Sunday, April 30, 2006
Be Careful What You Wish For
Around Easter I got the urge for ham. Telling my mother resulted in a ham the size of Eric Hyden’s thigh showing up in the mail. My mother is an overachiever. It is an exquisite air-cured Virginia ham from the Turner Ham House in Fulks Run, Virginia. Ham is by definition cured meat otherwise it would just be pork. With the soft tissues removed, the meat is rubbed with spices—the most important of these being a form of salt--then hung to cure. According to www.schoolscience.co.uk microbes and food page, “What happened during this process was that the sodium nitrate in the saltpetre became converted to nitrite by the natural flora of microbes present, mainly a type of bacterium called Micrococcus. Nitrite acts as a preservative and inhibits many different bacteria, including food poisoning organisms.” It makes me wonder what is really in great-grandfather Turner’s recipe, but I’m going to assume the best.
My ham came with its hock attached. The hock is the joint just above the pig’s foot. The ham was also covered in a thick layer of fat that had hardened on its surface and had a small showing of mold. The instruction that came with the ham suggested to boil the ham for twenty minutes per pound. I trotted out to the garage to gather a hacksaw and my turkey fryer pot—a mere stockpot was not going to cut it. I scrubbed the saw in hot water and soap and proceeded to saw off the hock (I never said this blog was for the faint of heart). Then I washed the ham with a non-perfumed soap and a scrub brush to take care of the mold and grime left on its surface. Taking my sharpest knife I trimmed away all the fat. I was left with a respectable 12.5-pound fresh bone-in ham that I covered in water and boiled as instructed. There is no comparison between this ham and the pathetic slices you get wrapped in plastic at the grocery store. It is on the dry side, salty, and full of flavor. If you have had prosciutto this is very similar flavor, but more robust.
Today’s Lunch
Ham Sandwich on a toasted whole wheat bun with homemade mustard and spinach
(see April 18 post for mustard Recipie.
My ham came with its hock attached. The hock is the joint just above the pig’s foot. The ham was also covered in a thick layer of fat that had hardened on its surface and had a small showing of mold. The instruction that came with the ham suggested to boil the ham for twenty minutes per pound. I trotted out to the garage to gather a hacksaw and my turkey fryer pot—a mere stockpot was not going to cut it. I scrubbed the saw in hot water and soap and proceeded to saw off the hock (I never said this blog was for the faint of heart). Then I washed the ham with a non-perfumed soap and a scrub brush to take care of the mold and grime left on its surface. Taking my sharpest knife I trimmed away all the fat. I was left with a respectable 12.5-pound fresh bone-in ham that I covered in water and boiled as instructed. There is no comparison between this ham and the pathetic slices you get wrapped in plastic at the grocery store. It is on the dry side, salty, and full of flavor. If you have had prosciutto this is very similar flavor, but more robust.
Today’s Lunch
Ham Sandwich on a toasted whole wheat bun with homemade mustard and spinach
(see April 18 post for mustard Recipie.
