This is a good simple ham recipe. Score the ham with a knife. Stick pineapple rings on the ham. Pour a can of beer over the ham. Cover the ham with foil or a lid. Cook in the oven accordingly per instructions on the package. I’d say uncover for the last hour to make it crispy on the outside. It’s good!
I used a 7.8lb pre-cooked ham –which came out to about 3.3 hours at 350 degrees.
I’m happy to have Tio Wally (long-time Me So Hungry reader) aboard to send in his eating adventures from across America. Here he is in Lemoore, California.
Greetings from Lemoore, California
N 35° 18.0434’ W 119° 46.067’ Elev. 233 ft.
This is nuts!
Once again I was directed to a restaurant I would never have found in a million years were it not for a recommendation by a guy in a shipping office. And the place is nuts!
If you can tell me where I can get an 8 oz. T-bone steak, three eggs, home fries, and coffee for, say, five bucks, I’d love to hear about it. I’ll wait.
If you told me such a place existed I’d say either it’s some crappy casino special or the food is inedible garbage or, much more likely, you’re nuts! But such a place exists. It’s called Ethel Reds Chophouse, and the food is great!
Ethel Reds is tucked away in a corner of Lemoore only locals, lodgers at the motels across the street or the lost would visit. And all of their 3-egg breakfasts — Ham, Bacon, Sausage, Chorizo, Linguica, and the aforementioned T-bone — are $5. Five bucks! They also offer five kinds of omelettes.
The rest of their lunch and dinner fare are likewise insanely priced. It’s nuts!
I wasn’t that hungry when I went in for breakfast and was totally blown away when I saw the prices. Although I probably should’ve ordered the T-bone (I’m not that much of a steak guy), I ordered the ham, mostly because the lady who took my order said it was more fun. She was probably nuts.
The ham was a grilled bone-in slice, not too salty, with a nice smoky flavor. The eggs were perfectly cooked and the home fries were big chunks of potatoes with a few bits of onion and green bell pepper mixed in. The toast appeared to be half of a giant biscuit that was toasted on the griddle. All of it was seriously great. It was so much food that I couldn’t finish it all.
Next time I go — there will be a next time! — I’m definitely going to go in hungry and get the T-bone. I saw one on a guy’s plate as I was leaving — he couldn’t finish it — and it looked absolutely mouth-wateringly delicious. In fact, I think I’ll go in extra hungry and get an order of homemade onion rings ($1.59), too. What the hell? At these prices ….
Ethel Reds is a really casual place. And the way they take the breakfast and lunch orders is kind of cool, and very smart: You order at a counter and pay when you first walk in, grab your silverware and then go find a seat. When your order is ready the server brings it out, calls your number and you flag them down. It’s a highly efficient system that eliminates the need for menus, extra trips for the servers, and the opportunity for people to dine-and-dash during busy/hectic times.
As I was about to leave, while taking pictures of the menu board, a guy struck up a conversation with me. When he learned what I did for a living he said something that I’d never, ever heard anyone say before: “Thank you for delivering to us.†I was so dumbstruck that I didn’t know what to say. I was truly touched and impressed by this because here was a guy who truly “gets it.†He understood that there is very little anyone eats, drinks or owns that a bunch of schmucks like yours truly didn’t deliver. Like they say, “If you bought it, a truck brought it.†That’s why I’d like to now say to that guy, “You’re very welcome.â€
I’ve picked up 44,319.4 lbs. loads of Pizza Hut cheese many times in Lemoore. It kind of bums me out that after all these years I’ve only now learned of Ethel Reds. Previously I was always kind of bummed out by the scarcity of decent food available to me in this gleaming San Joaquin Valley megalopolis. But no more!
I later thanked the guy who recommended Ethel Reds. When I remarked about the prices — “They’re nuts!†— he told me that the reason behind them is pure vengeance.
Years ago, he said, the owner of Ethel Reds did some remodeling without the proper permits and was turned in by the owner of the restaurant across the street. In retribution, Ethel Reds started offering all this great food at these insanely low prices.
Judging by the pronounced paucity of patrons across the street the revenge pricing appears to be working like a charm. There was indeed a discernible dearth of diners there; at first I thought it was closed. Perhaps being a restaurateur and a wannabe Code Enforcement Officer isn’t really a good mix business-wise. In fact, you might say “It’s nuts!â€
And so we roll.
Ethel Reds Chophouse, 850 East D St., Lemoore, California
Tio Wally pilots the 75-foot, 40-ton(max) land yacht SS Me So Hungry. He reports on road food from around the country whenever parking and InterTube connections permit.
I went out to get some dinner at Pho Bang. I got the #1 Pho (Tai Nam Gau Gan Sach – combination rice noodle beef soup with fresh eye of round, brisket, tendon and omosa) $6.50 regular size. To me regular size is big. I saw the big size at the table next to me. Geez.
Really good Pho. Hit the spot. I threw in bean sprouts, mint leaves and lime wedges, hoisen and cock sauce. Great meal.
Then Todd came and met up with me there when I was finishing up. He was curious about the sign that said “Vietnamese Hams Are Not For Resale!!!” They must be freakin’ good if people are buying them to resell them. Todd bought a $5 small one. It was rolled up in a banana leaf. We tried it out on Sunday football. It was spongy like fish balls. Tasted like mushed up pork, but not really flavorful. We will not be trying to resell them.
