Corned Ham For Easter

One of the constants right now is the holiday dinner. For many Christians it's ham on Easter, a comforting reminder of happier years and hope for a better holiday next year. Southerners can appreciate the rare corned ham, a specialty of Maryland and South Carolina

Brett Anderson, a restaurant critic and regular contributor to the New York Times wrote about this  rare Southern classic in today's New York Times Food issue. Traditional corned ham is nothing more than  fresh ham that's been cured in salt. It's found in St. Mary's County in Maryland, a peninsula between the Chesapeake Bay and the Potomac River where it's used for stuffed hams. It's also found in eastern North Carolina where hog farming has been the backbone  of the economy for generations. It's one region where it's still common for people to serve unembellished ham for the holidays. Some Carolinians boil their hams and them use the  rich broth, also called pot likker to cook sides like collard greens. Many slow roast the hams too. They get them at local Piggly Wigglys but many of an older generation corned the hams themselves.

You can make corned ham at home.  Just remember it's going to take up a lot of fridge space which is precious nowadays. (you can buy one on line from www.mortypride.com). It will take ten days so  maybe it can work as an after Easter dinner. You will need to put a ten to fifteen pound ham in a roasting pan and cutting incisions in it, namely around the shank and hip bones.  Stuff  as much as  kosher salt as you can in them. Its' then soaking the ham over night in  half of inch of water. Afterwards press parchment paper into the meat and seal the whole thing with aluminum foil.Cook it in a 325 F degree oven for twenty-three to twenty-five minutes per pound . A fifteen pound ham would be roasted for six and a quarter hours.Ninety minutes before the final cooking remove the foil and parchment. Turn up the oven's heat to 375 degrees F and return the ham to it.The intense heat will turn the top layer of fat into the added treat of a covering  like crackling.The best part is the leftovers. You can use the meat and bones in everything from pea soup to ham salad. You can even make a corned ham Reuben toofor a fun lunch or dinner.

Corned ham is a treat anyone can make at home. Celebrate Spring or time with your family with a home corned one.It's a great addition to your cooking repertoire.