Best use for a "free" cooked ham?

[RDaneel]

Thanks to the loss-leading generosity of my local grocer, I am the proud owner of a 12lb. "hickory-smoked, thick cut, spiral sliced, ready to heat 'ham with natural juices,'" or, as I'll call it for simplicity's sake, "ham." Other than throwing away the included honey glaze packet, what do the great minds of the EG forum think is the best use for this lovely hunk of protein? Once I open it to remove that little absorbent pad and the glaze packet, I don't have a way to reseal something this big, so retherming sous vide (at least if I keep it whole) is out.

I've done Alton Brown's gingersnap/bourbon/mustard glaze before, and it was ok, but I'd like to try something new. I know this is a cooked product, so it's odd to ask for cooking ideas, but I'd love any input...

P.S. I have a weakness for ham salad (some think it's gross, I know, but I love it), so I'll grind some of leftovers, but I don't need 12 lbs. of ham salad.

Thanks in advance!

[HungryC]

It's great as a seasoning meat for beans or vegetables, so you can always vaccuum seal 3-4 slices per package for later use. Save the hambone, too.

[Country]

It's great as a seasoning meat for beans or vegetables, so you can always vaccuum seal 3-4 slices per package for later use. Save the hambone, too.

Unless a lot of friends come over to help eat it, HungryC's idea is the way I'd go. Plus, that way there's always plenty for ham salad.

[lesliec]

Carve steaks off it and give them a quick tickle in a hot, lightly-oiled pan. That gets through big hams real fast!

[scott123]

Heating these hams in such a fashion that the water in the meat doesn't come to a boil and make a mass exodus is no easy task. I was incredibly luck with a similarly sized ham this Thanksgiving when I roasted it for 2 hours at 250, but if I had sous vide equipment I would never have rolled the dice like that.

Split the sliced area in half, lengthwise, with two cuts, one down to the bone, and the other up. You should then be able, with some gentle boning knife action, to pull the two massive chunks away from the bone. Cut the remaining unsliced area away from the bone a little more haphazardly (you'll be grinding this). Cryovac everything and sous vide to slightly above 'safe' ham temp (a safe ham temp is usually a bit two raw tasting towards the bone and may not melt the collagen as effectively). Grind the odd shaped unsliced pieces and use the half slices for:

Fried ham and eggs

Ham sandwiches (with a quality swiss on rye)

Hawaiian pizza (if you're into that sort of thing)

w/ a glaze of your choice straight from the sous vide

Diced for soups/beans/vegetables/salads (as mentioned)

Diced with fettucine alfredo

[annabelle]

My father sends us these spiral sliced hams for Christmas every year. All of the above ideas are good ones. You can dice up a bunch of it and freeze it to put in fritters and quiche and chef's salads, too.

[andiesenji]

I immerse this type of ham in maple syrup and cook it in the oven, fairly low temp, as I describe in my blog here.

It's sort of like ham candy.

[ScoopKW]

And, seeing as New Year's is right around the corner -- Hoppin' John.

[HowardLi]

Carve steaks off it and give them a quick tickle in a hot, lightly-oiled pan. That gets through big hams real fast!

Steaks from a spiral sliced ham?

[thirtyoneknots]

I'm actually in the middle of going through a similar ham right now, though about 1/3 of the size, boneless, and unsliced. It had been in the freezer for 2-3 years...I was skeptical (my Dad gets lots of meat gift boxes around Christmas time from work contacts). Anyways I had hope when I saw in James Peterson's Glorious French Food a recipe for something called 'Le Saupiquet', translated as "Ham Steaks in Juniper Cream Sauce". Basically you make a roux, add a cup of white wine and a half cup of stock, simmer for a half hour, then add a few minced shallot, cracked peppercorn, crushed juniper berries, a half cup of cream and a quarter cup of good vinegar, simmer 5 more min then strain, season to taste and add parsley. This sauce is intended to be spooned over ham steaks lightly browned in butter and patted dry. It's about as good a thing to do with "plain ham" as I've ever had, and the sauce has not suffered for the reheating. I'd just say be careful not to dry out spiral cut slices in the reheating.

Edited December 1, 2011 by thirtyoneknots (log)

[Snadra]

....Grind the odd shaped unsliced pieces and use the half slices for:

Fried ham and eggs

Ham sandwiches (with a quality swiss on rye)

Hawaiian pizza (if you're into that sort of thing)

w/ a glaze of your choice straight from the sous vide

Diced for soups/beans/vegetables/salads (as mentioned)

Diced with fettucine alfredo

Now, seriously, you qualify the glorious ham and pineapple pizza, but say nothing about compromising fettuccine Alfredo?

Toasted Ham and cheese sandwiches (tomato optional)

Pea and ham soup

Croque monsieur

Ham and egg breakfast sandwiches

Mixed into potato roesti

We've never glazed ours, but I've often thought it would be nice to glaze a slice and broil it.

