By December 2024. Winter in Memphis, 66 years old, and the cold has settled into the house on Deadrick Avenue the way cold settles into old bones — persistently, without malice, just the physics of aging and December. Rosetta has the thermostat set at 74, our eternal compromise, and I cook warming things: stews and soups and slow-braised meats that fill the house with steam and flavor.
Marcus and Angela in Whitehaven, building their family, their house full of the sounds I remember from our own early years — a baby's laugh, a spouse's voice, the daily music of people learning to live together. Naomi growing with the speed of childhood, each visit revealing a new word, a new capability, a new expression that catches my breath because it echoes someone I lost.
I made smoked chicken this week — a simple cook that belies its depth. Rubbed with salt, pepper, garlic, and paprika, smoked at 275 over hickory for three hours. The skin was mahogany, the meat juicy, and the first bite carried the kind of flavor that makes you close your eyes, which is the highest compliment food can earn: the involuntary closing of the eyes, the body's admission that what it's tasting is too good to see.
Another week in the book. Another seven days of tending fires — the one in the smoker, the one in the marriage, the one in the family, the one in the church. Each fire needs something different: wood, attention, food, faith. But the tending is the same for all of them: show up, add what's needed, wait patiently, trust the process. Low and slow. Always. Low and slow.
I cooked the smoked chicken that week, but it was the next night — when Rosetta and I sat down to something creamy and warm and unhurried — that I felt the week truly settle. Ham a la King is the kind of dish that doesn’t ask anything of you except patience: you stir slowly, you watch the sauce come together, and somewhere between the butter and the cream you remember that most good things in life work exactly the same way. Low and slow. Always.
Ham a la King with Peas
Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 25 minutes | Total Time: 35 minutes | Servings: 4
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup yellow onion, finely diced
- 1/2 cup green bell pepper, diced
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 cups whole milk
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 2 cups cooked ham, cubed (about 3/4 inch)
- 1 cup frozen peas, thawed
- 1/4 cup pimientos, drained and chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- Salt to taste
- Toast points, biscuits, or egg noodles, for serving
Instructions
- Sauté the vegetables. Melt butter in a large skillet or saucepan over medium heat. Add the diced onion and bell pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened — about 5 to 6 minutes. Don’t rush this; let them go gentle.
- Build the roux. Sprinkle the flour over the softened vegetables and stir constantly for 1 to 2 minutes, until the raw flour smell cooks off and the mixture turns a pale gold.
- Add the liquids. Slowly pour in the chicken broth while stirring, then add the milk in a steady stream. Keep stirring to prevent lumps. Raise the heat slightly and continue stirring until the sauce thickens and begins to bubble gently, about 6 to 8 minutes.
- Add the ham and peas. Stir in the cubed ham, thawed peas, and pimientos. Season with garlic powder, black pepper, and salt to taste. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 5 minutes, letting everything come together.
- Serve warm. Ladle over toast points, warm biscuits, or egg noodles. Serve immediately while the sauce is still glossy and the steam is still rising.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 340 | Protein: 22g | Fat: 16g | Carbs: 24g | Fiber: 3g | Sodium: 980mg