My wife's family has a tradition which she and I have tried to continue since her mother passed away in 2004. Mrs. Maxine always made a boiled country ham for New Year's Day and we have been doing it the last 2 years.
This year we tried a different brand by accident and it was well worth it. My mother-in-law always used Old Alamance or Peanut City brand but I bought Clifty Farms out of Tennessee. When we went to open it up, I caught a great smokey fragrance..... reminded me of the smoke house my grandfather used when I was a kid.
The ham was the best we have ever had. If you are curious how this works, here's the directions.
1- Buy a country ham that is heavy for it's size. This usually means it is not dried out and will not be too salty.
2- Cut off the hock, toss it in the freezer, and soak the ham for 2 days, changing the water after the first day.
3- Cover your ham with water, place a lid on the pot, rand turn the heat on high and bring it to a boil. As soon as it starts to boil, lower the heat to a simmer and place a meat thermometer in the thickest part of the ham.
4- When the ham reaches 170 degrees, take the ham off the stove and wrap the whole pot in a thick towel and allow it to cool for a few hours.
5- After your ham has cooled enough to handle, remove the skin and trim away the fat. She's ready to eat at this point.
6- We save the stock and use it for seasoning veggies and for making soup. We pour it into plastic pint containers and just put in the freezer.
If you have never had country ham served this way, the texture will remind you of a smoked ham. Do NOT slice it with an electric knife as this will toughen the slices and cause them to dry out. I promise you will love this. The soaking draws a large amount of the salt out and leaves all of that great country ham flavor. We also save the hock and the bone for making soup and for beans/greens.
Feel free to email me if you have any questions.
Dennis in Cary
<message edited by DLnWPBrown on Sun, 06/7/09 1:14 PM>
