Homage to the Country Ham

No one expects the Spanish Inquisition!

hmmm, a properly glazed ham, absolutely nothing like it.

The local salumeria at the Ferry building in San Francisco has been selling prosciutto coppa, or cooked ham. Brined with clove, allspice, sugar and pepper and then slow cooked. mmmm, I can taste it now.

Finally, an opportunity to ask!
Grits I have covered, thanks to "My Cousin Vinnie". What in the hell is biscuits and gravy (specifically the biscuits bit)?

mmmmm.... I may have to stop by the little town mini mart up the road for one of their delicious ham & biscuit breakfast sandwiches. Have a wonderful day all.

MICHAEL- you have me salivating at your description of the ham gravy. Oh my! The few days after Thanksgiving are my favorite as I eat bowls of leftover dressing w/ gravy for breakfast. One of my favorite things in the world.

I remember my father pouring a couple of cans of beer over the ham before he put it in the oven.  I'm sure its not a "country recipe",  but  his guests always loved it. He also secured  pineapple slices to the outside with toothpicks.  I think he learned this recipe in Hawaii.
He usually served this with the traditional anti-pasta and lasangna that are required to make a Sunday or holiday meal.   

Just the day before yesterday (coming off a 23 mile hike) my brother and I ate in a country diner in Talihina, Oklahoma: 'Pam's Diner' -- better known as 'Brown's' from the days her daddy owned and ran it.  I just Googled it and came up with a customer 'restaurant review'-- which sums up our strange and wonderful world: "Cheap, yummy diner food!"
Pam's Diner
4 of 5 stars
Molosser
Oslo, Norway
2 Sep 2008  Pam's "Hateful Hussy" Diner is a perfect example of good ol' fashioned Oklahoma diner food. I had the chicken tenders basket for $3.95. It included four chicken tenders, fries, a slice of buttered toast, and white gravy. The food was delicious, the price can't be beat, the service was fast and friendly, and the locale was cute. Absolutely recommended!

Pam's ham and eggs breakfast (with homemade biscuits, hash browns, and coffee) is pretty good too.  Now, ya'll git on down to Talihina if you wanna eat good!!!!  (The fall foliage will be at its peak on Halloween weekend!)

Diced, sliced, cold, hot, fresh, canned, smoked (and sometimes with a little maple syrup on it) -- mmmmmmmm

John_DB: Not sure where you are from, but I'll give it a go.  Biscuits, here at least, are a bread that is distantly related to scones, but without any sort of fruit or anything mixed into the batter.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biscuits#Biscuits_in_North_American_usage
 
Gravy is meat juice mixed with water or milk, a thickening agent (like flour) and spices.
 
Put them together, particularly when the gravy is made with chunks of sausage, and you have a wonderful breakfast that will make you feel guilty all day.

fist biscuits from around here....
 
bunch of flour (5?cups)
little bit of baking powder(2?tsp)
pinch of salt, sugar and soda
heap of shortening(1?rounded cup)
couple cups of buttermilk (2? =/-)
 
use some of the flour to cover your work area, and on your hands to keep the dough from sticking to you or your work area. work it until it no longer sticks to anything.  get a fist full and put on greased pan and bake in not to hot oven....(375?) until done...(15?minutes)
if you get tired of fisting, you can make what's left in to a hoecake.... 

Kids do say the darndest things.
 

and gravy.....hmmm......can be made from any drippings(renderings)...around here.....plain...some cool water (beer, wine, liquor, juice, milk) and some flour, mixing until flour lumps disappear, then add back to skillet or whatever, heating until thick...probably about 3 to 1 ratio water to flour.......

I enjoy ham but once a year, at Easter, with Lady Red's family. Her sister does the cooking but the sister cheats, as their father picks-up a ham from the Honey Baked Ham store and they just heat it up in the oven. Still, it's better than nothing.
 
Growing up, ham was a religiously forbidden treat that my parents would make now and then, so long as we didn't tell my mother's parents (sidebar - we couldn't tell Dad's parents either, but they ate bacon & sausage so go figure). Now the hams they would get would come from the Farmers' Market Store which was located in my very urban neighborhood & still is in operation to this day. They would use the recipe provided to them by Farmer Joe. Still drool a bit thinking about it.
 
