Mmm…ham! I find a whole, bone-in glistening ham sitting on a platter gets guests rather excited about dinner.
Although cooking a whole ham is time consuming, it’s relatively easy. In fact, when I have a big group to feed, a ham is my ‘go to it’ choice since I know that it’s good served hot, room temperature or cold.
The trick to preparing a whole ham is to remove the skin. If you leave the skin on and try to glaze it, you’ll have nothing but an inedible shell around the meat. So, as shown in the picture above, slice down through the skin but not through the fat and then just peel the skin off like a banana peel and discard before scoring the fat. Bake the uncooked ham on a rack in a shallow pan at 325°F (160°C) for 22 minutes per pound (500 g) or until the internal temperature reaches 160°F (71°C).
I usually start glazing when the ham reaches about 120°F (60°C) so that the ham is well glazed but not scorched when it comes up to the proper internal temperature.
You can make a glaze out of all kinds of stuff you have in your pantry, but these three preparations are good basics to use for reference.
1. Maple-mustard: Stir 1/4 cup (50 mL) each Dijon Mustard and maple syrup together in a small bowl. Stir in a 1 tsp (5 mL) chopped fresh tarragon.
2. Orange-ginger: Heat 1/2 cup (125 mL) orange marmalade with 1 tbsp (15 mL) fresh ginger, stirring often until blended.
3. Curried Apple: Stir 1/2 cup (125 mL) apple jelly with 1 tsp (5 mL) curry paste. Heat in microwave just until melted.
So, have you taken up my challenge to support pig farmers this month? If not, plan a party and make a whole ham! Have you ever cooked a whole fresh ham? Or, do you prefer a cooked ham that is faster to prepare?
It seems too cloyingly retro to put little frilly paper cuffs on the bones of a rack of lamb, but using a parchment paper or silver bone holder (called a manche, en Francais) for a larger roast has a truly practical purpose: it gives you a clean handle to hold when you’re carving your roast.
You can go fancy, like the silver ‘manche à gigot’, a clamp that is designed to be the perfect size for holding a leg of lamb. Or you can keep it simple like I did on Christmas Eve when I tied a triangle of parchment paper around the bone end of the whole ham I glazed for our family feast.
When’s the last time you cooked a bone-in roast? If you don’t do it often, what holds you back?
People often wonder aloud to me about what it’s like having two professional chefs under one roof. To be honest, it feels pretty normal to me to be one half of our domestic culinary team so I find the question a little difficult to answer.
While I reign supreme 75% of the time in our home kitchen (I’m around more often at meal time), Martin does contribute often by bringing home great ingredients I wouldn’t be able to get in a retail store. Our foodie interests are evident in other parts of our house, too. For instance, these sausages are currently hanging in our cold room; they hang next to two full sized proscuittos Martin’s dry aging. I have no idea how a family of three is going to eat this much cured pork, but I’m sure Martin has something in mind. I’m just going to wait and see!
If you’re in a couple, how do you and your other half divide up the culinary duties? Does one of you cook while the other eats or do you share in the shopping and cooking?
My mom often makes a glazed, bone-in ham for New Year’s Day dinner and I think she’s very smart since ham is easy to make (even if you have a hangover), it tastes good hot, cold or at room temperature, and the leftovers offer almost limitless next day dinner and lunch possibilities.
For the uninitiated, buying and preparing a ham can be a little daunting so here’s a bit of intel to help you make your choice:
- Most bone-in hams are sold with the outer skin trimmed away. If the one you buy has not had the tough skin removed, use a sharp knife to trim this outer skin from the surface of ham before cooking. After removing the skin, cut off most of the fat, leaving about a 1/4 inch (5 mm) layer. Lastly, using a sharp knife, score a criss-cross pattern over the surface of the remaining fat to create diamond shapes. Place the ham with this fat side up in the roasting pan.
- Spiral cut hams (like the one pictured above) don’t need to be skinned or scored and they are very easy to serve since they are pretty much pre-sliced.
- Boneless hams, available year-round, are sold whole, as rolled roasts (recognized by their football shape), or as halved or quartered dinner hams. These boneless cuts are easy to carve and provide about four servings per pound.
- Most hams, bone-in, boneless or spiral cut, have been cooked during processing and are labeled ready-to-serve or fully cooked as a result, glazing and re-heating the ham is all that is necessary. If you buy a fresh ham, treat it like a pork roast.
Here’s one of my favourite ways to make this McCauley family classic:
Teriyaki Glazed Ham
1/2 cup (125 mL) thick teriyaki sauce
1 tbsp (15 mL) finely grated lime zest
2 tbsp (30 mL) fresh lime juice
1 spiral cut smoked ham, about 5 lb (2.5 kg)
1/2 cup (125 mL) honey garlic barbecue sauce
2 tbsp (30 mL) liquid honey
1 tbsp (15 mL) minced fresh ginger
Fresh coriander (optional)
Stir the teriyaki sauce with the lime zest and juice. Reserve 1/4 cup (50 mL) of the mixture. Pour the remaining mixture over the ham, turning to coat evenly. Cover and marinate, turning occasionally, for at least 1 hour but preferably overnight.
Preheat the oven to 332 F (160 C). Place the ham on a rack in a roasting pan and spoon marinating juices over top. Cover and roast for 30 minutes.
Stir the reserved marinade with the barbecue sauce, honey and ginger. Uncover the ham and brush with some of the glaze mixture. Cook, basting every 15 minutes with glaze, for about 1 to hour or until instant read thermometer registers 140 F (60 C) when inserted into the centre of the ham. Garnish with coriander (if using). Makes 10 servings.
What’s on your New Year’s Day menu?
