Braised Then Baked Ham Food

BRAISED-THEN-BAKED HAM

Steps:

• If there is tough skin covering the top of the ham, cut it off to expose the fat.
• In a large, deep pot, heat butter or oil over medium-high heat. Add carrots and onions and sauté until tender and golden brown, about 10 minutes.
• Place the ham on the vegetables, fatty side up. Add herb bundle, wine and 1 quart water and bring to a simmer.
• Cook for 2 to 3 hours at a bare simmer; baste with ladle every 20 minutes. After 2 hours, test with meat thermometer: ham is ready when internal temperature reaches 135 degrees. Turn off the heat.
• Heat oven to 450 degrees. Drain ham, reserving cooking liquid to use for stock (it freezes well). Place ham on a rack in a roasting pan, fatty side up, and score fat in a diamond pattern with tip of sharp knife. If using glaze, brush it on now.
• Place ham in oven; roast 15 to 20 minutes until lightly browned. If using glaze, brush on more after first 10 minutes of cooking.
• Remove from oven, tent with foil, and let rest 20 to 30 minutes before carving.

HERB-BRAISED HAM

Steps:

• Put ham in deep 10- to 20-quart pot and cover with cold water (don't worry if bone sticks out). Bring to a boil, then drain ham.
• Put oven rack in lower third of oven (remove any other racks) and preheat oven to 350°F.
• Wash leeks in a bowl of cold water, then lift out and drain well. Cook leeks, onion, carrots, celery, garlic, thyme sprigs, parsley stems, nutmeg, peppercorns, and cloves in 2 tablespoons butter in wide 7- to 10-quart heavy pot (see "special equipment," above) over moderately high heat, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are softened and beginning to brown, about 10 minutes. Add wine and bring to a boil, then add ham, skin side down, and water (liquid will not cover ham) and return to a boil.
• Cover pot tightly with lid or, if ham sticks up over top of pot, with heavy-duty foil. Braise ham in oven 1 hour.
• Turn ham skin side up and continue to braise in oven, covered, until thermometer inserted into center of ham (do not touch bone) registers 120°F, about 1 hour more (if ham was labeled "fully cooked"), or 160°F, about 2 hours more (if ham was labeled "partially cooked").
• While ham braises, mash together flour and remaining 3 tablespoons butter with a fork to make a beurre manié.
• Transfer ham to a platter and let stand, loosely covered with foil, 45 minutes.
• While ham stands, pour braising liquid through a fine-mesh sieve into a 3-quart saucepan, pressing on and discarding solids, and skim off any fat. Bring braising liquid to a simmer and whisk in beurre manié 1/2 tablespoon at a time (sauce will become lumpy). Continue to simmer, whisking, until sauce is smooth and slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in chopped thyme and parsley.
• Remove skin from ham, then slice meat and serve with sauce.

JAMBON BRAISE AU MADERE (BRAISED HAM W/MADEIRA SAUCE - FRANCE)

Steps:

• Melt half the butter in a heavy med-sized saucepan over med-high heat. Add the shallots & cook for 2-3 min till just softened, stirring freq.
• Sprinkle over the flour & cook for 3-4 min till well-browned, stirring constantly. Whisk in the stock + tomato puree & season to taste w/salt & pepper. Simmer over low heat till the sauce is reduced by nearly half, stirring occ.
• Taste the sauce & adjust seasoning as desired. Add the Madeira wine & cook for 2-3 minutes. (The sauce can be made up to 3 dys in advance, chilled & then rewarmed to serve.).
• Snip the edges of the ham steaks to prevent curling. Melt the remaining butter in a lrg fry pan over med-high heat. Add the ham steaks & cook 4-5 min (turning once) till the meat feels firm to the touch. Serve immediately w/the sauce.
• *Notes* ~ This is where I often go astray w/a recipe - a point where I begin to think about a better (or easier) way to do something or a way I pers prefer. *For example* ~ 1) The recipe said to strain the sauce at the end of Prep Step 3, but I deleted that as I rarely see it as beneficial & certainly not w/this recipe as the sauce has no food solids other than finely minced shallots -- 2) I esp like that this sauce can be made ahead & rewarmed to serve, but I'd be more than reluctant to walk away from the lovely pan drippings from cooking the ham steaks -- so I'd be inclined to rewarm the sauce in that same pan to add to the rich flavor of the sauce b4 serving.

HOLIDAY BAKED HAM

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325°. Place ham on a rack in a shallow roasting pan. Using a sharp knife, score surface of ham with 1/4-in.-deep cuts in a diamond pattern; insert a clove in each diamond. Bake, uncovered, 1-1/4 hours., Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, combine preserves, butter and mustard; heat through. Remove ham from oven. Spoon preserves mixture over ham. Bake, uncovered, 30-40 minutes longer or until a thermometer reads 140°.

BOILED AND ROAST HAM

Steps:

• First bring a large pan of water to the boil there should be enough water to cover the ham and the pan should be big enough so that the ham does not touch the sides.
• Lower the ham into the boiling water and reduce the heat to a simmer with just occasional bubbles breaking the surface (unless the ham is very salty there should be no need to skim the scum from the top).
• The ham should be cooked for 15 minutes to the pound.
• If you need to top up the water to keep the ham covered, use boling water.
• Meanwhile preheat the oven to 200C (hot, place in it an open roasting tin lined with foil'coz the honey really bakes on) with 4 tablespoons of oil and prepare a mixture of 2 tablespoons of honey to 2 teaspoons of wholegrain mustard.
• Remove the ham from the boiling pan and drain it.
• Remove any skin and score the fat underneath into diamond shapes with a sharp knife.
• Stud each diamond with a whole clove pushed through the fat.
• Spread the honey-mustard mixture over the ham and place into the roasting tin.
• Bake for 5 minutes the pound or for a maximum of half an hour, basting every 10 minutes.
• Remove from the heat and leave for 10 minutes to set before carving or leave to cool before wrapping in foil or clingfilm.

BRAISED ENDIVE WITH HAM AND GRUYèRE

Steps:

• To cook the endive, combine the butter, sugar, salt, and 10 1/2 cups water in a large pot. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to maintain a steady simmer. Add the endive, cover, and cook until very tender, about 45 minutes. A knife should be able to pierce through with no resistance. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the endive to paper towels. Reserve 1 1/4 cups cooking liquid. When cool enough to handle, squeeze out as much liquid as possible from the endive.
• Wrap each endive with slices of ham. Arrange the endive in a shallow baking dish that holds them snugly; you don't want any space between the endive.
• Preheat the oven to 400°F.
• To make the béchamel, melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat until golden. Add the flour and cook, whisking constantly, until the mixture smells nutty, about 2 minutes. Continue whisking and add the milk, then the reserved endive cooking liquid in a slow, steady stream. Bring the mixture to a boil while whisking. Continue whisking until thickened, about 5 minutes. Whisk in the nutmeg and pepper.
• Pour the béchamel over the endive and spread to cover them evenly. Sprinkle the cheese evenly over the top. Set the dish on a rimmed baking sheet and bake until bubbly and golden brown on top, about 15 minutes. If you want the top more browned and crusty, broil for a minute or two after baking. Serve hot.