Michael~ that gravy sounds quite delicious.
 
I want biscuits.

karma swim swami

Speaking of Spain or drop a hat, I remember on a business trip to Madrid my counterpart wined and dined me. This was at 10:30 at night because we are on Spanish time and I was still recovering from the 2.5 hour drunken lunch we had. He introduced me to spanish ham where he educated me on the fact that in Spain pigs roam the country side as oppose to wallowing in pens, and therefore taste better. Then after dinner we had a few snifters of Carlos V which I can't remember what kind of alcohol it is, and a Cuban cigar.

Now all three are not regularly in my diet. So the next thing I know I was passed out on my hotel bed with the door wide open. The local police were called in because hotel security thought I was dead. So maybe I was and now I am re-born, suspicious of Spanish ham, Carlos V, and a Cuban stogie. Of which any of those three, I may jump on the cross again. It was a short glimpse of heaven but I got sent back. The last thing I heard just before the slamming of the pearly gates was something about lessons learned I didn't get it all so I fear I'll be practicing this skool of life a little while longer.

Daniel Zev,

I'll take a honey baked hame over anything grandma or any of my other relatives bake on their own. If thats cheatin then call me the cheatin kind of guy.

Mr. Murphy~ The HoneyBaked is quite good, just a little on the dry side for my tastes. Re-reading my previous post, it does sound like I'm taking a pot-shot at non-DIY hams, but I meant nothing of the sort. It's good to cheat now and then.

ACK, STOP!  You've invoked the honey baked ham company...now the mis-dialed phone calls will never stop.  *sigh*  As funny as some of the phone calls we get for them (our toll free number is one digit off of one of HBH's customer service numbers), thanksgiving, christmas, and easter can be hectic enough without taken 20+ calls a day from people who didn't receive their pies, who glaze mix just didn't work out like they thought it would, or whose hams baked faster than it said on the packaging.
 
For years after finishing a cadaver lab section at university I could NOT eat bone in ham...looked too much like the cross section of a human femur (I worked in a steak restaurant at that time and I had to beg people to take out the rarer cuts of prime rib for fear I'd lose my lunch before I got the meat to the table..  But now I'll take it any way I can get it.
 
Just as chicken seems to be a medium for every sauce under the sun in my mother's recipe liturgy, ham is the holy vessel for transporting home made heavenly honey mustard goodness.  Never gravy or white sauce and certainly never plain by itself...the honey mustard dressing is why ham was created.  So let us not forget ham's favorite partner in crime...HONEY MUSTARD!

Zenvelo:  What is the name of the store in the Ferry Building? 
 
I'm reading all this before I've eaten anything... oh my not fair Mr. P.  I've never had biscuits and gravy .  I guess i am from the worng part of the country.  But, a good ham and having it for leftovers is the best.  Trukey gets dry...but, i agree stuffing and gravy for breakfast is the best.
 
Now I had better stop answering the phone, reading this and eat someting.

But I'm a p, ah p, ah p, ah p, ah pig said Porky with a look of horror on his face.

Kim I grew up with biscuits and gravy, even though I never lived in the South.  We have family friends, Auntie Martha and Uncle Jim, who were from Arkansas and she was our southern food education...ham hock and beans, black eyed peas, corn bread, hush puppies, collard greens, grits, and especially her biscuits with country gravy.  Aunt Martha is in rough shape now and doesn't get out of bed much so now its our turn to make biscuits and gravy for her...ours aren't nearly as good but she never lets on, that's part of her charm.

The best country ham I've ever had was at the Silver Skillet diner in Atlanta. It's almost worth making the trip. Tripps seems like a nice alternative...and you know turkey can get awfully dry.

If you like baked ham but it comes out dry you all should try the bain marie method...keeps things moisty and steamy.

KIM:  I am guessing that you are nowhere near the South, and for that I offer my sincerest condolences .......  If you ever get to Texas, give us a holler and we'll fix you up some Catheads and Red Bone Gravy, with some well Butter'd Grits on the side ... Good Hot Coffee, or even properly brewed Breakfast Tea ....... It is an experience that no one should be deprived of in his life .......

