It’s Recipe Tuesday!
Mr. Ed’s Boiled Dinner is quite possibly the easiest dish to make this side of a microwave pot pie (not that there’s anything wrong with a microwave pot pie). Inexpensive, too!
It’s also a recipe that you can vary wildly depending on what’s in your herb garden or spice cupboard. Yesterday– Marica Cooks Monday– I added three bay leaves and omitted the peppercorns and parsley entirely. If you want to hurry things along, add the potatoes at the start with the ham, boil until potatoes are done and then add the beans and return to a boil. Done & done in less than 45 minutes or so.

MR. ED’S BOILED DINNER
Ingredients
- water
- 1 medium yellow onion quartered
- 1-2 Tbsp whole peppercorns
- a lot of parsley separated into two lots only one of which is chopped
- small fully cooked ham or turkey ham [see picture]
- potatoes peeled and halved or quartered
- green beans can use fresh, frozen or canned
- butter
- salt to taste
Instructions
- In a large stock pot cover ham with water, add onion, whole sprigs of parsley, and a generous portion of peppercorns. Cover, bring to boil, reduce heat to very low, and simmer at least an hour. Add potatoes, return to boil and then turn back down. When potatoes are nearly done, return to boil, add green beans and simmer.
- Before serving, remove ham, potatoes and beans to platter. (Leave behind onion and spent parsley sprigs.) Dot potatoes with butter and sprinkle with parsley. Salt all to taste.