Last minute ham recipe request?

Epicurean Exploits - Food and Recipes
1

I have a fresh ham roast brining currently that I am cooking for our Jewish Christmas-eve dinner tonight and am looking for some suggestions. I have a few unexciting recipes that I can use but want something better. Should I use the Big Green Egg? A simple oven roast and glaze? Recipes please. Thanks.

2

One from column “A”, one from column “B”. Oh, wait. That’s tomorrow.

Okay, seriously . . . aside from the fact that it’s pork and you have bivalves in your avatar ( [swoon.gif] ) didn’t you consider how you were going to cook this thing BEFORE you bought it? If it were me, I’d coat it with herbs de provence and maybe some dijon mustard and roast it at a VERY low temperature so the outside doesn’t dry out before the parts next to the bone are done. And don’t cook it past 140.

3

The ham roasts were part of a “whole pig” type purchase from a local farmer (he left out the offal headbang ). It included a couple ham roasts, so I figured today is a good time to cook one. I like your approach. What do you think abot doing the slow roast on the Big Green egg? (green egg and ham, lol), with said Harbs and dijon?

4

Works for me if you can keep the temp down. If you can, I would eat that with a mouse. I would eat that in a house. I would eat that here or there. I would eat that anywhere.

5

How slow would you go? Under 250F is easy on the BGE. Under 200F is more difficult, but doable.

6

I am going to try 225. I may apply a light glaze and raise the temp at the end. My dining crowd will probably like that.

7

I think 200-250 would be fine. Any lower than that and the swine runs too much of a bacteria risk.

8

Bob, you mentioned not going over 140. Isn’t the break-even for trichinosis a bit higher, or is that not a worry at all anymore?

9

Trichinae are killed at 138, there hasn’t been a case of trichinosis reported in something like 50 years and there will be carry-over cooking anyway. The beast will probably get to about 150 by the time all is said and done.

10

Not so.

Although trichinellosis was associated historically with eating Trichinella-infected pork from domesticated sources, wild game meat was the most common source of infection during 1997–2001. During this 5-year period, 72 cases were reported to CDC. Of these, 31 (43%) cases were associated with eating wild game: 29 with bear meat, one with cougar meat, and one with wild boar meat. In comparison, only 12 (17%) cases were associated with eating commercial pork products, including four cases traced to a foreign source. Nine (13%) cases were associated with eating noncommercial pork from home-raised or direct-from-farm swine where U.S. commercial pork production industry standards and regulations do not apply.

Source: CDC’s Trichinellosis Surveillance - United States, 1997-2001.
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/ss5206a1.htm

But I agree that 140F is a safe temperature - IF you’re confident of your thermometer’s accuracy.

11

The ham turned out very very well - though it was less like ham and more like a leg of lamb, only pig. Great flavor and the smoke from the BGE added another dimension that made it just delicious. Paired with 05 Kosta Browne Sonoma and 2006 Auteur Hyde PN (liked the Auteur better - more complex fruit and more structure for my palate). Thanks for the advice guys.

12

Well, of course it was. Ham is cured and sometimes smoked, leg of pork is simply pork. Oink.

13

Yes, we were discussing that exact point last night at dinner. I must say that I prefer it this way, and thankfully we have a couple more so will be recreating it. Great call on the internal temperature, too. Perfect texture and moisture level. [welldone.gif]

14

That must have been one strange pig.

15

Jeez, Bob I guess I needed to be more clear that the roasts weren’t whole limbs. Each roast was cut down to served around 6 people.

16

That’s what I thought as I was reading along, too.

17

A three-hammed pig sounds about the right start for a Jewish Christmas dinner. pileon