Baked ham is an iconic holiday "Noche Beuna" centerpiece. As a Filipina with western cultures, I prefer the sweeter version of the ham flavor in pineapple with this pininyahan hamon or piña jamon. Sure! you can order or buy a holiday ham in Costco or supermarkets. Making a ham from scratch it something that sounds hard to do and it seems it takes a long time, actually is very easy to make. Home curing your own ham its freely to access any flavor you want and less expense. Buy a fresh boneless pork leg in a market and ask the bucther a piece of shank portion leaving just enough fat on the meat. This important for the perfect carmelise to juicy meat ratio.This easy recipe yields a sweet and juicy of my piña ham. Its old fashioned, it's comforting, it makes the kitchen smell wonderful Christmas and it's good for the heavenly holiday season.
Ingredients:
pork leg (3-4 kilo)
10 tbsp sugar
7 tbsp salt
2 tsp salitre or cured meat powder
kitchen twine
medical injection or syringe
1.6 litre Del monte pineapple juice
5 garlic cloves, crushed
10 Jamaican peppercorn
1 bay leaves
cloves
pineapple slices
2 dijon mustard sauce
3 tbsp honey syrup
Preparation:
Ingredients:
pork leg (3-4 kilo)
10 tbsp sugar
7 tbsp salt
2 tsp salitre or cured meat powder
kitchen twine
medical injection or syringe
1.6 litre Del monte pineapple juice
5 garlic cloves, crushed
10 Jamaican peppercorn
1 bay leaves
cloves
pineapple slices
2 dijon mustard sauce
3 tbsp honey syrup
Preparation:
1. Combine salt, sugar and salitre in a bowl, then mix all ingredients. Rub some of these season ingredients well into the meat. Then used kitchen twine and tie the meat tightly to maintain it's shape during the curing and cooking process. This is a very important step in creating a successful end product. Set aside the seasoned meat in a glass bowl. Rub again all the remaining season ingredients. Then cover and refrigerate for one day.
2. Using a syringe fill it up with the meat juices that were left in the
glass bowl and start injecting into the meat. Set the cured meat aside
in the glass bowl, covered inside the refrigerator. Repeat the injecting
process every day until no juices remain. I marinated this ham for
about 1 week. You can keep the ham inside a air tight plastic bag in the
freezer for a month or more. Put the ham in a deep casserole, add
enough pineapple juice to cover the ham but not quite full to the top of
the ham. Add the Jamaican peppercorn, 10 cloves, bay leave and garlic,
feel free to improvise. I injected the pineapple juice in the ham
everywhere and anywhere I could poke that needle and inject the goodness
into the meat.
3. Bring to a boil and simmer gently for 2-3 hours, let the ham cool in its own liquid. The ham will continue to cook as the juice cools and this will allow the ham to soak up the flavor of the juice. If you plan to bake it directly to the oven, however, you may want to skip this step. Place the boiled ham in a baking dish and remove the twine. Preheat oven to 200°C and bake the ham for 30 minutes.
4. After 30 minutes baking in the oven. Remove the ham from the oven. Top with the pineapple rings, securing and stud them with cloves or toothpick. Place cherries or fresh cranberries into the centers of the rings, if desired.
5. Combined the honey and extra strong dijon mustard, mix well.
6. Brush the ham on top of pineapple and de-glazed to help carmelized the fruit during baking process.
7. Return the ham to the oven and bake until heated through for 25-30 minutes. Basting occasionally with the honey mixture. When done remove from oven and let stand for 10 minutes before carving, adding more jewel on the centers of the rings. Serve hot or cold in slices.
Suggestion: Best eaten while still hot served with mashed potato and pineapple reduction sauce. Enjoy!
For the Sauce:
Ingredients:
Remaining pineapple juice
1 tbsp dijon mustard
pinch of ground black pepper
cornstarch mix in 2 tbsp of water
Preparation:
Remaining pineapple juice
1 tbsp dijon mustard
pinch of ground black pepper
cornstarch mix in 2 tbsp of water
Preparation:
1.While roasting the ham. Put the remaining juice in a saucepan, strain the peppercorns, cloves garlic and bay leave.
2. Bring to a boil over medium heat and simmer. Skim the fat off the liquid, reduce by half. Add the mustard and ground pepper. Continue to simmer for a couple minutes or until the glaze start to thicken. Add the cornstarch mixture stirring occasionally and simmer until thickened. When sauce has thickened, remove from heat and place on gravy boat.