I still have some melon and lemons but have used up all the Prosciutto (my favorite).
 
Love that stuff.

HP has helped my install my 2 HP printers.
 
After I spent about 12 hours trying I broke down and called support.
 
It took them another 10 hours to upload both printers.
 
Now how simple was that? 

Today I get to call them back to upload Outlook Ezpress.
 
The fun never ends.
 
I haven't even gotten to have my second mug of Dark Roast and I'm thinking about a glass of wine instead. No, no, not really. I need the jolt first or I can't keep going.

NACHISTA:
 
I know your pain.
 
My toll free 800 number was closed to the turkey hot line number and I used to get calls starting at about mid-night of the night before Thanksgiving.
 
Some very funny calls indeed.

Italian trip?
Eat pig in Parma!
Pounds on your caboose,
But tummy Karma!!
 
 
 
 
 

Mmmmmm pork fat.  I mean why stop at ham (shaved thin, stacked high with sliced chicken, grilled onions, pickles, melted cheese on a soft parker house roll), pancetta, Prosciutto, thick sliced back, thin sliced back, canadian bacon, fatback, pork rinds, trotters, roast suckling pig, kahlua pork, pit roasted pork, shoulder roast, stuffed porkchops, grilled porkchops, loin roast served with apricot stuffing and applesauce...
 
*sigh* I <3 pork, everything is better with a porcine side.

I am so hungry it is not even funny...so I'm torturing my co-workers with talk delicious food, misery loves company.

How has this conversation not brought Isles out of hiding?  I remember the last time we spoke of biscuits he not only joined the topic but he made biscuits AND posted photos.
 

Our phone # is a digit away from a well-known tawdry run down bar/motel combo in another town, not far from here, but OH the phone calls we get. 
 
It's as good as having a party line, like in the days of old, but this is almost better, you wind up knowing a whole lot about people like "Jim" who's looking for "Marie" and last weekend, "Laurie" who was looking to meet up with "Alf," even though he was a two timing SOB, so she was going to meet "Richie" first, and if that worked out, she was going to forget about "Alf."
 
Now, back to ham, I suppose...

nachista:  I guess i am fresh out of southern relatives.
 
Jalopkin:  Nope not anywhere near the south..I am a little north of san Francisco.
 
You guys are still making me hungry.
 
Off to San diego to escort my mom to her opening at the Meingei Museum.  No post for a few days.

As Doc Nolan (and others) can attest to, around here we have Isaly's Chipped Chopped Ham. It's chopped up ham, formed into a brick, and then chipped on a deli slicer. Chipping it makes it thinner than shaved. Lots of people like it & I hear it makes a grand ham barbeque, but I avoid the stuff at all costs, having worked it a deli and chipping this stuff on a daily basis for over a year.

Nothing better than a sliver of country ham on a hot homemade biscuit.  For never-fail ones mix White Lily flour with heavy cream gently until you get a nice light dough, then drop or roll them out and cut them.  Bake at 400 til golden brown, then slap that ham right in the middle of one of them.
 Last night I made "pig candy."  Jill Connor Brown, my neighbor to the north and author of the Sweet Potato Queen books, was my inspiration.  Take thick sliced bacon and press it into dark brown sugar, both sides.  Bake it in 375 degree oven for about 30 minutes (check it often around that time, don't let it burn)  Drain it on a rack.  I think the original recipe calls for a pound of bacon and it says "serves one", it will make you swoon!Annie

Daniel we did the same thing at my uncle's restaurant.  We'd get the whole hams, sliced them for the sandwiches that required it thick, then grind the rest.  About half of what was ground was used loose as pizza topping and the other half was pressed into cubes and then sliced.  It was a long salty process but sooooo good!

Annie your post about bacon reminded me of a friend of mine.  She dredges bacon in brown sugar and maple, then broils it til very crispy.  Then she runs it through the food processor to make "bacon dust"...she uses it as seasoning on everything from corn on the cob, to pizza.  It is really addicting.

