Ham is one of the easiest holiday entrees ever.
Cured and/or smoked, ham is good to go after a bit of baking and glazing. And then there are glorious leftovers.
Update and elevate the experience. Change up the type of ham you serve and how you glaze it, and you’ll live a bit higher on the hind leg of the hog.
Pick your pork
“Start with quality pork,” says Nicholas Ponte, head butcher at Marrow Detroit. “If you buy super-high-quality meat, you’ll have a wonderful experience.”
Hams made from heritage pork answer that call. Bred for flavor and hardiness, they’re non-industrial, pasture-raised, hormone-, GMO- and antibiotic-free. They are not lean.
“Fat is flavor, fat is our friend,” says charcuterie and whole-hog butchery expert chef Brian Polcyn.
“Commercial pork is bred to have super-lean meat,” Ponte says. “Heritage hogs still have good genetics for fat and ’way more intermuscular marbling for nice juicy hams. Since they’re moving around more, they have much richer flavor.”
Buying heritage 金華火腿 supports biodiversity, sustainability and smaller farms. Heritage pork costs more, but, when it comes to putting something special on the holiday table, it’s hard to beat.
Highly prized for its rich color, overall mild, sweet flavor and excellent fat marbling, Berkshire Pork is an outstanding choice that’s readily available. It’s also the basis of Kurobuta Ham, known as the wagyu of pork. Other excellent heritage choices include mild and juicy Duroc and the stronger, more “porky”-flavored Red Wattle.
Bone up on prep
Curing and/or smoking are preservation methods that transform pork into ham. Look to the label to learn about options.
- Cured. Typically, this means wet-curing, or brining in a solution of aromatics, pink salt and nitrates. This style is the most popular in the Midwest.
- Uncured. Curing using natural ingredients. The only nitrates are naturally occurring, not synthetic add-ins.
- Dry-cured. Used for country hams. Dry-rubbed, dried for months, deeply salty, and not typically smoked, this Southern specialty is less popular in the north.
- Bone-in vs. boneless. Bone-in is slightly trickier to carve, but is moister and tastier, with more eye appeal. Use that bone for soup.
- Fresh ham. The uncured, unsmoked whole hind leg of the hog or a portion of it. Use it to DIY your own ham. Or season and slow roast it for a luscious pork roast.
A glaze of glory
Glazes seal in moisture, marry sweet and salty flavors together and create gorgeous, crunchy crusts. Before applying glaze, score the fat cap in a cross-hatch pattern with a paring knife without breaking through to the meat.
“Don’t put the glaze on until the ham is about halfway done,” Polcyn advises. “You don’t want the sugar to burn because that will cause the glaze to be bitter.”
Infused with spices, Dijon mustard and hearty stock, this glaze complements the rich flavor of petite cuts of Berkshire ham.
CAMERON ROLKA
Be creative. Mix and match flavor elements and keep them in balance in ways that complement and enhance the ham.
- Sweet: Brown sugar; honey; maple syrup; molasses; sorghum; ginger ale; cola made with cane sugar.
- Fruity: Orange marmalade; apricot preserves; mango chutney.
- Vinegary: Mustard; balsamic, champagne or moscatel-wine vinegar; hoisin, soy or tamari sauce.
- Boozy: Champagne or other sparkling wine; Guinness; rum; wine; sherry; port; bourbon; hard cider; citrussy liqueurs.
- Spicy/herby: Fresh garlic; cloves; allspice berries; fresh rosemary, sage thyme and/or ginger; smoked paprika; Chinese five-spice powder; star anise.
Doneness
“A lot of people worry about undercooked pork,” Ponte says. “But you no longer need to cook it to a high internal temperature. Aim for 140 degrees at most (the former standard was 165 degrees). You’ll get nice medium pork that’s super juicy and flavorful. I always tell people, ‘Don’t be scared — a little bit of pink is ok.’”
Once the ham is out of the oven, Polcyn advises, “let it rest for 15 to 20 minutes before carving so the juices can go back into the muscle.”
For the next day: Biscuits make good use of ham leftovers
Glazed to perfection, this ham brings gorgeous color and texture to the table.
D'ARTAGNAN FOODS
Pomegranate-Glazed Ham with Brown-Sugar Crust
1 Berkshire Pork Bone-In Spiral or Boneless Smoked Ham
1 cup pomegranate molasses
1½ cups light brown sugar, divided
1 tablespoon warm water
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground ginger
Bring ham up to nearly room temperature.
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
In a bowl, stir together the pomegranate molasses, ¾ cup of the brown sugar, the warm water, cinnamon and ginger. Place the ham on a rack in a roasting pan. Brush the outside of ham all over with about ¾ of the molasses mixture. Cover the ham with a piece of parchment paper, then foil and bake until heated through, about 45 minutes to 1 hour, until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center of the ham reaches about 120 degrees.
