Ham - a Lot!

We are finally finishing up the last of the second ham.

As I didn't wish to bore you this time around

with a blow by blow description of every ham dish,

I thought I would just do a round up of the different

ham dishes that I made this time.

Besides ham sandwiches and ham salad - a lot of it,

I made a few different dishes using ham.

 One evening for dinner

I made a frittata with some of the ham.

 Since I've done this before,

I'll skip the steps this time.

You can check the steps out here.

 Pair this with a salad and this is a nice dinner.

 Another evening I decided to make ham two ways.

I made the standard Harvest Potato recipe,

but I added some ham to the mix.

Then I sliced some of the ham,

added some canned pineapple,

and mixed the syrup with an equal amount of 

brown sugar.

After pouring the mixture over the ham,

I covered the baking dish with foil

and put this in the oven with the potatoes

for the last half hour.

The remaining ham was trimmed of all the fat

and skin and then chopped and made into

ham salad.

As the ham was rather salty,

I added a bit of sugar to the ham salad

to counteract the saltiness.

Only three cups of ham salad left

and then we can finally say good bye to this ham!

 

The Annual Eight Days of Ham - Part Deux

My dear husband received two hams this holiday season

and we've already been through one round of Hamness.

I got tired of the second ham taking up valuable real estate

in my freezer

so it was time to soldier through round two.

 This is a 14 to 16 pound bone-in fully cooked, smoked ham.

 I decided to cook the ham.

The company's directions suggest 10 minutes for every pound

at 335 degrees.

This came out to just under 3 hours of cooking time.

I scored the skin in a diamond pattern. 

I also poured water in the bottom of the roasting pan.

Then I poured a mixture of water, honey, brown sugar

and spice mixture (from the first ham) over the ham.

 After about 2 1/2 hours the ham is heated through.

By the way, for a roaster and ham this size,
I have to take a rack out of my small Jenn Air oven.

Le sigh.
Sometimes I feel like I am trying to cook in a child's play kitchen.

The ham is sliced and ready for plating.

Moist and tender.

And after cutting the remaining meat off the bone,

we have only 8 pounds, 6 7/8 ounces of ham left.

That is a lot of ham.

The Eight Days of Ham

- The Wrap-Up?

This year it seemed as if the Eight Days of Ham

would never end.

Perhaps that is because after eleven days

we still have ham left?

Yeah, that could be it.

 I was left alone on New Year's Eve,

so I had a ham loaf sandwich

on the Seventh Day of Ham.

(We had ham sandwiches for lunch

and we went out to eat for dinner

on the Sixth Day of Ham.)

 On the Eighth Day of Ham

I stuffed some ham in boneless pork loin chops.

 First I cut slits in the pork loin chops

and then placed a bit of the ham and some

honey mustard in the slit.

 Then the pork loin chops were seasoned with 

kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper.

These were sauteed in a bit of olive oil 

over medium high heat until the internal temperature

reaches 140 degrees.

Remove from the heat and cover with foil.

Allow to rest and to bring the temperature 

up 5 to 10 degrees.

If desired, deglaze the pan with a bit

of white wine or sherry.

Pour over the pork loin chops.

Moist and tender and perfectly cooked.

Served with coleslaw and this is my take

on the traditional German good luck

New Year's meal.

I was asked to make ham salad

with the remaining ham.

And so I did.

By this time I was so tired of ham

that I neglected to take pictures.

But by now you know

what the ham salad looks like.

We still have ham salad left.

Hopefully, someone else

with eat that ham salad for me.

The Eight Days of Ham

Day Five

On the Fifth Day of Hamness

we had Amish Ham Loaf.

And this time we have perfected the recipe.

It has only taken us four years.

Of course, given that we only make ham loaf

once a year, 

one could argue that we have a fast learning curve.

Or one could argue that we like to refer to ourselves

in the Royal We.

Yes, We do.

You may now bow down in our presence.

Yes, we like that.

 The ingredients for the new and IMPROVED! Amish Ham Loaf:

Loaf:

•         1 pound fresh ground pork
•         1 pound ground ham
•          ½ cup bread crumbs
•          ½ cup Graham crackers, crushed
•          2 eggs
•         1 tablespoon brown sugar
•         1 tablespoon onion, minced
•          1 teaspoon honey mustard
•         1 teaspoon salt
•          1/8 teaspoon pepper
•          ¾ cup heavy cream

Sauce:

•       2/3 cup brown sugar
•         1 teaspoon dry mustard
•          2 tablespoons apple jelly
•         2 tablespoons honey
•          ½ cup water
•          ¼ cup cider vinegar

Trim the skin, fat and connective tissue from the ham.  Pulverize in a food processor before adding to the ground pork and the remaining ham loaf ingredients.  Mix well.  Turn out into a baking dish, patting into a 2" deep shaped loaf.

Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour 15 minutes before proceeding with the next step. (Total bake time is 2 hours.)

Meanwhile, mix together the sauce ingredients. Pour over the ham loaf when there is one hour left to go.

In the last half hour, cover the ham loaf with foil, to prevent excess burning.

 The ham loaf is out of the oven and ready to be served.

And what do you know?  

After four years, we finally have the recipe right.  Good for us.

We are so proud of ourselves. 

We would like to thank the little people...

The Eight Days of Ham

Day Four

On the Fourth Day of Ham

we had more ham salad

and Chunky Potato Soup.

The ingredients for the chunky potato soup are:

2 slices bacon

¼ cup onion, diced

2 tablespoons flour

2 cups turkey stock

2 cups mashed potatoes

Dash hot sauce

½ teaspoon dry thyme

¼ teaspoon Old Bay Seasoning

Salt and Pepper to taste

3 medium potatoes

½ cup Half-and-Half

Cheddar cheese, grated, for garnish

Fresh chives, chopped, for garnish

Peel the potatoes and cut them into cubes, about 1 centimeter in size.  Place in a microwave-safe dish and add a splash of water before covering and microwaving on high for about 5 minutes.

Dice the bacon and sauté over medium-high heat in a large pot.  Remove the cooked bacon and set aside to drain on a paper towel.  

Leave about two tablespoons of the bacon grease in the pot and sauté the diced onion over medium heat until softened.  Add the flour to the pot and stir while cooking.

Add the turkey stock to the mix. Stir well.

Next, add the mashed potatoes, hot sauce, dry thyme, Old Bay Seasoning, and salt and pepper to taste.

Then add the cooked, diced potatoes to the pot and pour in Half-and-Half.  Allow soup to slowly cook over low heat for about 30 minutes.

Garnish the soup with some grated sharp cheddar cheese, crisp bacon and chopped green onion if desired.

At this point I was too busy trying to multi-task to take pictures, as I had to make the mashed potatoes from scratch while I was working on the rest of the ingredients for the soup. At any rate, the soup was finished and the peasants danced for joy.

 Garnish with grated cheddar, chopped chives

and the cooked, diced bacon.

Pair with a ham salad sandwich

and this is a hearty meal for a cold

winter's evening.

The Eight Days of Ham

On the third day of ha-am, my true love gave to me,

a lovely ha-am salad.

Thank you. 

I won't quit my day job.

And no it doesn't pay anything.

Thanks for asking.

Now I'm depressed.

Happy now?

Into a container, mix:

4 cups minced ham

1/4 cup diced onion

1 rib celery, diced

4 tablespoons pickle relish

1 teaspoon honey mustard

4 tablespoons mayonnaise

2 teaspoons sugar

Mix well and adjust seasonings o taste.

Ham salad sandwich with Grippo's Bar-B-Q potato chips.

I'm a happy girl.  

Even if I do have to order the chips on line.