day. I added enough water to pot of (ham flavored) water to have enough to cook the lentils as per the package directions. I cooked the lentils (which expanded significantly) in the water for about 40 minutes. I put the lentils and remaining water into a sealed container and put in the fridge overnight.
The next day I sauteed the onions, carrots, and ham cubes until the onions were glassy. Then I transferred the mix to another large stock pot and filled it with water until the pot was about half full. I added the potatoes, rice wine vinegar, finely chopped parsley and rosemary, fennel, and pepper to taste. After the potatoes were mostly cooked (so that a fork breaks the potato but it's still a bit crumbly; in other words, NOT MUSH), I added the lentils and water from the previous day and the white wine. I approximated that I used a half cup, but it may have been more or less. No more heating necessary, serve hot!
The fresh herbs are from my container garden which loves its new place inside the house. I'm pretty proud that they are doing well and I use them all the time. In the same place I put a ginger root that started to grow and Sasha's avocado plant (affectionately named Guillermo PRIOR to her dating her current boyfriend). One of these evenings I need to take a picture of the new plant table to share with you.
Well, that's all for tonight. Let me know if you have questions!
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