How to Make a Multi-Ingredient Easter Dinner

Easter is Sunday itself, and like most other days, you will probably want to eat on that day. You might even want this food to be a little special, and it really is. In these chaotic but surprisingly bleak times, a little special is required, and that feature could just as well take the form of a ham or lamb dish.

Grocery shopping, however, has become a business fraught with physical dangers and ethical flaws, so a menu that can be composed of as few ingredients as possible is key. Here are some of my favorite simple yet special foods that will make Easter a little more normal.

Start with canned croquettes

If you have a jar of salmon, egg, onions, or shallots, you can make salmon croquettes – an appetizer that for the most part is outside of its class. You can fry them in just about any oil, but they’re especially great when cooked with leftover bacon fat, and they’ll really sing in the fancy oil from the fancy can of canned fish . Croquettes should ideally be topped with a spoonful of crème fraîche and a little garlic, but sour cream or a simple (two-pack) aioli would obviously be fine, as would a small portion of green onions on a windowsill . (If you have mayonnaise, some cultured cream, and a little vermouth or wine, canned salmon makes a very good salat too .)

Use stale bread to your advantage

Sure, there is a time and place for complex, multi-ingredient salads, but the time hasn’t come yet. (Design salads? In this economy?) Luckily, you can make any pile of leaves pretty darn pretty with the right salad dressing and handfuls of toasted buttery bread crumbs. (Recipes for this can be found here .) Crumbs can be made from any crumbly bread – even dull heels of white sandwich bread – and turned into something sexy without using anything but butter that has been cooking for a while. If you don’t have fresh herbs for dressing, dried herbs will do, just use about a third of the indicated amount. As for the leaves, you can choose your own adventure here, but I’m a big fan of radicchio; its bitter, cleansing properties are especially welcome in a hearty holiday meal.

Devil a few eggs

I mean, obviously you need some boiled eggs . They are themed, delicious, and can be made with what you already have (eggs, mayonnaise, mustard). You can also “elevate” them with the stuff that is lying around in your fridge. Have beets? Brine eggs with these beets for bright, festive eggs. (Just toss the peeled and quartered beets in the brine while hot and then marinate as usual.) Got some bacon? Cut it into small lard and sprinkle with it. Do you have green onions on your windowsill? (I know it is! Everybody knows!) You know what to do. The French fried onion leftover from Thanksgiving also works as a filling, for your information.

Cook ham or lamb (with jam)

Fortunately, spiral ham is very easy to make. Just look at this . Make a pepper jelly or Coca-Cola frosting (whichever you prefer), brush it over, and start (eating). If you don’t have an immersion circulator, don’t worry; there are tons of other ways to keep the beast warm.

If you like lamb better, you’re in luck, because so am I. You can marinate the chops in the lab and pan- fry them, or cut the necks or drumsticks (possibly with fresh grapes ). , then brush them with plain jam and mustard frosting . Heck, you can even make mutton in two ways; chops and necks sounds pretty decadent, albeit a little creepy.

Simplify the legs

I don’t know who needs to hear this, but you don’t need cheese to make a potato casserole – you just need potatoes (yes), cream and salt. Cut the tubers into thin slices, lay them in layers with the other two ingredients, and bake in the oven at 375 degrees until the cream turns brown and bubbles violently. That’s all. Ready.

If you find cream heavy – or you just don’t have it – you can swap out the cream for ghee and make a visually stunning Anna Pomme ( this video will show you how).

Raid the bar cart

I just know you have one or two dusty bottles of amaro that you never drink, and now is the time to drink them. You can turn them into a full-fledged cocktail with added vodka, or add soda and citrus fruits for your small do-it-yourself amaro bar. If none of this sounds appealing, just have some wine.

Set fire to candy

Easter candy is the best seasonal candy, and it would be foolish not to take advantage of this fact. Take a few bags of Peeps, Reese’s eggs, Cadbury eggs, and any eye-catching gummies or bunny-shaped gummies and serve them in a mountain-shaped platter. If you want to set something on fire – who is not doing it right now? – brulee, one of those Cadbury guys . A charred Easter egg not only tastes ominous, it tastes delicious too.