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Holiday Ham: Tips for Choosing
 by: Linda Schnable

The holiday ham is the traditional centerpiece for Easter, Christmas, and other holiday gatherings. Almost any special meal warrants a holiday ham. Many options are available in choosing a holiday ham and in the quest to make the choice your holiday ham centerpiece a success. You can not judge the value of your holiday ham by the price per pound; you need to look beyond the price for differences in hams that are available.Nutrition labels are a great place to start your comparisons of the ham. The nutrifacts gives information about the calories, fat, cholesterol, protein, and sodium contents of the ham. Generally, nutrifacts for ham are healthy since ham is a relatively lean cut of meat before anything is added. When comparing hams, be certain that you note the serving size that has been used to establish the nutritional statistics of the ham.

Although nutrition information is very similar from one ham manufacturer to another, there are several factors that will present distinguishable differences in hams. These factors may represent differences in flavor and texture profile from one brand of ham to another. These factors are bone-in ham versus boneless, slow curing of ham versus efficient curing, water levels added to the ham, different methods of smoking the ham, cooking duration, and, of course, the ingredients included the cure or marinade of the ham.

Bone-in hams provide 2-3 servings per pound and tend to highlight the added ingredients. The natural fats of the ham help to enhance the ingredients that are added to the cure (marinade). Although you may want to trim the fat away when consuming the ham, cooking the ham with its natural fat will bring out the unique differences in many spices and sweeteners used to make the ham. Boneless hams provide 4-5 servings per pound. Boneless hams usually have all visible fats removed when preparing the ham for smoking and cooking. Boneless hams are extremely simple, however if you do not mind trimming away a little fat, you will probably enjoy the flavor profile of the bone-in ham more than the boneless ham. If carving is a concern, try a pre-sliced spiral sliced ham with the bone-in.

Another factor that presents definitive differences in hams from one brand to another is the method of curing the ham. Ham is made with a flavorful cure, a marinade of water and brine that gives the ham its typical taste and appearance. Technology advancements have helped the ham curing process (adding ingredients through moisture enhancements) to become a much more efficient process than the early days of ham processing. Equipment has helped the process of getting the ingredients into the ham quickly to get the ham to the store quicker. Although the efficiency factor helps reduce the costs of production of some hams, it is not always effective in maximizing the flavor enhancement factor. Whether using new technology or traditional methods, slowing the curing process will bring out the unique differences from the added ingredients. Getting the ingredients into the meat is only half of the process, giving them a chance to work before cooking is the second half.

Water is the medium in which ham makers use to get different ingredients into the meat. Over the years, some ham makers have improved their methods to get more and more moisture into the meat. Labels will read ham, ham with natural juices, water-added ham, and ham with X% added water. Obviously, ham and ham with natural juices will have the least amount of water diluting the natural taste of ham and its added spices. Adding more and more water will help drive down the cost of the ham, but generally does little to enhance the flavor and texture of the ham itself.

The method of smoking the ham will be yet another factor that creates differences from one brand of ham to another. The traditional method of smoking ham was to use specially selected logs of hard woods that would enhance the sweeteners and spices that the ham maker chose. Soon, processors found that their ham tasted better with hickory wood, applewood, or even dried corn cobs. One of the newest technologies is a processed natural smoke that is converted to a liquid form and is applied to the hams during the cooking process. This process has helped to shorten the processing cycle of the ham. Many specialty processors still choose to stay with the natural wood of their choice to enhance the special blend of spices that gives their ham its unique flavor properties.

Much like the lengthened curing process of the ham, many ham processors feel that slow cooking ham at a lower temperature maintains the natural meat texture and cooks the spice flavors into the ham. Again, technology has been introduced to shorten the cooking cycles and reach the safe internal temperatures quicker. Some argue that the quick process changes the ham texture too much, and doe not allow the flavors of the ham and ingredients to blend during the cooking process.

Probably the one area that each ham maker will argue that his is the best is in the ingredients he chooses for the cure or marinade of the ham. Each cure has one or two prominent ingredients that help to give unique taste and aroma properties to a ham. Maple syrup, honey, and brown sugar are three primary ingredients that specialty ham processors may choose to build their cure recipe. In addition to the base ingredient, many other spices may be added to further enhance a unique recipe preference to cure a ham.

As you can see, a good centerpiece holiday ham for your Easter, Christmas, or special celebration meal goes well beyond the price per pound or an attractive package. There are many ways to make a ham less expensive, but like any good recipe, if you short cut the cycle and ingredients it may not taste as good and bring pleasure to you and your guests that you may expect. Choose your ham wisely, and enjoy one of the best tasting meal traditions.

