Leftover Ham

I stared at the remainder of the 10-pound half ham sitting on the butcher block. After a lovely Easter dinner with all the trimmings, the kitchen looked overwhelmingly disastrous. I didn’t have the sharp-edged appetite that I had when I took that clove-studded, glistening glazed ham from the oven to carve for the dinner. Then it was all I could do not to eat too much as I sliced it for the dinner platter. A few juicy, tender morsels did end up in my mouth but it didn’t spoil my appetite for a nice slab of that pink treat at dinner.

The scalloped potatoes, asparagus with Hollandaise sauce, tiny, homemade dinner rolls, and strawberry-rhubarb pie added to that stuffed after-holiday feeling which made me want nothing more than to lie down on the couch and watch the Masters Golf tournament with the men in my family. But the ham et al must be disposed of.

Where to begin? Finally, there was nothing left to do but just roll up my sleeves and started slicing. This ham had been cooked in apple cider and glazed with orange marmalade, so it was on the sweet side. The sweet-salty combination is delightful in all the leftover ham dishes I had in mind.

First, I sliced the center ham very thin for sandwiches—everyone’s favorite application. I put some of them in ¼ pound packages for the two of us—a kitchen scale is really handy here. Then I filled sectioned, Styrofoam trays and added the rest of the leftover side dishes to the other sections. These will go into the freezer as “TV dinners.”

When I was trying to wrestle with the big, round bone, I began to cut it off in slabs, to be chunked for casseroles, or finely diced for “seasoning.” The bone with plenty of meat clinging to it was put into a freezer bag for split pea soup. The scraps of skin, fat, and not-so-lovely pieces put into another bag for using with bean dishes—limas, baked, and bean soups. It can also be ground up with some of the chunks to make a succulent ham loaf. I weighed each package to be suitable for the two of us, plus a few to make when company comes. I poured off the lovely pan juices, made rich with the ham fat and flavored with apple cider. I put it in a container in the refrigerator, so I can lift off the fat that congeals on top and pour the remainder into freezer containers to add to soups and vegetable dishes. Done! Just in time to watch a three-way playoff in the golf tournament.

Since this particular ham was $1.43/pound, I felt like the frugal, virtuous housewives of days gone by. Here are a few recipes I will make from my precious cache.

Ham ‘N Egg Biscuits

2 cups flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. baking soda
4 Tbsp. lard or solid shortening
¾ cup buttermilk
1 cup cooked ground ham

Whisk flour, salt, baking powder and soda together. Rub in lard. Blend in ground ham. Add buttermilk and mix into a soft dough, just stiff enough to be handled. Turn out on floured board. Knead very slightly—too much will make a tough product. Pat into 1-inch thick round. Cut with biscuit cutter, being careful not to twist cutter. Bake on greased pan in 450 degree oven for 12 minutes. Serve with Egg Sauce

3 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and chopped
2 cups milk
4 Tbsp butter
4 Tbsp flour
¾ tsp. salt
Pinch of pepper

Melt butter, add flour and stir until smooth. Add milk, stirring constantly and cook over low heat until thickened, about 4 to 5 minutes. Add seasonings and egg. Remove from heat and serve over ham biscuits.

Ham Loaf

2 Tbsp. butter
1 cup chopped onion
1 pound ground leftover ham
1 pound ground pork
1 cup crushed saltine crackers
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup milk
1 Tbsp. mustard
2 tsp. prepared horseradish
2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp. black pepper

Glaze

1/4 cup orange marmalade
2 Tbsp. mustard
1 Tbsp. brown sugar
1 tsp. horseradish
1/8 tsp black pepper

Sauté onion in butter until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add to the remaining loaf ingredients in a bowl. Pack into a loaf pan and smooth surface. Bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees. Mix together the glaze ingredients and spoon half over ham. Bake for 15 minutes longer, then cover with remaining glaze and bake about 15-20 minutes longer, taking care not to let glaze burn. Let stand for 10 minutes before cutting. Serve hot or chilled in thick slices.

Old-fashioned Split-Pea Soup

Place ham bone, 3 quarts water, 2 cups washed split green or yellow peas, 2 tsp. salt, ¼ tsp. pepper and 1 medium onion, chopped. Simmer over low heat for 2-3 hours until peas are very tender. Cut ham off bone and discard bone. Add ham meat to soup. Makes 8-10 servings.