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Delicious country ham bittman style for a holiday treat!

The Amazing Cookbook by The New York Times Food Writer and Minimalist Mark Bittman

Remember! The Tackling Bittman and His Buddies Blog Hop is open all month and now accepts any cookbook recipes so please stop by and link up a recipe or two or more and share your cookb00k favorites with us all month long!

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Baked Country Ham for the Holidays!

We had a great Easter this year even if my parents were away and my mother didn’t cook the leg of lamb we usually eat. Instead of having the usual Easter dinner late in the day, we had a great brunch right after Mass which included home made rolls, greens, boiled eggs, home made hot buttered apple compote, various desserts like panna cotta and cupcakes, but the center piece of the meal was the slow baked country ham!

I always find it so interesting that ham can take on any number of flavors based on the way it is cured, smoked, seasoned or glazed. My mother was never one to make a ham covered in pineapple and cherries or sweet glaze, but every once in a while I enjoy that. We wanted to see what Mark Bittman has in store for a Baked Country Ham as ham recipes are so varied and versatile. We weren’t disappointed for on page 765 of How to Cook Everything Bittman tackles Baked Country Ham.

Baked Country Ham

Makes at least 15 Servings

One 12 to 15 pound Virginia or other country ham.

6 Cups assorted chopped aromatic vegetables and herbs or scraps including onions, carrots, parsnips, celergy and parsley for example.

1 Tbs black peppercorns

Several allspice berries

2 Tbs cider or other vinegar

4 cloves, plus additional for studding ham (optional)

1 cup orange marmalade or apricot or peach perserves

1 Tbs Dijon mustard or more to taste

2 Cups or more dry apple cider or white wine (optional)

Place ham into your biggest pot. If too large, saw off the shank and save for some split pea soup. Wash the ham well with a scrub brush under cold running water and then place it submerged in water in the covered pot for 24 hours, changing the water at least once.

Put the ham, vegetables, peppercorns, allspice, vinegar, and 4 cloves in the pot and over with fresh water. Bring to a boil, lower the heat, and simmer for 2 hours. Cool in its liquid for at least another 2 hours.

Drain the ham, discarding the cooking liquid. Skin the ham if necessary, then score the fatty layer with a diamond pattern and stud with cloves if you like.

About 1 hour before you wish to serve the ham, heat the oven to 400 degrees F. Put the ham on a rack in a roasting pan, and in a small saucepan, heat the marmalade or preserves over low heat until they thin slightly.  Stir in 1 Tbs or more mustard. Spoon the mixture all over the ham and bake until the outer layer is crisp and brown, about 30 minutes. If you want pan juices with which to top the ham, (not necessary! It will be fine with nothing more than good mustard!) add 1/2 cup of cider or wine to the bottom of the roasting pan at the betinning of roasting and whenever it threatens to become dry.

Transfer the ham to a platter, slice and serve hot or at room temperature with mustard. To serve with pan juces, which we did not do, simply put the pan on 1 or 2 stove top burners over high heat. Add 1 cup liquid to that already in the pan and cook, stirrig and scraping, until the liquid has been reduced by about half and has thickened slightly. We decided not to make the pan sauce because we thought it might be too sweet with the marmalade we used and felt that having a grainy mustard with the marmalade would work better.

This is very different from the hams we usually make that are simply cooked with cloves and real ginger ale poured in the bottom of the roasting pan. This was sweet and tangy and made a lovely focus for the brunch. It also was delicious sliced cold for sandwiches later on. I think the extra work of the preparation was well worth the lovely results and I will make this again, maybe for Christmas!

Remember, I highly recommend How to Cook Everything By Mark Bittman for ease of use and variety. Even the most traditional cook will get some amazing ideas from it. You can view more information on all Mark Bittman’s terrific cook books at my Stuff I Like on Amazon store, or by clicking the Amazon Banner at the bottom of this page. You can also find great information and more recipes from Mark at his website Mark Bittman, and of course, the New York Times.

Please stop by the first Thursday of every month and join the Tackling Bittman and His Buddies Recipe Hop. This hop is open all month long and you can link up any recipe you made from a cook book. You can also link up more than once, so get to cooking and trying new cookbooks! I just got Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking for my birthday and you KNOW I am going to have to try out some of those amazing recipes. I was so thrilled I jumped up and down! My girls are awesome and they sure know what mommy wants!

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