Buried Ham Recipes

Steps:

• Bring salted water to the boil and gently add the macaroni. Cook until tender, that is about 10 to 15 minutes. Strain and while still in the sieve pass quickly under cold running water.
• Chop the ham into small pieces, then put with the macaroni in a casserole. Season with salt and pepper.
• Beat the eggs and the cream together and pour over the macaroni. Sprinkle with cheese, and bake in a 350F oven until the sauce has cooked and become a light brown.

Steps:

• To brine the pork:
• Combine all of the ingredients in a large container. Submerse the ham in the brine and let it hang out for 3 days in the refrigerator. (It's a plan-ahead but soooooooooooooo worth it!)
• To cook the pork:
• Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
• Remove the ham from the brine, pat dry and make slices in the skin to create a diagonal cross-hatch pattern.
• To make the paste:
• In a food processor, combine the rosemary, garlic, crushed red pepper, salt, to taste, and about 1/2 cup of olive oil. Massage this mixture generously all over the outside of the ham.
• Put the potatoes in a roasting pan large enough to accommodate this whole shootin' match. Toss the potatoes generously with some olive oil and salt. Nestle the ham on top of the potatoes and toss the whole thing in the preheated oven. Check the pork in about 30 minutes, the skin should be getting brown and crispy. At this point, remove the ham from the oven and turn over, baste with any leftover rosemary/olive oil paste and rearrange the potatoes so they don't burn. Nestle the pork back onto the potatoes and return to the oven. Roast for another 30 minutes.
• Remove the ham from the oven after the first hour. Check the potatoes to see if they are getting a little crispy, rearrange them and add the chicken stock to the bottom of the pan to keep things really moist and juicy. Reduce the heat in the oven to 350 degrees F and roast for another hour.
• To make the glaze:
• While the ham is cooking, combine the Dijon mustard, whole-grain mustard and honey in a small bowl. Remove the ham from the oven and brush it, generously, with the honey mustard mixture. Return the ham to the oven and roast it for about 30 minutes. Flip it over and brush again with the honey mustard mixture (really slather it on the pork). Roast until it reaches an internal temperature of 150 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer.
• Remove the ham from the oven, to a cutting board, tent it with aluminum foil and let it rest for at least 20 to 30 minutes before slicing.
• Carve that baby and arrange the slices on a serving platter. Transfer the potatoes to a serving bowl and serve with the ham
• Go to town on that bad boy!!!!

Steps:

• The night before the gammon is to be cooked place it in a bowl of cold water and allow to soak.
• This removes some of the salt and tenderises it a little bit.
• Place in a large cooking pot, (make sure you have a lid for it), cover with cold water, add the onions and bouquet garni and bring to the boil.
• Turn the heat right down so the water is barely bubbling and put on the lid.
• Cook for 20 minutes per pound of meat.
• Once the cooking time is up leave the meat in the liquour until cooled.
• This stops it tensing up, and drying out, and makes it lovely and tender.

Steps:

• Dissolve chicken cubes in 1 cup of boiling water.
• Add gelatin.
• Soak rice cereal in the 1/2 cup of hot water.
• Put Ham, rice cereal/Water, Chicken cubes/water and spices in blender or food processor.
• Process until it turns into a paste - it will be rather sloppy.
• Spoon into jars, leaving 1/2 inch headspace.
• Apply the lids and tighten the rings.
• Process either 1/2 or 1/4 pints for 50 minutes at 10 lbs pressure. If your altitude is over 2,000 feet, process at 15 pounds pressure. This recipe can be multiplied. If you use chicken instead of ham, you will have to add fat to the chicken or it will be too dry to eat!

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350F and make sure the racks are all the way on the bottom so there is plenty of room for the ham.
• Bring ham in packaging to sink and have a pan big enough to hold it nearby. I find a 9"x13" baking pan works great. Make sure your pan is at least an inch deep.
• Take ham out of wrapper and rinse it with cool water if you think it feels icky. Then find the plastic doohickey on the large cut end and remove it. At this point you can trim off some of the fat if you would like. I usually don't, as most of it renders out into the pan or is very easy to cut around.
• Place ham in pan with large cut side down.
• Stab with the business end of a probe style thermometer. This is the kind which has a long metal skewer on one end (the business end), a long cable, and a box which has all the controls and readouts. Make sure the probe goes through a large area of meat, not fat, and doesn't hit one of the bones down the center of the ham. Set your thermometer to alert you when the ham reaches 140°F.
• When your oven has reached 350F, put the ham in (be careful, it's heavy).
• Wait until the thermometer alerts you. Then remove the ham from the oven (remember, it's heavy and now it's really hot, too). Remove the probe, and either start slicing or put on a pretty platter and let your family/guests ooh and ahh. :).
• NOTE: The skin gets very black and crispy. Do not panic, the meat is juicy, I promise. Simply cut the skin off where it is really crispy and get to the meat underneath.
• ALSO: If you do not have a probe style meat thermometer, or need an idea of timing for preparing the rest of your meal, an already cooked (city) ham will reheat to 140F in approximately 15 minutes per pound. So a 12 pound ham will take 3 hours. Ish.
• And FINALLY: I like to carve off the leftovers and separate into 1 pound amounts. I then put these into labeled quart sized freezer bags and freeze for casseroles, pasta, or beans another night. The bone can be put into a labeled gallon sized freezer bag, and then thawed for yummy beans another night.

Steps:

• Ham labeled "Cook Before Eating"
• Preheat the oven to 325°F. Place the ham on a rack in a shallow roasting pan. For a whole 10- to 15-pound ham, allow 18 to 20 minutes per pound; for a half--5 to 7 pounds--about 20 minutes per pound; or for a shank or butt portion weighing 3 to 4 pounds, about 35 minutes to the pound. In all cases, cook uncovered until the internal temperature reaches 160°F. For an attractive, quick finish, remove the ham from the oven about 30 minutes before it is done and glaze as directed below.
• II. Ham labeled "Fully Cooked" or "Ready to Eat"
• Preheat the oven to 325°F. To heat the ham, place it on a rack in a shallow roasting pan, and bake uncovered. For a whole ham, allow 15 to 18 minutes to the pound; for a half, 18 to 24 minutes per pound. The ham will be ready when the internal temperature reaches 140°F. To glaze the ham, remove it from the oven about 30 minutes before it is done, and increase the oven heat to 425°F. Remove all the rind but a collar around the shank bone. Slash the fat in the top of the ham in a diamond pattern, and cover the surface with brown sugar, dry mustard moistened with cider vinegar, prune juice, wine or ham drippings.
• Stud the fat at the intersections of the diamonds with whole cloves. Or decorate with alternating half pineapple rings studded with cranberries and stars cut from preserved orange peel.
• Return the ham to the oven, reduce the oven heat to 325°F again, and cook about 30 minutes. Place on a platter. Garnish with: Slices of jellied cranberry sauce topped with thin orange or pineapple slices.