Easter's a few weeks in the past by now, but I've been meaning to put this up. Of course, by this point, the ingredients are fuzzy... But is there any better time than now to put up a pig recipe?
I bought a ham at the St. Lawrence Farmer's Market. The butcher convinced me that the $20 for a huge chunk of pig leg was a far better deal that what the smoked versions were going for. He was correct.
The plan? A bourbon glaze. The result? Bourbon glaze.
Bourbon, molasses, honey, some spices (probably garlic, onion, salt, pepper, and some habanero or other spicy powder).
The skin was removed, the fat trimmed significantly, and then the ham was oiled, heavily salted with a variety of salts, peppered, cayenned, and the surface was cut in a diamond pattern. Cloves of garlic were shoved into the meat, along with fresh rosemary.
That was all placed over an inch of water in a roasting pan (fat-side up), which held more rosemary and garlic. The ham gets covered in foil.
Oven was preheated to 325F, and the ham went in, with ye olde probe thermometer stuck in a nice meaty part away from the bone. You're talking around 25 min per lb, and this was a nice 12 lbs if I recall. With around half an hour left, the ham comes out, gets the glaze slathered on it, and gets put back in the oven, uncovered until it reaches around 160-165F as an interior temperature.
Out it comes, rests for 15 minutes, and carved and served. Delicious.
Bear in mind, this was a RAW, unsmoked, bone-in ham. Hence the long cooking time. The meat was also white, like any roast pork, when it was finished, not that pink you're used to for ham.
Friday, May 01, 2009
Soo-eee
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4 comments:
well done man.....I find so much frustration in that people go cured ham instead of "fresh ham" when the uncured variety is like 10 times better.....
very nicely done.
Looks quite delicious.
Also looks capable of serving a full company just back from a twenty mile hike in full pack.
JJ - Yah, at that price, and that ease, it's a no-brainer. That said, it is a different beast than a smoked and cured ham, so if you're looking for that flavour and texture, you've only got the one option (or curing and smoking it yourself)
Ken - Yah, it was huge, and there was just two of us (and I should thank my friend for the molasses idea and for helping with everything). We each had leftovers for a week and probably another's week's in the freezer.
Now I know what to do with Miss Piggy's back legs! YUMMY
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