[scott123]

Now, seriously, you qualify the glorious ham and pineapple pizza, but say nothing about compromising fettuccine Alfredo?

From the New York City Administrative Code, Title 3, Chapter 2:

Any mention of Hawaiian pizza without qualification shall result in immediate banishment

Referring to that stuff they make in Chicago as 'pizza' is equally egregious.

[SylviaLovegren]

Mac 'n' cheese with ham. Eggs Benedict. Croque monsieur. Grilled ham and cheese sammiches. Jambalaya. Or you can just ship that thing to me if you don't know what to do with it...

[kayb]

I always "cook" a fully cooked ham; 20 minutes per pound, 300 degree oven, tented with aluminum foil, on a rack so the juices can drain. That after I've glazed it by smearing whole grain mustard all over it and patting on a coating of brown sugar, cinnamon, allspice and cloves, and misting the whole thing with bourbon.

I also vac-seal several slices to a package and freeze; they get fried for breakfast or dinner, added to potatos, go into Cuban sandwiches, or any number of other preparations. Odd-shaped bits get diced and frozen for later use in red beans and rice, cooking with white beans, etc. Some gets ground for ham salad (love me some ham salad, too!). The bone gets boiled for half a day for stock and then the stock reduced and frozen in small quantities for flavoring soups and stews and beans and such.

The pig. I do love him. I'd have never made much of an Orthodox Jew, I'm afraid.

[Snadra]

From the New York City Administrative Code, Title 3, Chapter 2:

Any mention of Hawaiian pizza without qualification shall result in immediate banishment

Referring to that stuff they make in Chicago as 'pizza' is equally egregious.

Man, good job I use a pseudonym, or I'd never be able to sneak into New York!

When I worked at an engineering company years ago I organised several functions at an RSL (Returned and Services League) for the service techs. Open bar (beer, wine and soft drink only, standard cold and hot cocktail food. At the first one i was surprised to see the cold food was mostly sandwich triangles and at least half of those were ham and pineapple on margarine-spread white bread. They went surprisingly fast, but then the guys had been on the beers for a while while sitting through the presentations.

* I don't recommend that as a ham-usage tactic unless you find yourself with more beer than sense.

I used to get a Christmas ham every year from work. Two people and a ham is a long time, but in addition to the things I mentioned above, we also just ate it cold with salad and bread and used it as a bacon substitute (HLT on toast, ham bits in a caesar salad, etc). At least it was only a half ham - my brother in law gets a whole one.

[annabelle]

Snadra, I used to get whole HUGE turkeys at work for Thanksgiving and whole HUGE hams for Christmas. I lived alone at the time. I took them to my friendly neighborhood butcher and had him saw the turkey into quarters and the ham into two or three pound portions and wrap them all for the freezer. One year, I just gave them away to the guys at work who had large families.

I agree that two people and a ham is the definition of eternity.

[ScoopKW]

Now, seriously, you qualify the glorious ham and pineapple pizza, but say nothing about compromising fettuccine Alfredo?

From the New York City Administrative Code, Title 3, Chapter 2:

Any mention of Hawaiian pizza without qualification shall result in immediate banishment

Referring to that stuff they make in Chicago as 'pizza' is equally egregious.

Sorry, Neapolitan or nothing for me. New York "pizza" has too much crap on it to be considered pizza.

And, to stay on topic, I could really go for a nice ham salad.

[annabelle]

Don't they have some on the buffet at work, Skoop?

[toolprincess]

Ham biscuits for breakfast. Or tiny ham biscuits for appetizers. Love a ham!

[RDaneel]

Awesome, thank you all for the suggestions. There are just two of us, so we might be having ham for eternity... Actually, my wife isn't a huge ham fan, so it may be that I'm having ham for eternity times two.

I'll try to debone and portion so I can SV it in smaller portions, and try to freeze other parts. Then I can use it for many of the great ideas in this thread... Thanks again!

[andiesenji]

I'm just one person and have been known to get through a 12-pound ham all by myself. But then, I do love ham in all it's many guises.

I got this recipe for "Potted Ham" way back in the days when Prodigy had just gone nationwide - a friend in San Francisco talked me into joining.

I've been preparing it about every couple of years since then - it goes great at potluck parties, I never have to bring any leftovers home.

I serve it with pita, other flatbreads or crackers.

I make it exactly as the recipe dictates except that I use lots of black pepper to my taste as I like the stuff.

Potted Ham Recipe

I made the FRANCES MCDOUGALL`S GERMANTOWN RUSK only once, was not impressed, but it's an interesting recipe.

Edited December 2, 2011 by andiesenji (log)

[annabelle]

I make deviled ham out of the odds and ends of the ham and the fat scraps. It sounds rather similar. I never have to sigh and feed it to the dogs.