Such a ham
Hello, Fridge Magnet faithful, this is Nona Nelson, the pet blogger, filling in for Lindsey, the food blogger, while she takes a much-needed break from a frantic work schedule.
As Lindsey promised last week, there will indeed be a few cookbook giveaways this week, because if there is one thing I love almost as much as cooking, it’s cookbooks. And sharing. I love sharing cookbooks with other people that love cooking.
Today’s cookbook offering honors the noble swine, the animal that graciously gives us the second most wonderful food on earth, bacon. (In my emotional little world, chocolate will always be number one.)
But this cookbook is not not filled with recipes using bacon, because we all know that almost every recipe is improved when bacon is entered in the ingredient list.
This book honors the OTHER pork meat: Ham.
“Ham: An Obsession with the Hindquarter” by Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarborough includes more than 100 recipes from around the world that puts an interesting spin on the star of many holiday dinner tables and cold meat sandwiches.
This volume covers four types of ham: fresh, dry-cured in the old-school way, modern dry-cured and, finally, wet-cured.
Something for every lover of all things hammy.
To be eligible, post a comment with your favorite way to serve ham. The winner will be chosen from a random drawing of all the tasty pork recipes submitted.
October 11, 2010 - 11:25 AM
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I would love to have this book, because I LOVE ham! I have served one for Christmas Eve dinner for the past few years, and make split pea soup on Christmas morning with leftover ham, just so I can share it with my sister in law’s dad. His wife hates it, and he loves it. I give him enough to freeze some of it, and it makes me happy to make someone else so happy.
I love to make fried rice and Cajun dishes with ham also.
Well, I won’t have a shot since we don’t cook or eat pork. So good luck to those who do!
Ham spaghetti (made with GF pasta, of course, OJ)!!
This would be for my mother. She loves ham and not so much a fan of turkey….why you would ask: her granny lived on a farm. My mother was coming out of a hen house the same time the hen was which tripped her up! Feathers flying, hen squaking, etc. She has been terrified of birds so much that she doesn’t eat turkey or chicken…karma will come back to get you! We always have to fix her a ham during the holidays. This year, my family is coming here and this would be a perfect way for me to learn how to cook that wonderful ham
WHich GF pasta do you use? We’re partial to Deboles rice pasta, we like it a lot. But we also have used a couple other brands like Heartland (corn & rice), and Ancient Harvest (I think) quinoa pasta.
I place a ham in a roaster and pour in enough apple cider to reach about 1″ up from the bottom. Then it goes into a 350F oven. While it’s roasting I baste it regularly with the juices from the pan. About an hour before it’s done I pull it out and add mixed dried fruit (apples, pears, plums, apricots, cranberries, figs)around it and add a little more cider if needed to plump up the fruit. A few minutes before it’s done I glaze the ham with boiled apple cider syrup if I have any, or maple syrup. When it’s done I put the ham on a platter to rest, surround it with the now plumped dried fruit. While it’s resting I add a little cider vinegar to the pan, a little calvados, some more apple cider if more liquid is needed and bring it to a simmer allowing it to reduce by about a third. The resulting pan sauce gets passed with the ham.
Growing up in W.Va. in the 50′s, we always butchered a hog every year. Dad built a smoke house and we salt cured bacon and hams. When we moved to Wis. I was 16. One year someone sent us a saltcured ham and I took it to a local butcher to slice it for us.He said “boy that thing is rotten I’m not cutting that in my shop”. So I need new way to fix hams.
I love Dr. Pepper ham! I am not sure of the recipe, because my Uncle Tim always makes it.
I love ham! My favorite is smoking a ham all day in my backyard smoker. Crosscut and smear with dijon mustard, use green apple & hickory branches, and keep a bowl of apple cider in the smoker to add to the succulence.
YUM.
Sliced ham (big thick ones) with scalloped potatoes… Ham and eggs… But the best is ham with swiss cheese fondue. Put a bite on the fondue fork with the bread, then dip. The tradition in our family is that if you lose you bread into the fondue, you have to kiss the person beside you. If you’re sitting by your sweetie, you always ‘accidentally’ lose your bread… Just sayin’.
Ham is one of my families favorite meats! We love pig of any kind really. Ham with green beans and mashed potatoes is a holiday special! Of course the left over goes on sandwhiches then ham salad and the bone for a good bean soup!
ham (salt cured) on homemade biscuits with mustard
I like to place the large ham on a sharpened stick and wave it under the noses of those who will not be getting any, while I take bites out of it.
I like to slow roast a whole smoked ham on my gas grill. 225F for 8 hours. Served with orange/cranberry stuffed pears.
Having been a vegetarian for several years, I do not cook ham. But I do have a favorite memory involving ham. I got married at 21 and did not really know how to cook (and served the burnt meals to prove it). One of my big finds was casseroles and one dish dinners I could manage. One of them was a ham, potatoes and cheese dish that my dad just loved. (When I had a success I ran a dish home for dad to try). My dad drowned in SML when I was 23 and the devastation remains to this day. I will always remember how supportive and complimentary he was of that damnable casserole (which was probably only middling) and he made me feel so good.
BTW, after years of eating those “burnt offerings” without complaint and casserole after casserole with due diligence. My hubby admitted to friends one night that he never really liked casseroles!
Maybe honesty really is the best policy!
Ham salad! Adding a little mustard and brown sugar in with the mayo and relish makes it yummy!
Ham slow-cooked in Coke is the best!
WE HAVE A WINNER!
By random draw, Cameron gets the hammy handbook.
Thanks everyone for posting a comment. We will have another giveaway (and a recipe) tomorrow.
@Jen: My mom used to make her ham glaze with Coke and it was to-die for.
@Michelle: As much as I love the Coke glaze, I love the idea of Dr. Pepper, too and may have to try that next time. I think the cherry flavor would be awesome.
Congrats Cameron, enjoy!
I love country (salt cured) ham, just cut a huge slab of it and fry it on the stove top! Serve w/ fried eggs, home fries made from cubed, baked potatoes and fried w/ onions. Add some grits and toasted, buttered bread and it’s a delicious meal that can be served anytime!