Pho Bang – 157 Mott St (btwn Broome & Grand St) New York, NY 10013
Rusty and I walked down to C-Town grocery to get our Thanksgiving meat. We passed by our neighbor and he asked what we were up to. We told him we were getting a ham. He said to try cooking it with Coke.
It worked. We poured the Coke on, basted it as it cooked down a bit and just poured more on. It took away the pig meat smell and made it really tender. Really good.
Here’s a recipe from Coca-Cola for their Ham recipe.
http://www.coca-colacompany.com/stories/recipes-coca-cola-ham
…we didn’t use the brown sugar or the pineapple though.
Also here’s a video from Coke…
I’m happy to have Tio Wally (long-time Me So Hungry reader) aboard to send in his eating adventures from across America. Here he is in Ozark, Missouri.
Greetings from Ozark, Missouri
N 37° 04.164′  W 093° 13.409′  Elev. 1271 ft.
Be forewarned: If you’re sitting in Lambert’s Cafe no one will yell “Incoming!” or “Heads Up!” You simply have to pay attention because some people just can’t catch very well and you may well end up having a piping hot, oven fresh dinner roll carom off the side of your head. You can expect that sort of thing here. After all, Lambert’s is the “Home of the Throwed Rolls.”
The first Lambert’s Cafe was established in 1942 by Earl and Agnes Lambert in Sikeston, Missouri. According to their hand-out, they began throwing rolls to folks on May 26, 1976 when, during an extremely busy lunch hour, a roll-jonesing customer yelled “Just throw the damn thing!” They did. And to the delight of children and adults alike a tradition was born. And they’re great rolls.
A guy rolls a cart through the restaurant laden with trays of fresh made rolls and throws them, often across the room, hopefully into the waiting hands of customers. There are many misses, but he’s got more rolls. (He has the best job in the restaurant if you ask me.) Following close behind the roll-pitching Muffin Man is another person with sorghum, which they’ll happily drizzle on your hot roll.
Lambert’s is truly a quirky, somewhat wacky place with large open dining rooms of wooden booths and some of the busiest interior decorating known to man. And the service is unique as well. After your server takes your order people wander around with “Norm’s Pass Arounds,” the aforementioned hot rolls and sorghum, sides of fried okra, fried potatoes and onion, black-eyed peas, and really great macaroni and tomatoes.
Moreover, you can get as much as you want of anything: entrees, pass arounds, rolls, etc. But if you get seconds on your entree you can’t get a to-go box. There’s actually a sign to that effect reading “Please, No Doggie Bags, Extra Plates or Sharing Plates!” in the entryway. But how anyone could order seconds is beyond me as the portions are so generous to begin with.
For entrees my Gang of Four ordered Shrimp ($15.99), huge shrimp deep-fried golden brown; Pork Chops ($13.99), which you can get grilled, smoked or deep-fried; and Golden Fried Chicken ($12.49). Because he ordered all white meat ($1 extra) the plate came with two giant breasts, of which he could only finish one. I ordered the XXL – Center Cut Ham ($14.99). The sugar-cured ham was definitely XXL, nearly covering the giant skillet it was served in. All the food was great.
Every entree comes with two sides, of which they have 18 choices. One of them, however, a Pineapple Walnut Salad, costs $1.99 extra. It sure is good though, and it’s a big bowl worth the extra couple of bucks.
At first glance at the menu, Lambert’s may seem sort of pricey but it’s more than made up for in gargantuan portions, and the rolling Roll Show. And, like I said, you can get a to-go box if you don’t order seconds. In fact, plan on having at least two meals from whatever you order.
There is also some true weirdness to be found on the menu as well, like “Somethin’ Southern. Â All the white beans a body can eat with your choice of ham or fried bologna and 2 vegetables served with a King Edwards cigar or Big Red chewing gum.” It’s only $8.99. Those same white beans minus the meat are also one of the vegetable choices by the way. But why a mess of white beans comes with a cigar or chewing gum is anyone’s guess.
If you visit Lambert’s you can plan on waiting to get in, sometimes up to a good hour or more. We showed up about 10 a.m. for the 10:30 opening and there was already a line. Thankfully, it’s a fairly big place and we were seated immediately as soon as it opened. When we left, however, it was another story altogether, with a line out the door. A lot of this is a combination of its proximity to Branson  — it’s located right off US65, the road to (as Bart Simpson accurately described it) “Las Vegas as envisioned by Ned Flanders” — thus a must-stop for passing tour buses, and because the locals eat here as well.
Another weird quirk about Lambert’s is that they don’t take credit cards, which baffles me to no end. They only take cash or personal checks. As luck would have it, though, there is an ATM inconveniently located in the entryway (which they own, no doubt). Why it isn’t next to the cashier just adds to the bafflement. The rhyme and reason of some things seems to be on permanent holiday at Lambert’s.
Lambert’s Cafe is an extremely fun dining experience that more than lives up to its motto: “Come hungry, leave full, and hopefully have a laugh or two.”
And so we … roll.
Lambert’s Cafe, restaurants in Sikeston and Ozark, Missouri and Foley, Alabama
Tio Wally pilots the 75-foot, 40-ton(max) land yacht SS Me So Hungry. He reports on road food from around the country whenever parking and InterTube connections permit.