Eating local and stretching the bounty seems to go hand in hand. When you the farm workers are part of your family and the land that feeds your hog feels like home, there's a natural call for head to tail eating as well as turning "leftovers" into something special. Really, there's little choice when a family of two adults and two young boys are faced with an enormous ham.
The story of this ham is the story of our past year. It was one of two in our basement chest freezer before the move. The 2009 ham went to church for the Parry Lecture Luncheon. The 2010 addition didn't fit into our new apartment freezer. It went into the refrigerator to thaw while the matching turkey brined in the bathtub. Don't worry, it was in a cooler with ice.
The ham was cooked, glazed and served. We ate about a quarter of it. About a quarter was bone. The rest went in the freezer or was sliced for sandwiches. Deborah ate more for a couple weeks. My fondness for ham expires at one meal, usually, but the CSA hams might make a meal for me twice in a month.
So, today I took the ham bones, some soaked beans, chicken stock, and spices, roasted/braised it all in an oven for 8 hours, turning the bones every 2 hours and added an unsmoked ham hock about 4 hours in.
Early in cooking
Done
After removing bones
The bones
Tristan's plate
I didn't intend to write about this. But Ray Larkin, a MI brewing buddy, asked about it on FB when I said it was in the oven. Not having crock pots or an arsenal of covered bakeware that is in storage, I did what I could with what I had. And it turned out great. The bones added something they don't in a steamy environment. The broth reduced to a geletanous binding, even bordering on "crusty" out of the oven.
A nice reuse of a pig, even for someone who doesn't care for ham.
The story of this ham is the story of our past year. It was one of two in our basement chest freezer before the move. The 2009 ham went to church for the Parry Lecture Luncheon. The 2010 addition didn't fit into our new apartment freezer. It went into the refrigerator to thaw while the matching turkey brined in the bathtub. Don't worry, it was in a cooler with ice.
The ham was cooked, glazed and served. We ate about a quarter of it. About a quarter was bone. The rest went in the freezer or was sliced for sandwiches. Deborah ate more for a couple weeks. My fondness for ham expires at one meal, usually, but the CSA hams might make a meal for me twice in a month.
So, today I took the ham bones, some soaked beans, chicken stock, and spices, roasted/braised it all in an oven for 8 hours, turning the bones every 2 hours and added an unsmoked ham hock about 4 hours in.
Early in cooking
Done
After removing bones
The bones
Tristan's plate
I didn't intend to write about this. But Ray Larkin, a MI brewing buddy, asked about it on FB when I said it was in the oven. Not having crock pots or an arsenal of covered bakeware that is in storage, I did what I could with what I had. And it turned out great. The bones added something they don't in a steamy environment. The broth reduced to a geletanous binding, even bordering on "crusty" out of the oven.
A nice reuse of a pig, even for someone who doesn't care for ham.
posted from Bloggeroid
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