By Kim Tilley
Here is my "Ham Plan." I am finding it easier and more economical to have
bulk cooking plans for when meats and veggies are on sale or in season.
I do a big cooking that lasts a few months (Hopefully! I am still new
at this) so I don't have to cook that particular meat again for a
while. I am hoping my chicken will last a while so I can focus on other
meats. Here are some of the recipes I made around Easter (next time I
will make a big ham or a few medium ones, last time the 20 pound ham
was a bit hard to turn every half hour!)
If you try these recipes, please let me know how they turn out! I don't
cook ham as often as I cook chicken and hamburger, so this plan isn't
as "polished" as the other ones. Feel free to send your recipes,
comments and suggestions; I will be happy to post them in the readers'
hints and tips section! Happy cooking!
Day one
Cook the " Master Recipe," which in this case would be Honey Baked Ham
or your favorite baked ham recipe. While the ham is cooking (this one
takes a few hours!) chop the veggies and prepare doughs for tomorrow's
assembly. Or, clean the house!
The master recipe:
Andie's Original Recipe for WPOPFHBH* Ham (Why Pay Outrageous Prices
For Honey Baked Ham) by Andie Paysinger asenji@themall.net (I found
this on the KitchenLink)
"Following is the ham recipe I developed originally for cooking
"dry-cured" hams from my family's farm in Kentucky. These are usually
quite salty as they are pre-cured in a barrel of salt before being hung
in the smoke house. People in the south like saltier ham than folks out
here so I experimented until I discovered this way of cooking them
which actually extracts a lot of the salt. Then I discovered that very
cheap store hams also come out nicely flavored when cooked this way. I
always warn people to keep the heat low and the time long - as one
doesn't get the same results with more heat and less time. I have
cooked this for a lot of people and told quite a few people who have
used this method and have yet to find anyone who has not found this to
be just about the best ham ever."
This recipe (or cooking method) works really well with the absolute
cheapest bone-in ham, the holiday "Loss Leaders" at 49, 59, cents a
pound, sometimes less. Don't get the shank end.
(Kim's note: I bought a "country ham" which is more like a roast, and it was wonderful. Cub Foods had them on sale for 99 cents a pound; we got more than 20 meals out of 20 pounds.)
- A deep roasting pan, dutch oven or deep baking dish just big enough for the ham to fit into with enough room to let you turn it over
- An Ice Pick - This is very important!
- Maple syrup - I find it at Trader Joe's, a specialty discout grocery chain here in California or at Price/Costco and at Smart & Final. I am sure there is a similar source in your area. I usually buy a quart and use most of it.
- Dry mustard, (Colemans) about 2 tablespoons
- Optional - Whole cloves to stick in the ham, but not necessary
1. Trim any skin off the ham but leave some of the fat - less than 1/4
inch thickness. Score the fat down to the meat in a diamond or
tic-tac-toe pattern, your choice.
2. Take the ice pick and stab the ham all over, and I mean many, many stabs. Use up some of your latent agression.
3. Take the dry mustard and massage it into the ham. If you must, stick whole cloves into the ham, as many as you want.
4. Put the ham in the pot. Pour in the maple syrup until it comes up at
least 1/2 way on the ham, a little more won't hurt, it won't be going
to waste.
5. Place the ham in a COLD oven and turn the temp control to 300
degrees F. Set timer for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes reduce heat to
250. and turn the ham over in the syrup.
6. Continue cooking for 3 hours for a 12 pound ham, add 30 minutes for
each 2 pounds over that, turning the ham every 30 minutes. This is a
long, slow method that will have remarkable results.
7. At the end of the baking time, remove ham from pot, allow to drain on a rack for 20 minutes, then slice.
Most of the salt in the ham will have been extracted through the stab
wounds and the meat will have absorbed some of the maple flavor from
the syrup. When the liquid left in the pot has cooled, strain it
through a coffee filter and freeze it, you can use it two more times.
After that it loses a bit of flavor or becomes too salty."
Kim's notes: This recipe is incredible! The ham just falls apart,
appears more like a roast than those water-added hams at the store.
Even the pickiest eaters in my family eat this and beg for more! They
ask for it just about every night! There was a ton left over (I baked a
20 pounder! A little hard to turn every half hour, but well worth it!)
This is better made on a day when you are not once a month cooking but
are around the house, perhaps on a cleaning day or a once a month
baking day.
When the ham cools, you need to divide it into the following:
slices (cut the biggest parts into this)
shredded (the outer part is best for this, whatever is falling apart)
cubed (chop up the small and weird shaped pieces)
ham bone for soup
I throw out the fat, can't think of a way to use it yet, any
suggestions are welcome (see reader hint at bottom)! Package everything
in Ziploc bags (double bag it!) or big containers with lids, put in
fridge (or freezer if you can't get to it right away) and GO TO BED!
You will be tired! (I got several Ziploc gallon bags FULL of meat!)
Day 2
Assembly day! Depending on how much you have, you can use the honey
baked ham in any of the following. To reduce the workload, double or
triple the recipes. If you run out of ham, try the others next time! If
you run out of time, freeze the ham and assemble on the day you plan to
cook it. (I keep an eye out for "quick and easy" dishes that are made
with cooked meat and I try to always keep a few containers of cooked
meat in the freezer for this purpose. I try to write the results on the
recipe and whether it would be worth cooking on oamc day. Some recipes
are so easy and good, they are better left as "emergency" recipes, when
you have to get something on the table fast and want it fresh-cooked.)
Honey Baked Ham, to use in:
1) BBQ Pork
2) Baked Eggs
3) Ham and Cheese "Hot Pockets"
4) Split Pea Soup (haven't tried yet)
5) Creamed Ham on Cornbread Cakes (haven't tried but sounds good)
6) Sliced ham for sandwiches/dinner
7) Ham and Bean soup (haven't tried yet)
8) Scalloped Ham and Potatoes
9) Crustless Ham Quiche(haven't tried yet, picture looks delish!)
10) Impossible Ham Pie (all the impossible pies are great)
11) Linguine ala Anne
12) Mac-n-Cheese with Ham (looks good, haven't tried)
13) Hoppin' John Soup(haven't tried yet)
14) Radiatore Carbonara (haven't tried)
15) Grits Souffle' (haven't tried)
16. Healthy ways to use honey baked ham
17. Hints and tips from readers (you!)
Yes, there are quite few new recipes here; thought I would try a bunch this time, I will let you know how they turn out! Find the recipes on pages 2 and 3 below.
Ham Plan page 1 | 2 | 3 | Next
About the Author
Kim Tilley, a tightwad at heart, is a wife, a mother of three active boys and the founding editor of Frugal-Moms.com. Frugal by force and later by choice, Kim cut her income by 60% to stay at with her children and discovered that anyone can live better for less. Her work has appeared in print publications such as The Tightwad Gazette. In her free time, she entertains herself by chasing kids and finding ways to create something from nothing!
© 2002-2006 Fractured Frugal Friends (F3). All Rights Reserved. Used by permission.
