A Ham Like No Other – Locally raised is the best!

I have re-discovered locally raised pasture-fed beef, pork, and poultry, thanks to going to the Winchester Winter Farmers Market at Mahoney’s  for the past several weeks.  I am so glad our friends at John Crow Farm of Groton, MA are there – I sure have missed their products since our Wakefield Farmers Market ended its 4th season this past October 2012 !

I have also had the pleasure of meeting and purchasing products from the folks at  Cascade Brook Farm of Sutton NH and Copicut Farms of Dartmouth, MA.  Spoiler alert – both will most likely be joining the Wakefield Farmers Market this summer!

ANYWAY – I decided to try a ham from Cascade Brook Farm and luckily,  Ed (owner) had a 3 1/2 pound smoked ham – perfect for Steve and me – plus Buster and Orsini, of course.  <grin>

Bottom line – DELICIOUS!!!!!  And, beyond the lovely rich and balanced flavor, the texture of the fat was heavenly, NOTHING like the fat in your average supermarket ham.  It had this silky/creamy texture – thicker than butter,  but with an essence of “fluffy,” if one can use the word essence to describe texture.  I will be getting more hams from this farm.  🙂

The ham, as does all retail meat from Cascade Brook Farm, comes frozen, but my little ham defrosted in just and hour or two in a few changes of cold water.  [Note: Expect 25-30 minutes per pound for bigger hams.]

The next step was to pick a glaze.

I have had a lot of fun doing the 1950s thing with hams on Easter (I host the family for that holiday and July 4th) but, I wanted to try something different.  After wandering around the Internet, I came across a recipe for a glaze that called for fresh thyme.  Since I still had a fair amount of fresh thyme leftover from when I purchased it for a really amazing recipe for preparing steak, I figured this would be the one to try.

Here is the recipe.  If you go to the link, you will see that it has fairly complex directions. I originally found the recipe for the glaze on another site that recommended not covering the ham when cooking.  I do not recommend cooking the ham uncovered.  I ended up covering the ham part way through the cooking time.  My ham ended up coming out great, but I recommend putting the ham on a rack, adding about 1/2 to 1 cup of liquid of your choice to the pan, and then starting off with the ham covered, basting a few times, until it gets close to the desired temperature recommend for the type of ham. Then, uncover the ham for the final baste and browning,  unless you already have your own sure-fire way to cook a ham.

• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 tablespoons chopped thyme
• 1 bone-in ham, 9-11 pounds (for this amount of glaze)
• 1/4 cup cider vinegar
• 1/2 cup mild honey
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

[Note: I made a smaller amount of glaze, using about 1/3 of the listed amounts since I had a small ham.]

Directions:
Take ham out of the fridge an hour or so before baking to get it closer to room temperature and score before basting.

Preheat oven. [I baked my ham at 325. I’ve seen anywhere from high 200s to 350 recommended. Also, because my ham was smoked but not fully cooked, I needed to bring it to 160 degrees.]

Melt butter with thyme and let stand until ready to use.

Next, put the cider vinegar in another pan and, over high heat, reduce down to 1/4 the original amount,  and remove from heat. I recommend using a stainless steel pan for the vinegar reduction rather than Pyrex or Corning-ware so you have more immediate control over the temperature.

Whisk the reduced vinegar into the butter and thyme. Add the honey,  brown sugar, and  Worcestershire sauce.

You can see that I lined the pan under the rack.  Talk about easy cleanup!  You will also note that I didn’t put any liquid in the pan.  Many recipes recommend it.  Mine came out just dandy without it.  So again, however you like to do it.  🙂

This ham was so good that we dug in before I took the official “plated” shot, so I took this after we ate our first meal of this delicious ham.  As you can see, we had Brussels sprouts and mashed potatoes to accompany.  Just for fun, here is how I do mashed potatoes.

I steam the chunks of potatoes, rather than boil, and I leave the skin on if they are organically and/or locally grown by a trusted farmer. While they are cooking I heat water in the bottom of a double boiler and in the top pan, put butter, olive oil, and finely chopped shallot and let the butter melt and the shallot infuse into the butter/oil mix as it all heats up.

Once the potatoes are well-cooked, I move the top pan with the oil and shallots to the counter and add about a half a cup of dairy, whether yogurt, milk, or half and half [amount based on four mid to small potatoes] and add the potatoes, some salt and pepper, and smash away, right in the top pan of the double boiler, adding a bit of water if needed for a creamier texture. [Sometimes I use a ricer, but that method is not effective when the skins are on the taters!]

The advantage to this technique is that you can make the potatoes early on in the meal prep since you can keep them warm using the same double boiler pan.  And, for those who like the sour cream and and onion or other flavored instant potato mixes, you can easily make much tastier and healthier versions (less sodium and better quality fats!) for yourself with this method.

And that’s it for now. Use locally grown and raised foods if you can – they taste WAY better and are healthier choices for you, your family, and our environment.