Pineapple Ham

So what do you do after the holidays and you're left with more ham than you can stomach eating for dinner?

Don't throw it. Think of the hungry children of Somalia! At least that's what my parents used to say. But really, it's good food and yes, the taste could get a bit tiring, right?

In the Philippines, I just love having Pineapple Ham for Christmas or New Year. The one that I got from the store here was Brown Sugar Glazed. I find it too salty and made me miss what I grew up with. I was going to prepare the whole thing with pineapple for New Year but I just didn't have time. To make up for it, I did that to the leftovers instead. I used crushed pineapple for the hint of pineapple without the big chunks of flavor from the usual sliced pineapple, ala Hawaiian style, although you can certainly use whatever pineapple you prefer or have available.

I just put olive oil and 1/4 cup of pineapple in the pan in medium heat:

Added 1 tablespoon of brown sugar:

Heat for a couple of minutes until the sugar starts to dissolve:

Then add ham slices either one big slice at a time:

Or if you have the 'scraps' of ham near the bone, you can put them all in the pan....nothing glamorous about it:

And enjoy your juicy, tasty, "revived" ham:

It's special the second time around. :) It's so yummy eating with plain or fried rice!

Here are other things you can do with leftover ham:

• cut/diced to flavor chow mein


• fried to flavor veggies such as green beans


• diced to flavor soups


• cut in strips to wrap cubes of cheese for appetizer


• sandwiches, of course


• shredded to use as a topping for congee

What do you do with your leftover meats from the holidays?

Back to reality for most of us this week...I hope 2009 is going great so far for all of you!