Mom made ham salad from left over baked ham.
 
Grind the ham add pickle relish and mayo.
 
I like to add a little onion and red pepper flakes, not Mom.
 
Makes great sandwiches.
 
When I don't have leftover ham I used deli ham.
 
I get desperate sometimes.

I've been on line since 1:00 pm with HP, India, and hope all my issues are resolved with this new Compaq mini.
 
Support help is really wonderful. Thanks so much to them.
 
I could never have done this myself since they told me the thing was not loaded right in the first place at the factory.

Jalopkin, what are catheads?  I'm a Yankee, so I've never hear of them ore eaten them. 

Julie Masi:  Good question.  I'm a Yankee too, but I have a couple of Oklahoma/Texas relatives and I've heard this term and I think it means "biscuits" -- I think.  If It doesn't mean biscuits, I'm afraid to think what it might mean.
 
Ivan isn't being literal.
Is he?
 
Kiddin' on ya, Ivan...
 

PeterLake:  That was an excellent imitation of one of my very favorite pigs.  Only you would think of Porky.  He's a cutie.  That's all folks?

Park4: Hello, virtual friend. Actually I was trying to get a tawdry bar/motel in another county, but your number musta been one digit off...

So is everybody playing nicely with others today?

A cathead is a big ol' biscuit.

PARK4 ... OLIVIA ....... Blessings Upon You Both, and Congratulations !!!!!!!
 
Catheads are indeed, "Big Ol' Bisquits" !!!!!!!   So called because we usta throw a ball of Dough down onna Griddle, and it wouldsplatter-stretch out to the sides, leaving a lump about the size of a cat's head, with some of it splayed out like whiskers ....... I'makem that Big still, but I actually roll and fold my Dough, to where it is four layers deep(a little over 2 inches thick) and I cut roundels out with the bottom part of a plastic gizmo that I got from Tupperware back in the 50's, that is used to form one pound Hamburger Patties ... Makes a good Cookie Cutter too ....... Bisquits come out about five inches in diameter, about three inches thick, Golden Brown on Tops, Lite, fluffy, soft, and marvelous tasting !!! Adornments can include Jam/Jelly/Preserves, lotsa Sweet Cream Butter, Gravy, Blackstrap Molasses, Maple Syrple, Marmalade, or even Cream Cheese and split in half you can used to bed Chili con Carne, Stews, or most anything ....... Two of 'em and a good mess of Grits(Fried or Boiled) will give you a good half a day's work without poopin' out !!!  Be sure and have plenty of good, strong Coffee on hand, with a touch of Chicory in it ....... and you can also sweeten the coffee with some good corn squeezins if the weather is a little cool .......

You're all invited for Gravy.

Grits.  I had them only one time.  And I didn't know what to do with them, so I ate them plain, and they were a little bland.  A lot bland, really.  I see from Ivan's post that there's a whole lot of things I could have put on 'em, but didn't.  Next time I get an urge to eat grits ... I'll remember this.
 
Michael:  I'll be there.  Gravy is the best part of any meal that includes it.  That's one reason I laughed so hard, yes it was an LOL OUT LOUD few minutes, when one year I watched Martha Stewart's Thanksgiving on teevee, a special where she clued in the rest of the world on how to make a perfect Thanksgiving like hers -- and she's having 16 people? or so, plus children --  and she's got this turkey big enough for maybe 6 of my husband's relatives, but the real kicker was the gravy.
 
She made a big production out of making this turkey gravy, a major big deal it was -- and when she was done, she says:  "And this recipe makes two cups of the most excellent gravy."
 
TWO cups of gravy!  I'm laughing so hard I got hiccoughs, she's gotta be kidding, I thought. 
 
Two cups would make it to two people in this huge family I have the mixed pleasure of feeding every Thanksgiving.  We talk about gravy in quarts, and I think of it in terms of gallons -- two cups!! 
 
Oh, Martha, two cups is so so wrong. 
 
