Julie Van Rosendaal - Spices

A special thanks to Linda Johnsen (@LJohnsen), who was our 2000th follower on Twitter! As our way of saying thanks, we invited Linda in for breakfast with Julie today.

On today's show, Julie dove into her spice rack for some recipe inspiration.

Tonka Bean Shortbread

3/4 cup butter, at room temperature
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1 egg yolk
1 tsp. vanilla
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. finely grated Tonka bean (optional - experiment with 
different spices, too!)

In a large bowl, beat the butter, sugar and salt with an electric 
mixer for 2 minutes, until pale and fluffy. Beat in the egg yolk and 
vanilla.

Add the flour and grated Tonka bean and stir just until you have a 
soft dough. Shape it into two logs, wrap and refrigerate for an hour 
(or up to a few days) or freeze for up to 6 months.

When ready to bake, slice 1/4" thick and bake on a parchment-lined 
sheet at 350F for 15 minutes, or until pale golden around the edges. 
Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Spice Crusted Ham

Adapted from Gourmet, April 2001

1 6-8 lb. fully cooked shank or butt end ham
4 garlic cloves
1 tsp. fine sea salt
1 Tbsp. whole coriander seeds
1 Tbsp. mixed peppercorns (containing black, pink, white, and green 
peppercorns but not allspice)
1 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
3 Tbsp. butter, softened

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Remove any thick skin from ham and all but 
about a 3/4-inch layer of fat.

Mince and mash the garlic with salt to a paste. Coarsely grind the 
coriander and peppercorns with a mortar & pestle or in a coffee/spice 
grinder and stir in the garlic paste, flour and butter.

Put the ham, cut side down, into a roasting pan or large cast iron 
skillet. Spread the spice paste all over the ham. Bake in middle of 
oven until crust is golden and the ham is heated through - about 1 1/2 
hours. Let stand 15 minutes before slicing.