Country Ham Recipes

Steps:

• Scrub ham thoroughly with a stiff brush.
• Place ham in large pot or pan--even a cooler will work. Cover it completely with water and allow to soak for 24 hours, (discard water).
• Preheat oven to 325°F.
• Put ham in large roaster fat side up and again cover completely with water. place in oven on lowest shelf and bake for 2 hours. Turn ham to other side and cook another 2 hours. It takes 4 to 41/2 hours in all or 15 to 18 minutes per pound for a good tender ham.
• Remove ham from oven, but leave in water overnight (do NOT refrigerate).
• The next day preheat oven to 425°F.
• Remove and discard ham skin. Sprinkle fat with ground cloves.
• Combine sugar with enough vinegar to make a paste and brush on ham. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes; let rest for 1 hour out of the oven, then slice and serve.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line a roasting pan with aluminum foil.
• Set ham into the prepared roasting pan and pierce several times with a fork.
• Stir brown sugar, peach preserves, and mustard together in a bowl; spread over the ham. Cover the ham with a sheet of aluminum foil.
• Roast ham in preheated oven, basting regularly, for 90 minutes. Remove the aluminum foil cover and continue baking until hot in the center, 30 to 45 minutes. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the center should read 140 degrees F (60 degrees C).

Steps:

• Bring a large saucepan of salted water to a boil.
• Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the onion and saute, stirring occasionally, until soft and starting to caramelize, about 20 minutes. Add the garlic and continue to cook until softened, 3 to 5 minutes.
• Meanwhile, put the spaghetti in the boiling water and cook according to the package instructions, about 8 minutes.
• Add the ham to the pan with the onions and garlic and cook until just warmed through, about 2 minutes. Whisk together the Parmesan, cream, eggs, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt and some pepper in a bowl.
• Drain the pasta and transfer to the saucepan with the onion mixture and toss well. Immediately stir in the egg and cheese mixture until well combined. Serve immediately.
• Adjust the oven racks to accommodate a large covered roasting pan. Fit the pan with a shallow rack. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Unwrap the ham and rinse it in cold water. Place it on the rack in the roasting pan. Cover the pan with the lid and bake for half the estimated cooking time (total cooking time is about 20 minutes per pound, so 6 hours to 6 hours 40 minutes total).
• Halfway through the estimated cooking time, add the sugar and honey to a saucepan, cooking over medium heat until smooth and the sugar is dissolved. Pour the mixture over the ham and continue baking the ham, basting occasionally with the drippings in the roaster. Check for doneness at the end of the estimated cooking time by inserting a meat thermometer at a meaty point (not into fat or touching the bone). It should register 160 degrees F.

Steps:

• Unwrap ham and scrub off any surface mold (if you hung in a sack for 6 months you'd have mold too). Carefully remove hock with hand saw. (If this idea makes you eye your first aid kit, ask your butcher to do it. But make sure you keep the hock, it's the best friend collard greens ever had.)
• Place ham in cooler and cover with clean water. (As long as it's not too dirty you can use what southerners call the "hose pipe"). Stash the cooler in the bushes. If it's summer, throw in some ice. If it's freezing out, keep the cooler inside. Change the water twice a day for two days turning the ham each time.
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
• Place ham in a large disposable turkey-roasting pan and add enough Dr. Pepper to come about halfway up the side of the ham. Add pickle juice if you've got it and tent completely with heavy-duty foil. Cook for 1/2 hour then reduce heat to 325 degrees F, and cook another 1 1/2 hours.
• Turn the ham over, insert an oven safe thermometer (probe-style is best) and cook another 1 1/2 hours, or until the deepest part of the ham hits 140 degrees F (approximately 15 to 20 minutes per pound total).
• Let rest 1/2 hour then slice paper-thin. Serve with biscuits or soft yeast rolls.
• Cooks note: Even after soaking, country ham is quite salty, so thin slicing is mandatory. If you're a bacon fan, however, cut a thicker (1/4-inch) slice and fry it up for breakfast.

Steps:

• In a large heavy skillet, brown ham over medium-high heat in butter on both sides until heated through. Move ham to 1 side of the skillet; brown potatoes in drippings until tender. Sprinkle potatoes with parsley.

Steps:

• Cook pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, cook gravy mix according to package directions.
• Thaw and drain spinach.
• Stir in the spinach, cheese, ham and mustard.
• Drain the pasta; stir into ham mixture.
• Transfer to a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking dish. Cover and bake at 350° for 20 minutes. Uncover; bake 10-15 minutes longer or until heated through.

Steps:

• Heat a large skillet (preferably cast-iron) over medium-high. Cook ham, adding 1/2 Tbsp. butter if ham is lean to help the browning process, until browned and fat has rendered, 2-3 minutes per side. Transfer ham to a platter.
• Pour coffee into the same skillet and cook over medium-high heat, scraping skillet with a wooden spoon to deglaze and loosen any browned bits. Add broth and sugar; simmer, stirring occasionally, until thickened and reduced to about 1/4 cup, 3-4 minutes. Add 1 Tbsp. butter and whisk until emulsified, about 1 minute more. Pour gravy into a small bowl or serving vessel and serve drizzled over or alongside ham.

Steps:

• The afternoon before you plan to serve the ham, fill a very large kettle or pot or your sink with water. Soak ham 4 to 8 hours to lose some of the saltiness; change the water 2 or 3 times, if possible. Rinse well, and scrape off any mold or green rind.
• Wrap ham well in aluminum foil. Place on a baking sheet. At 7 p.m. the night before you plan to serve the ham, preheat the oven to 500 degrees. Place the wrapped ham in a large roasting pan filled with 1 inch of water, and bake for 30 minutes. Turn off the oven, but do not open the door. At 10 P.M., turn the oven back on to 500 degrees. Bake the ham for 15 minutes more. Turn off the oven, but do not open the door. Leave the ham in the closed oven overnight.
• Remove ham from the oven, then remove the aluminum foil. Using a very sharp knife, trim the rind and all the fat from the ham. Serve the ham warm or at room temperature; cut with a ham-slicing knife into very thin slivers.