Roast Fresh Ham With Chayote Recipes

Steps:

• Place a rack in lower third of oven and preheat to 425 degrees. Trim skin and excess fat from ham, leaving a layer of fat. Score ham all over in a diamond pattern of 1/2-inch-deep cuts about 1 1/2 inches apart.
• In a small bowl, combine salt, pepper and thyme, pinching and sifting mixture until thyme becomes fragrant. Pat mixture all over ham and into crevices.
• Place ham fat-side up on a rack in a large roasting pan and roast uncovered for 1/2 an hour. Turn heat down to 350 degrees, pour 2 cups wine and 1/2 cup water into pan and loosely tent with aluminum foil. Continue to roast, basting every hour. Add water to pan, if necessary, to keep pan juices from scorching; bake until a meat thermometer pressed into thickest part of ham reads 155 degrees, about 3 1/2 hours.
• Let ham stand 15 to 20 minutes before carving. Pour pan juices and remaining 2 tablespoons wine into a small saucepan and simmer about 2 minutes. Turn off flame, add half-and-half, and serve with ham.

Steps:

• Rinse the ham and pat dry. To score the ham, use a serrated knife to make parallel cuts about an inch apart, across and through the skin into the fat. Cut diagonally across these first cuts to make a diamond pattern.
• In a food processor combine the parsley, sage, garlic, mustard, red pepper, salt, and pepper. Add 1/4 cup of the oil and pulse to a make a coarse paste. Rub the paste all over the ham, pressing it into the cuts. Cover the ham with plastic wrap, put on a pan, and refrigerate overnight.
• Remove ham from the refrigerator about 1 1/2 hours before cooking so the meat can come to room temperature. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
• In a large roasting pan toss the onion wedges with the remaining oil. Place the ham on top of the onions and add 1 cup of the cider. Roast the meat for 30 minutes, reduce the oven temperature 300 degrees F. Cook the ham until an instant read thermometer inserted into the thickest part registers 150 degrees F. A 13-pound ham will take about 4 to 4 1/2 hours, about 20 minutes per pound.
• Meanwhile in a large sauce pan bring the cider to a boil. Reduce the heat to a brisk simmer and cook the cider until syrupy and about 1 1/2 cups. Skim off any foam that comes to the surface as the cider reduces. During the last 1 1/2 hours of cooking the ham, brush the reduced cider over the roast every 30 minutes to glaze the skin.
• Let the cooked ham rest, loosely covered with foil, at room temperature for 30 minutes before carving. Reserve the onions and pan juices, skimming off any excess fat. Carve the ham and serve with the onion and pan juices.

Steps:

• With a small sharp knife prick the ham skin all over, make 4 parallel 1/2-inch-deep incisions through the skin the entire length of the ham, and rub the ham lightly with the oil. In a small bowl rub together the coarse salt, the thyme, the sage, the pepper, and the mustard and rub the mixture over the entire surface of the ham. Put the ham on a roasting rack set in a roasting pan and put the pan in a preheated 500°F. oven. Reduce the temperature immediately to 325°F.> and roast the ham for 1 hour. Pour half the beer over the ham, roast the ham for 30 minutes more, and pour the remaining beer over the ham. Roast the ham for 2 1/2 hours more, or until a meat thermometer registers 170°F., and let it cool on the rack in the pan for 15 minutes. Pull off the brown crisp skin, leaving the layer of fat on the ham, with scissors cut the skin into small pieces, and arrange the cracklings in one layer in a baking pan. Sprinkle the cracklings with salt and bake them in the middle of a preheated 350°F. oven, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes, or until they are crisp and browned. Transfer the cracklings to paper towels and let them drain. Cut the remaining fat from the ham, slice the meat thinly across the grain, and arrange it on a platter. Keep the ham warm, covered.
• Skim off the fat from the juices in the roasting pan, add 1 cup water, and deglaze the pan over moderate heat, scraping up the brown bits. Transfer the liquid to a saucepan. In a small bowl whisk together the flour and 1/4 cup of the broth until the flour is dissolved and whisk the mixture into the deglazing liquid with the remaining 3/4 cup broth, the mustard, the sage, the thyme, and the vinegar and pepper to taste, and simmer the gravy, whisking, for 5 minutes.
• Garnish the ham with the cracklings and the watercress sprigs and serve it with the gravy.