Pre-Christmas Ham

Von's had Farmer John bone-in hams on sale the other day. I'm assuming that these were the hams that didn't sell for Thanksgiving and they were trying to dump their inventory. A $35 ham for $11.....I'm not passing that up. Lupe asked why we needed a 13lb ham for just the two of us. I had no good answer for that, but $11 for a 13lb ham; holy cow (or pig)! I figured we could just have ham sandwiches for the rest of the week. That's some fat guy logic for ya.

From The Hollow Leg Diner - images

Look at that. You see where I'm coming from, right? That's the why, this is the how. I scored the surface and studded it with cloves. I made a basting liquid from orange juice (1cup) and chicken broth(3/4cup), and then added about a 1/2 teaspoon each of ground clove and Cayenne pepper, and a teaspoon of Korean red chili pepper powder and smoked paprika. I heated it, tented in foil, at 325 for three hours. I basted the ham every half hour for the first three hours. I removed the foil for the last 40 minutes. Brown sugar and mustard were added to make the basting liquid a glaze. I turned up the oven a little and basted more frequently for the last part. The ham came out with a beautiful reddish-gold sheen. I sliced it up and served it with spicy, braised Swiss chard and a piece of nan bread.

From The Hollow Leg Diner - images

Holy moly! That ham is a big as my head. What was i thinking. All I know is that I've got to go get a loaf of Jewish rye bread and some Swiss cheese tomorrow. Ham sandwiches for the rest of the week....no month. Maybe I'll try something new. If I can find a Cuban bakery around here, I'm going to get some of that Cuban bread. All I will need are some dill pickles and roast pork and I can make a Cuban sandwich. It just so happens that I've got about 20lbs of pork shoulder in the fridge. I'll be roasting that on Friday in preparation for a tamale party this weekend. Oh man - things are coming together now. Now where do I get a plancha? Hell, who needs a plancha? I've got a Lodge cast iron griddle and skillet. Instant sandwich press.