Hello again!
This quarter’s Healthy Habits campaign isn’t just about eating right, it’s about improving your habits/self in many different ways. Mental, financial, diet, physical are all parts of it. Today’s recipe isn’t so much about healthy eating (though it isn’t bad for you), it’s about stretching your food dollars. One purchase that can seem expensive, can yield a ton of meals, and lower your overall costs.
First a couple of grocery shopping tips that I try to follow that help curb impulse buying. This one you have heard before: Don’t shop hungry! How very true this is. You are much more likely to buy things you don’t need/want just because at that time, when you are looking at it, it sounds REALLY good. Now, I’m not saying you have to have a complete meal before you go shopping, but try to have a snack to curb those pangs. The other thing you should try to do is always shop with a list. Try not to just “run to the store” because your larder is empty. This will again lead to buying stuff you don’t want or need because you really don’t know what you want or need. Even having a small list helps. Pick a single recipe and plan on going to the store to buy just the items you need. You may still grab other items, but I guarantee that if you are focused with a list, this behavior will happen MUCH less. I try to plan 1-2 meals and base a list on that and I’m like a laser beam in the store. It makes the entire trip less stressful and I don’t leave with a lot of junk food. Plus those 1-2 meals generally turn into 3-4 with leftovers.
I guarantee that if you follow those simple tips, you will come out of the store with more food than you thought and a cheaper bill overall.
So, on to today’s recipe. One of the most cost-effective things at the store is ham. It’s never really expensive, but if you can grab it on sale or at the right time of year it’s REALLY cheap, feeds a lot of people/produces a lot of leftovers, and is totally delicious. Everyone around the office knows of my fondness for double-smoked ham, and you know that we smoke those suckers by the ton at home (you are all lucky that I share). One batch keeps us in ham for months for sandwiches, soups, or just for the simple munching. There is however something even better than the smoked ham. Something that doesn’t require a smoker and that anyone can do. This is one of my crown jewels. It is a recipe that I do not alter at all. It is a recipe that creates one of the best things I have eaten….ever (to date). I will warn you, it is a bit of a process but I recommend against skipping steps, you will not regret it.
The dish is technically called City Ham. We refer to it as Alton Ham in our household, because the recipe is from Alton Brown, and he deserves all the credit for this one.
1 ham (duh) – ok, some tips here. Get a real ham. What you want is a brined ham that is packed in a plastic bag, held in a refrigerated case and marked “ready to cook”, “partially cooked”, or “ready to serve”. Better hams are also labeled “ham in natural juices”. What you don’t want is a ham that is spiral sliced, or in any way flavored. You will also have to decide between a “butt” or “shank” portion. I prefer the “butt” as it tends to provide more actual meat, slices easy and is leaner. People argue that the “shank” has better flavor, I don’t necessarily agree, but it does have more fat and a REALLY awkward bone that you have to carve around. Pick what you want, or try both to see what works best for you.
¼ cup brown mustard
2 cups dark brown sugar
1oz bourbon (poured into a spritz bottle)
2 cups crushed ginger snap cookies
Heat oven to 250 degrees
Remove ham from bag, rinse and drain thoroughly. Place ham, cut side down, in a roasting pan. Using a small paring knife or clean utility knife set to the smallest blade setting (I bought a utility knife special just for this recipe), score the ham from bottom to top, spiraling clockwise as you cut. If you are using a paring knife, be careful to only cut through the skin and the first few layers of fat. Rotate the ham after each cut so that the scores are no more than 2-inches across. Once you’ve made it all the way around, move the knife to the other hand and repeat, spiraling counter clockwise. The aim is to create a diamond pattern all over the ham (don’t worry too much about precision here).
Tent the ham with heavy duty foil, insert a thermometer, and cook for 3-4 hours or until the internal temperature at the deepest part of the meat registers 130 degrees.
Remove the ham from the oven, and remove the foil. Use tongs to pull away the diamonds of skin and any sheets of fat the come off with them.
Heat oven to 350 degrees.
Dab the ham dry with paper towels, then brush on a liberal coat of mustard. Sprinkle on brown sugar, packing loosely as you go until the ham is coated. Spritz this layer with bourbon (I usually just drizzle it on with a spoon and coat it as well as I can, but the spritz method is MUCH easier), then loosely pack on as much of the crushed cookies as you can.
Insert the thermometer (don’t use the old hole) and return to the oven (uncovered). Cook until the interior temperature reaches 140 degrees, approximately 1 hour.
Let rest for ½ hour before carving.
It sounds like a lot of work, and it is, but it is soooooo worth it. Carve it up and freeze half for later or entertain a bunch of friends on the cheap!
– Chris Nichols, Mavidea Network Engineer
