Country Ham Braised With Madeira Food

COUNTRY HAM

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.

COUNTRY HAM

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).

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.

MADEIRA SAUCE

Steps:

• Chop the onions and fry in butter, once softened, add the mushrooms, until golden brown. Sprinkle in the flour, gradually add warmed stock and mix well. Cover, and simmer for 15 minutes. Add the Madeira in the last 5 minutes of cooking. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve with roast meat or steak.

COUNTRY HAM BRAISED WITH MADEIRA

Steps:

• 1. Skin the ham and rub the fat with sugar and mustard. Place the ham in a large roasting pan and pour 2 cups of Madeira wine over it. Cover with a lid or foil and bake in a 350F oven. 2. Allow 10 minutes per pound for a ready-to-eat ham. If you are using a previously boiled ham, bake it no more than 1-1/2 hours. 3. Combine 1/4 cup of liquid from the pan in which the ham was baked with remaining Madiera and the beef gravy. Bring to a boil, lower the heat and simmer for 4 minutes. Add the truffles and simmer another minute or so. 4. Serve the ham with Madeira sauce and thin slices of sauteed polenta.

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.

HAM STEAKS WITH MADEIRA SAUCE

Steps:

• Remove any excess fat from each ham steak.
• Cut the apples into quarters. Cut away and discard the cores. Peel the quarters.
• Use 2 skillets, preferably nonstick, large enough to hold the ham pieces. Heat 1 tablespoon of butter in each skillet. Add 1 tablespoon of shallots to each skillet. Cook briefly, stirring, and add one ham steak to each skillet.
• Arrange one quartered apple around each steak. Spoon half the Madeira over the apples in each skillet. Cover closely and cook 5 minutes. Transfer the ham steaks to a hot platter and arrange the partly cooked apples around or over the pieces of meat.
• Pour the cooking liquid from one skillet into the other skillet. Add the 2 remaining tablespoons of wine, the tomato paste and mustard, and stir to blend. Bring to a simmer, swirl in the remaining 1 tablespoon butter and pour the sauce over the ham and apples.

HAM BRAISED WITH MAPLE RAISIN SAUCE

Steps:

• Put ham cut side down in a large deep heavy pot (about 10 quarts) and add water and syrup.
• Bring liquid to a boil, then reduce heat to low and gently simmer ham, covered, until tender, 2 to 2 1/2 hours. Uncover and cool slightly.
• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• When ham is cool enough to handle, remove from pot, reserving cooking liquid, then cut off any rind and excess fat, leaving a thin layer. Transfer ham to a roasting pan.
• Whisk together sugar, mustard, apple juice, and ground cloves, if using, in a bowl, then spoon over ham. Add raisins and 1 cup reserved cooking liquid to roasting pan and bake in middle of oven, basting occasionally, until ham is glazed and juices are bubbling, 30 to 40 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.