Bristol!

Today’s race is at one of many fans’ favorite track – Bristol! It is a short track with lots of bumping and wrecking! It’s definitely a great one to watch if you’re not necessarily a fan because of all of the action. Bristol is a small city in TN, and doesn’t have a specific dish, so I researched some traditional Tennessee fare.
As a result of the American Revolution, Tennessee is known as the “Hogs and Hominy” state. The hominy was prevalent, as was ham. Hominy is corn without the germ. It can be found whole or ground, often used to make grits. After researching hominy, I found that it was often served for breakfast with maple syrup, used in a stew called posole, or formed into cakes and browned. I decided to bake it with a little rosemary and parmesan, like I would make a potatoes or rice.
For the “hogs” part of the meal, I bought a quarter ham sliced for tonight’s meal, and one later in the night. I found a recipe that I thought would be interesting, Cola-Baked Ham with Cherry Orange Glaze. It’s an Emeril recipe found here. Obviously, I didn’t make a whole ham. I arranged the slices in a baking dish, cooked it with the cola, and then glazed it every 10 minutes for an hour.
I didn’t find any specific vegetables mentioned for Tennessee, so I went with steamed broccoli.

Cola-Baked Ham with Cherry Orange Glaze, Parmesan Baked Hominy, Steamed Broccoli

Cola-Baked Ham with Cherry Orange Glaze:
1 (12 to 15-pound) fully cooked bone-in ham

1 teaspoon ground allspice

1 (2-liter) bottle cola

3/4 cup cherry preserves or jelly

1/4 cup fresh orange juice

2 tablespoons orange flavored liqueur (recommended: Grand Marnier)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
Trim rind and excess fat from the ham, leaving a 1/4-inch thick layer of fat. With a sharp knife, score the fat in a diamond pattern. Place the ham in large roasting pan and sprinkle with the allspice. Pour the cola into the pan and bake uncovered 1 hour and 15 minutes, basting every 15 minutes with the pan juices.
Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, combine the cherry preserves, orange juice, and liqueur over medium heat and cook, stirring, until melted, 1 to 2 minutes.
Remove the ham from the oven and brush the top and sides with the cherry glaze. Return the ham to the oven and bake, brushing with pan juices and glaze every 15 minutes and tenting the ham with foil if browning too quickly, until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of ham without touching the bone registers 140 degrees F, about 15 to 30 minutes.
Remove the ham from oven and let rest for 30 minutes to 1 hour before slicing.

Parmesan Baked Hominy:

1 2 oz. can hominy

1/2 cup fat free half and half

1/4 cup parmesan cheese

1/2 tsp. fresh rosemary

salt and pepper

Mix all ingredients in a casserole dish, bake for 45 minutes at 325 degrees, until bubbly.