Sliced ham recipe

SLICED HAM RECIPE :  Just back from a great weekend in the English countryside. I was visiting Kip & Elise, my Aunt & Uncle and managed to fit in a spot of cooking. There is something about their kitchen that leads to cullinary experimentation and this time it was trying my hand at making pressed ham for sliced cold meats (luncheon meats).

Kip has made it for us in the past and we agreed that the taste, texture and reduced salt content will convert you in a heart beat. You can really taste the bay leaves, juniper berries and cider in the ham, which shaves perfectly into paper thin slices, just wonderful in a sandwich.

Not only does it taste better but making your own sliced ham is far more economical than buying it at the supermarket or butcher and stays fresh longer without that nasty oxidised taste, as you slice it as needed. Kip even keeps the stock and uses it to make wonderful green split pea soup, which will post in the future.

RECIPE : ERIKA ALLISTON – Sweet Pea Blog

• 1 kg unsmoked gammon ham joint (cured ham)
• dry (brute) apple cider to cover ham
• 2 laurel (bay) leaves
• 1 medium white onion
• 6 black peppercorns
• 6 juniper (gin) berries

1. De-salt the ham by soaking it over night in cold water, then discard the water. Or, place the ham in a large saucepan, cover with cold water and bring to a simmer. Remove from heat and discard water.
2. Peel the onion and cut in half.
3. In a large saucepan place the de-salted ham, bay leaves,  onion halves, peppercorns and gin berries. Add the cider till it covers the ham completely.
4. Bring the cider to a simmer and cook  for 45 minutes
5. Drain the cider stock and keep it to use in soup.
6. Remove the rind of the ham (see picture) and press the ham into a container smaller than its size ie) a bowl. This will compress the meat. It will be difficult to force the ham into the container, you will have to put some muscle into it! Place a cutting board on top and then some weights ie) cook books.
7. Leave to cool completely.
8. When cool, remove the weights, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and put in the fridge for 2 hours.
9. Remove the ham from bowl and cut off the excess jelly that has formed. Tie three strings around the waist of the ham, this will make cutting it easier.
10. Using a very sharp knife cut a few thin slices!!

Rice Pudding

RICE PUDDING

It is funny how you grow up believing that certain foods should be made in certain ways. It is hard to break the mould of family tradition, especially for tried, tested and true recipes.

My English grandmother always made rice pudding in the oven, with butter, nutmeg, sultanas and fresh full fat milk, delivered in glass bottles to the house each day. As children we adored having the responsibility of leaving the small green token for the milkman, along with the empty bottles for him to collect and replace with filled ones. When you peeled back the thin aluminium cap, there was a thick layer of cream that had settled on the top.  Who ever was in charge of the tokens was in charge of the cream!

Thus for me this recipe was made in the oven, baked until a nice golden crust formed on top. It was only recently that I changed my tune and now enjoy stirring a steaming pot of this creamy desert on the stove top. One advantage I found to making rice pudding this way, is that you can better control its consistency, avoiding the disappointment of the desert drying out. And if you do not like nutmeg or cardamom, as mentioned in my recipe, you can replace these spices with half a vanilla bean!

RECIPE - SWEET PEA Blog

• 100 gr white pudding rice
• 750 mL whole milk (3.5% fat)
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
• generous pinch ground nutmeg
• 3 tablespoons white sugar
• 1 teaspoon unsalted butter

1. Bring 500mL of water to the boil
2. Add rice & boil for 3 minutes. Strain immediately & set aside.
3. Bring milk & spices JUST to the boil
4. Add pre-cooked rice & lower heat to a slow simmer
5. Simmer uncovered for 25 minutes, until the milk thickens.* Stir every 5 minutes. A skin/film will form, just mix it in, it will dissolve.
6. A few minutes before the pudding is ready, add the sugar & butter

*the cooking time will depend on the type of milk you use, your pot & stove. I remove the pudding from the stove when there is still some thickened milk left, to keep it creamy & moist, as the rice will continue to absorb while cooling.

{KIP’S GARIBALDI BISCUITS} What’s in a name ….. While my uncles birth certificate reads ‘Nicholas Alliston’, very few people know this, and even fewer call him anything but Kip. A nickname he was given by my grandfather – a true gourmand, who had a weakness for Kippers (a smoked fish of either salmon or herring)

As the story goes, my grandfather was at home in bed with the flu. Impatient as he was when it came to food, he couldn’t wait for his breakfast, so he shouted downstairs ‘where’s my Kipper?’ At which point my uncle jumped out from behind the door and shouted ‘here I am!’ – and the name has stuck ever since. As a child he couldn’t pronounce nor spell ‘Kipper’, and so, as children do, he changed it to Kippa, which turned into Kip –  but the route is there as is his love for food and cooking.

When visiting his house in the country your nose is invigorated by delicious smells that come wafting from the kitchen…. pork pie, roasted balsamic tomatoes, soufflé, homemade bread…. However, I have generally been a passive observer, an eager taster but rarely his sou-chef in such creations. That was until this summer when I was indoctrinated into the ‘Alliston Garibaldi kitchen of fame’.

The following is the recipe my uncle taught me, one that he had perfected over time, in a quest to keep up with my Aunts love of biscuits and cups of tea. They originate from England and are named after the Italian general Giuseppe Garibaldi (1807-1882), who enjoyed eating these biscuits when he visited the UK. The small personal touch I added, was to use only currents (no raisins) and to reduce the quantity from 400g to 300g.

RECIPE - SWEET PEA BLOG

• 200g plain white flour
• 200g icing sugar
• 140g unsalted butter
• 3 egg whites
• 300g currents
• egg wash for biscuits = 1 egg yolk + 1 whole egg

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F).
2. First separate the eggs : 1 bowl with 3 egg whites and a 2nd bowl for the egg wash = 1 egg yolk +  1 whole egg whisked together – set the bowls aside.
3. Now in a large mixing bowl, sift the flour and the icing sugar and mix well. Next melt the butter, then combine with the sugar/flour mixture until what looks like little breadcrumbs.
4. Next add the 3 egg whites (no need to beat them in advance) and mix until you have a very smooth batter. Finally fold in the currents. This is a very wet dough that must now be chilled for at least 1 hour.
5. Place half the dough on a large piece of baking paper. Flour the surface of the dough and the rolling pin well, and roll out until approximately 0.5cm thick. Place on a baking sheet.
6. Using a pastry brush, cover the entire surface of the dough with a thick lager of egg wash.
7. Cook for 20-22 minutes.
8. Remove from the oven and using a large sharp knife immediately cut into rectangles. Leave the cookies to harden for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.

NOTE: as the dough is VERY wet, please do not reduce the chilling time or it will be difficult to roll out.