Fruits and ham have always been the stars of the Noche Buena table, but each year, there always seems to be something new—a new fruit, a new ham, or a new way of serving fruit or cooking ham.
But, after all the festivities, have you ever wondered what to do with all the fruits you bought so much of? Have you ever felt bad about having to throw them away because the only ones enjoying them are the fruit flies?
If you answered yes to both questions, the Yonana Machine is the solution to your problem.
What a toy this is. Finally, all the overripe fruits can be put to good use, with the machine instantly turning them to soft-serve ice cream. The ice cream really does have that smooth, silky consistency, especially if you use fleshy, creamy fruits such as bananas and avocados. With mangoes and berries, it comes out more like a sorbet.
The product is 100-percent pure fruit you can mix and match to your heart’s content. Healthy desserts in an instant!
I have tried the machine with mangoes, strawberries mixed with bananas, melons, guyabano, papaya. My favorites are avocado drizzled with condensed milk; bananas with crushed Choc-Nut, tres-oras or salted caramel spooned over them; frozen US pears with crumbled blue cheese and melon with a piece of prosciutto to nibble on!
I’m hoping to use the gadget on durian soon.
The machine is so easy to use. Simply peel your fruit (those that are a bit overripe are the tastiest), then freeze the fruits for 24 hours or at least overnight. Then place them on the chute and push down with the plunger. Under the spout, position a bowl to catch your fruity soft-serve ice cream.
The Yonana machines are available at the Dizon Farms Stall at Market! Market!
Last week, by the way, I received my Christmas Bone-in Fiesta Ham from Purefoods, but to my surprise, it was with a twist: It was spiral sliced! I was told the ham was created this way to ensure that we enjoy as many slices out of it as possible.
Like a child, I was so excited when I saw that it was something new and different. I cooked it the day after to share with my students. This is the recipe we did in class.
Spiral Christmas ham
In a baking dish deep enough to hold the ham, combine: 1 liter of pineapple juice, the juice and shells of 3 oranges (do not throw away the shell of the squeezed orange, combine it with the marinade), 2 tsp salt, 1 tsp ground coriander seeds, ½ tsp cumin, 1 tsp allspice, 1 tsp black pepper, 2 tsp. mixed herbs (combination of thyme, marjoram, rosemary), 2 bay leaves, and 2 tbsp sugar.
Put ham fat side up on the baking pan. The ham doesn’t have to be completely submerged in the liquid.
Bake the ham 30 minutes in pre-heated 350 ºF oven.
Open the oven door and with a ladle, bathe the un-submerged portion of the ham with the juices. After bathing, bake for another 15 minutes.
Remove the ham from the pan and allow to cool to room temperature on a rack. At this time, it will be very tender; since it is pre-sliced, be extra gentle in handling it.
When the ham has cooled, brush the fat side generously with yellow mustard (about ½ c) and after, with about ½ c of orange marmalade.
Pat the ham with light brown sugar and insert a dozen cloves at 2-inch intervals to form diamonds.
Put the ham back in the oven, again at 350 ºF, and bake until the sugar melts to form a crust, about 25-30 minutes.
For sauce, combine the following in a saucepan and bring to a boil: ¾ c sugar, ½ c fresh orange juice, 2 tbsp white-wine vinegar, 1½ salt, 4 c ham juice/stock, 1 tbsp butter, the zest 1 orange, 3-4 tbsp orange liquor (optional); if you don’t have any, you can use Tanduay rum.
Simmer the sauce for 15 minutes and thicken with cornstarch water (1 tbsp cornstarch + 1 tbsp water).
Season to taste with salt, sugar and pepper.
My first Christmas Ham for 2012 was gone faster than I expected; it was devoured in minutes. I find that the spiral variant tastes a lot like the classic Fiesta bone-in ham—smoked, sweet and salty, but only this time, more tender, juicy and tasty. We all loved it.
That it was sliced into a spiral made it more delicious since the slits in the meat absorbed all the flavors. Each piece of ham had hints of the fruits, herbs and spices that we baked it with. Even better, everyone can now carve ham with no fear. No more complaining why one’s piece is thicker than the other, or if there will be enough ham for everyone.
The spiral ham is not just easy to eat, but even easier to serve.
Purefoods Fiesta Spiral Hams are now available in all leading supermarkets in Metro Manila.