Country Ham Bread Food

COUNTRY HAM BREAKFAST CASSEROLE

Steps:

• Butter a large baking dish and evenly spread out the torn bread to cover the bottom of the dish.
• In a large bowl, beat to combine the heavy cream, cheese, ham, milk, scallions, salt, pepper and eggs. Pour the egg mixture over the bread and top with the paprika. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour and up to overnight.
• Remove the dish from the refrigerator 30 minutes before baking. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Uncover the dish and bake until puffed, golden and cooked through, about 45 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes, sprinkle with the chives and serve.

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 SANDWICHES

Steps:

• Mix mayo and seasonings; spread onto bread.
• Fill bread slices with remaining ingredients to make 4 sandwiches.

COUNTRY HAM SANDWICHES

Steps:

• In a small bowl, combine the mayonnaise, sour cream and garlic powder. Spread over two slices of bread. Layer each with cheese, tomato, ham and lettuce. Top with remaining bread.

COUNTRY HAM ON BISCUITS

Steps:

• Heat oven to 450 degrees.
• Make buttermilk biscuits: mix flours, baking powder and soda, salt, and pepper in mixing bowl. Cut 6 T. butter into small pieces and add to flour mixture. Cut in butter with pastry blender or 2 knives until mixture resembles fine meal. Melt remaining 4 T. butter and set aside. Make well in flour mixture, pour in buttermilk, and gradually work flour into buttermilk using fork.
• Turn dough out onto lightly floured surface. Roll or pat evenly 1/2-inch thick. Using 2-1/2" biscuit cutter or rim of glass, cut out 12 biscuits. Brush both sides with melted butter and place on ungreased baking sheet.
• Bake until golden, 10-12 minutes. Let cool on baking sheet at least 5 minutes before splitting.
• Split warm biscuits in half. Spread bottom half with mustard and top with butter. Place 2 slices ham on each bottom half and cover with top. Serve warm.

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).

BAKED COUNTRY 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.

HOW TO COOK A COUNTRY HAM

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.

COUNTRY HAM SPOON BREAD

Steps:

• Lightly coat the inside of a 2-quart casserole with butter, set aside.
• In a large pan, add the milk; bring to a boil.
• Gradually add the cornmeal to the milk and stir quickly with a spoon as you slowly pour the cornmeal inches.
• Lower the heat to low setting and cook, stirring continuously, until the mixture is thick--10 minutes or so.
• Take the pan off the burner.
• Add in the butter and baking powder; stir until the butter is all melted.
• Set pan aside to cool.
• In a mixing bowl, beat the egg yolks until light and frothy.
• Stir egg yolks into the cooled cornmeal mixture.
• Add the ham; stir to combine.
• In a big mixing bowl, add the egg whites.
• Beat using an electric mixer until stiff peaks form; fold egg whites into the cornmeal mixture (should see no trace of egg whites).
• Transfer mixture to the prepared casserole dish.
• Bake at 350° for 40 minutes or so, or until pick comes out clean.
• Best when served hot.