Pineapple - Graham Ham Loaf

There's another  delicious, more traditional ham  loaf  recipe elsewhere on this blog, but this subtly sweet  loaf  is my own  version.  If your store doesn't have  the meat mixture  readily  available in the meat case, they will grind a mixture for  you with some advance notice.     It's also  easy to make it yourself if you have a grinder or  food processor.  I can always find ground pork, it's the ground ham that's elusive. If necessary, buy a  hunk of  cooked ham  and grind  it  using the food processor or Ninja.

Ask your butcher for 2 lbs of  ham loaf mixture ( ask to be sure theirs doesn't include beef)  or combine 1 lb ground ham and 1 lb ground pork  together well, using your hands.   Add 2 eggs, a cup of  drained crushed  pineapple, a cup of  graham cracker crumbs,  1/2 c diced onion, 1/4 c. brown sugar or brown sugar substitute , 1 tsp. salt, 1 tsp   pepper, 1 tsp garlic powder, 1/4 c. chopped parsley.   Form into a loaf  or  about 6 small loaves and place them in a  lightly greased or sprayed  baking pan.    Bake in a preheated 350 oven, about 45  minutes for the small loaves, or 60-75 minutes for the  whole loaf.   The  individual loaves bake faster.

  If you're  so  inclined, use the rest of the can of pineapple to make a sauce by heating it, adding a little cornstarch  and cooking til thickened... but  even if you add a little dry mustard  to the sauce to offset it, I think the sweetness level  is just right without the sauce, especially if you top the loaf   with pineapple slices sprinkled with brown sugar before baking. 

Leftover ham loaf makes terrific sandwiches, crumbles nicely into omelets, and is good sliced and fried with eggs for breakfast.