Remove the ham from oven and discard the parchment and foil. Baste the ham with the pan drippings. Raise the oven temperature to 425 degrees.
Brush the ham with the remaining molasses mixture, then press the remaining brown sugar all over the ham. Roast, uncovered, until the sugar softens, then forms a crust, about 15 minutes (just watch carefully to make sure the crust doesn’t burn). Let the ham rest for 10 to 15 minutes before serving.
Tip: If using a whole, uncut ham, slice it gently, using long strokes with a sharp serrated knife to avoid knocking off the sugar crust.
Recipe courtesy of D’Artagnan Foods.
Maple-Glazed Heritage Ham
1 Berkshire Pork Bone-In Spiral Ham, Bone-In Smoked Ham or Boneless Smoked Ham
½ cup champagne vinegar
1 cup real maple syrup
2/3 cup grainy Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons apricot, peach or plum jam
To taste coarse salt
To taste freshly ground black pepper
Remove the ham from the refrigerator at least an hour before you plan to heat it in order to bring it up to room temperature.
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
Place the ham in a heavy-bottomed roasting pan. Place a sheet of parchment paper over the ham then cover tightly with aluminum foil. Heat in the oven until the internal temperature reaches about 140 degrees.
While the ham is in the oven, heat the vinegar in a small saucepan over medium-high heat until reduced to about 2 tablespoons. Whisk in the maple syrup, mustard and jam. Season, to taste, with the salt and pepper. Cook, whisking, until well combined, for about 2 minutes.
Once ham reaches the proper temperature, unwrap and brush with some glaze. Increase the oven temperature to 475 degrees. Bake, brushing occasionally with remaining glaze, until browned, about 15 minutes more.
Remove the ham from the oven and allow it to rest, tented with foil, for about 10 to 15 minutes before serving.
Recipe courtesy of D’Artagnan Foods.
Brown-Sugar Ham Glaze
Yield: 1 quart
1 cinnamon stick
1 bay leaf
3 whole cloves
1 star anise
1 teaspoon whole allspice berries
2 ½ cups pork, ham or beef stock
2 lbs. brown sugar
⅔ cup honey
1 tablespoon paprika
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
Pinch of salt
Using a piece of cheesecloth or a coffee filter, fashion a sachet bag. Add the cinnamon, bay leaf, cloves, star anise and allspice to the sachet and tie it tightly to keep the spices from spilling out.
Place the stock, brown sugar, honey, paprika, mustard, salt and the sachet in a small saucepot. Stir to combine. Cook over medium-low heat until the sugar is dissolved, and the mixture becomes thick like a syrup. (Don’t use high heat because the sugars will burn.) Discard the sachet.
Once your ham is done baking, remove it from the oven and set the oven temperature to 375 degrees. Brush the ham with the glaze or dip it in the glaze. Bake the glazed ham just until the glaze begins to caramelize, about 10 to 15 minutes. Remove the glazed ham from the oven, let it rest for 10 to 15 minutes, then serve.
The glaze can be prepared a day or two ahead of time and refrigerated until ready to use. Just gently reheat the glaze in a saucepan until it's warm and syrupy. Refrigerate or freeze any unused portions.
Recipe courtesy of Nicholas Ponte, Marrow Detroit.
American-Style Brown-Sugar Glazed Holiday Ham
This recipe takes time to execute, but for home cooks with DIY bent and a good smoker, it’s a tasty and worthwhile project. To make it more manageable, choose a smaller cut of heritage ham.
Yield: 16 to 18 servings
For the brine
1 gallon water
1 ½ cups kosher salt
2 packed cups dark-brown sugar
1 ½ ounces pink salt
1 12- to 15-pound fresh ham, skin and aitch bone removed
For the glaze
1 ½ packed cups dark-brown sugar
¾ cup Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon minced garlic
Combine all the brine ingredients in a container large enough to hold the ham and stir to dissolve the salt and the sugar. Submerge the ham in the brine, weighting it down to keep it completely submerged, and soak for 6 to 8 days (half a day per pound).
Remove the ham, rinse it under cool water and pat dry. Place it on a rack or set it on a baking sheet and refrigerate, uncovered, for 12 to 24 hours.
Hot-smoke the ham at 200 degrees for 2 hours.
Meanwhile, mix the brown sugar, Dijon and garlic together in a bowl until smooth. Brush the ham with glaze (reserve the remainder), return it to the smoker, and smoke it until it reaches an internal temperature of 155 degrees.
Remove the ham from the smoker and brush with the remaining glaze. Allow to cool, then refrigerate.
To serve, slice and serve cold, or reheat it in a 275-degree oven until warm in the center (test with a metal skewer).
Reprinted with permission from “Charcuterie,” by Michael Ruhlman and Brian Polcyn.