 
 
 
 
 

It may be for a crap-tastic mobile phone, but even these guys like a nice ham:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGObGID6Cr4
 

I'll just have a plain ol' slice of tavern ham off the bone on rye bread with some mustard with a lil' kick to it.   And a side of slaw.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DH7qq7OjJO8&NR=1

mmmmmmmmm...ham.
 
PARK- 2 cups of gravy is perfect- for MY personal Thanksgiving dinner & my bowl of dressing the morning after. Maybe each of Martha's refined guests get one coffee spoon's worth to spread around the turkey, mashed potatoes, & the dressing. If I was her guest I would cry.

bebe: If that's all the gravy there is, I'm afraid I'm going to have to fight you for it.  Bagguettes at dawn!!

PARK4:   Try makin' yer Grits the nite before (NEVER use instant Grits) and pour 'em into a square cake pan ... puttem inna Ice Box overnite, then cut equal squares in the cake pan, and fry 'em up in a #10 Iron Skillet, in Bacon Drippins, or at least Butter Flavored Crisco ... Gitchur Squares brown'd on all sides and settem onna paper towel to soak off some of the grease ... Drown 'em in Syrup, Honey, Molasses, Fruit Compote, even Ketchup if you want ... I have even seen one ya ... uh ... person from Indiana smear them with Hot Mustard ... (Go Figure !!!  All they got left is a Race once a year, since Republic Steel closed)  I likem boiled with lotsa Butter and a serious amount of Coarse Ground Black Pepper on 'em ... And they are mighty good boiled in strong Chicken Stock, Butter'd well once they swell, and stir in generous amount of Asparagus pieces before serving ... Good onna side with any kind of Fowl ... or any kind of Sausage ... For me, the counterpoint of the Butter'd Grits and Asparagus against the Garlic of Kielbasa is a marvelous contrast, and the flavors work well with either Wine or Beer as a Bellywash ....... But all sausage is Good ....... Try Grits with Raisins or Blueberries for Breakfast, just like Cream of Wheat/Farina, Malt-O-Meal, or Oatmeal ... little Honey or Brown Sugar ....... Hot Coffee or properly Brewed Tea ... When was the last time anybody saw a Box of Wheatina ??? Actually, it was originally spelled, WHEATENA ... back inna days when I still had hair .......
 
Grits are good and they are good for you, too ....... And you really can do most any thing withem !!!

KIM:  If you're near San Frisco, one day, Treat yourself to the Tsar Nicoulai Cafe on Embarcadero, in the Business District ....... Provencal and Pretentious all at the same time, but the food is marvelous and the Wine List is one of the most amazing and cvomplete I have ever seen ... Either they have discovered some truly ancient Vintages in Scott Newhall's Basement, or they have a bunch of really old Labels printed up to slap on the Bottles ... No matter, I have never gotten a bad Bottle from them ....... They do Grits with Grilled Shrimp there ... but you have to ask them .......  It is a place not to miss, but they close very early, so try and get there MId-Afternoon .......

mmmm....ham.

Growing up we always had a ham on Easter Sunday. I don't know where it came from. Out of a can I think. It was pretty good though. No biscuits.

Ivan: grits have got to be the most versatile food on the planet..but you make anything sound wonderfully edible, I think it's in the combinations you put together.  You're going to have me eating some kind of sausage yet...all I've had is that (blah) Swedish potato sausage, which I didn't like, and Polish, and I'm tired of all that Polish stuff, relatives included. (joke)
 
I need to ask you for a recommendation for a good sausage dinner...I'd do one over the weekend, but I don't know what kind of sausage to look for....?
 
 
p.

Tiberius:  Again, I find commonality in what you say.  I think the same about ham.  It means canned, it means Easter, it's no big deal. 
 
And like you, there are no biscuits, (Easter brings little dinner roll things) nor that red eye gravy.  In Illinois and Wisconsin, in my family, it's more pineapple on top, and studded with cloves. 
 
All this fuss and bother, but first you had to get that can open, with that odd key...or am I dreaming this?  A rolling key that opened a can of ham, like the key on old coffee cans...
 
Oh well. 
I get the feeling Midwestern ham is really lacking compared to Southern ham.  I'll blame it on our pigs. 

... Thats Right !!! Blame it on the Pigs .......