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Kangaroo Pouches (Hot Sandwiches)
 by: LeAnn R. Ralph

Use your imagination to fill these hot sandwiches. The recipe makes 15 or 16 sandwiches. Leftovers can be used for snacks and to take to work for lunch.

Sandwich Pouches

1 1/2 cups warm water
1 package dry yeast (or 2 teaspoons bulk yeast)
1/3 cup canola oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup dry oatmeal
4 1/2 to 5 cups flour

Dissolve yeast in warm water. Stir in remaining ingredients. Knead for a couple of minutes. Dough will be a little soft and sticky.

Divide dough into balls the size of small eggs.

Filling

Use what you like for the filling. I have used slices of summer sausage, thin-sliced ham, cotto salami, smoked turkey breast, dried beef. For the cheese, I have used cheddar, colby, and mozerella.

Assembling the Kangaroo Pouches

Roll dough to approximately 6 inches wide by 8 inches long. Place a slice of meat and a slice of cheese slightly below the center of the dough. Drizzle a few drops of Italian salad dressing or a scant teaspoon of spaghetti sauce over the cheese. I have also used a scant teaspoon of sour cream or blue cheese salad dressing.

Bring the top part of the dough over the filling and seal the edges by rolling up the dough toward the filling.

Place sandwiches on a greased baking sheet.

Bake at 325 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes. Some of the cheese may melt out of the Kangaroo Pouches, but in that case, when you serve them, scoop the melted cheese on top of the sanwiches.

Serve with a salad or other fresh vegetables.

Yield: 15 or 16 Kangaroo Pouches

Note: My husband loves to take to these to work and heats them up in the microwave for lunch.

About The Author

LeAnn R. Ralph is the author of the farm books "Cream of the Crop (More True Stories from Wisconsin Farm)" (trade paperback, Sept. 2005); "Christmas in Dairyland (True Stories from a Wisconsin Farm" (trade paperback 2003); "Give Me a Home Where the Dairy Cows Roam" (trade paperback 2004); "Preserve Your Family History (A Step-by-Step Guide for Interviewing Family Members and Writing Oral Histories" (e-book 2004).

Technorati Tags: boneless smoked ham, ham, Leftover Ham Recipes, recipe, smoked spiral ham

5 Quick And Easy Sandwich Ideas For The Week

Are you stuck on what to pack for lunch for the upcoming work or school week? This article will help you get unstuck with five easy sandwich ideas for lunch. Sandwiches are easy to pack and do not require reheating which means you don’t have to wait in line for the microwave.

You will find this article useful if you have a child who doesn’t like to eat the same thing for lunch every day.

Having the same kind of sandwich for five days of the week can get extremely boring. There needs to be variety! Here are some really easy ways you can prepare five different lunches during the evening.

Here is what you need for the easy sandwich ideas: sliced bread, eggs, celery, mayonnaise (or miracle whip), jam, peanut butter, canned tuna, cold meat (ham and turkey) and lettuce.

MONDAY – Egg salad sandwich. Hard boil 1 or 2 eggs. Slice the eggs and 1 stalk of celery. Mix them with mayonnaise and add some salt and pepper. Spread it on the bread.

TUESDAY – Peanut butter sandwich. Open the peanut butter jar and spread some on the sliced bread.

WEDNESDAY – Cold cut sandwich. Spread the mayonnaise on the bread. Open the ham and turkey in the cold meat package and place it on the bread. Top with some lettuce and pepper.

THURSDAY – Jam sandwich. Spread some jam and the bread and you’re good to go!

FRIDAY – Tuna salad sandwich. Mix the canned tuna with mayonnaise and sliced celery. Sprinkle with some pepper and spread it on the bread.

There’s five easy sandwich ideas for lunch that you can’t easily get bored with. They don’t require a lot of ingredients so you’re saving some money, plus, they are quick and easy to prepare too! Enjoy.

By: Hai Nguyen

HAM & CHEESE WEDGES
A cheese-topped open-face sandwich becomes a quick appetizer.

HAM & TURKEY FOCACCIA
Using focaccia is a creative way to serve this cold sandwich that features many deli ingredients.

Hot Ham Sandwich Recipe
Hot Ham And Stilton Waffle Sandwich recipe from GroupRecipes.com.

Green Onions Wrapped in Ham and Panfried
Recipe: Ham Negimayaki. You need:. Green onion or scallion or spring onion, however you also need ham.

Caribbean Jerk Ham Sandwich
Ingredients: 1/2 pound of shaved deli ham 4 poor boy or hoagie buns, split 1 1/2 teaspoons of…

Technorati Tags: country smoked ham, ham, honey glaze ham, sandwich, sandwiches

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