The Essential James Beard Cookbook (24 page)

Serve the ham with Cumberland Sauce (see Box,
here
) or
Rémoulade Sauce
, and white beans vinaigrette sprinkled with chopped fresh basil and parsley and garnished with tomato sections. Crisp Italian bread goes well with this meal, as does a fine sparkling wine—a good American version or French Champagne of a pleasant vintage. The famous mostarda di Cremona, or mustard fruits, (available in specialty food shops) are admirable with this ham.

¼ cup golden raisins

½ cup dry sherry

8 garlic cloves

½ cup packed fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves

1 cup coarsely chopped pistachios

One 12- to 15-pound fresh ham, skin removed, meat boned, rolled, and well tied

1 teaspoon crushed dried sage

Kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

6 tablespoons (¾ stick) unsalted butter

¹
⁄
₃
cup apple jelly

1 teaspoon crushed aniseed (optional)

Soak the raisins in sherry to cover until puffed, about 1 hour. Strain and reserve the raisins and sherry.

Chop 5 of the garlic cloves and the parsley together rather coarsely. Make deep incisions in the ham with a long, thin knife. [
Editor: Beard originally used a larding needle, which is not a common kitchen tool, but a knife works just as well.
] Combine the raisins, chopped parsley mixture, and pistachios and stuff the mixture into the cavities with your fingers, packing it in as tightly as possible—a wooden chopstick is a good aid. Push in any stray pistachios here and there.

Mince the remaining 3 garlic cloves and blend with the sage. Rub the outside fat with the mixture, then sprinkle with salt and pepper. Put the ham on a rack in a roasting pan and roast in a preheated 325°F oven for 25 to 30 minutes per pound. Combine the sherry drained from the raisins, the butter, and the apple jelly in a small saucepan and heat gently in a saucepan until butter and jelly are melted. If you like the flavor of anise, add the crushed aniseed to the mixture—this will result in a more highly perfumed ham. Baste the ham every half hour with the mixture as it roasts. Reheat the basting mixture as needed while using it.

When the ham reaches an internal temperature of 165°F degrees (insert a meat thermometer in the thickest part), in about 6 to 7 hours, remove the pork from the oven and let it cool. [
Editor: Large fresh ham is best when cooked to well done, as this temperature melts the tough connective tissues that help keep the cooked meat moist.
] If you are going to chill the ham, brush it well with the pan juices, wrap it in plastic wrap, and refrigerate until ready to serve. If you must refrigerate it, take it out of the refrigerator and let sit at room temperature for at least several hours before serving.

Cumberland Sauce

Makes about 1 cup

Editor: This easy Port-and-currant jelly sauce is traditional British fare for ham, pork, or game.

Remove the zest from
1 orange
with a vegetable peeler and chop the zest very finely. Put in a pan with
1 cup of Port wine or Madeira
and cook over medium-high heat until the liquid is reduced to
¹
⁄
₃
cup. Add the
1 cup red currant jelly, the juice of the orange, 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice,
and
a pinch of cayenne pepper or ground ginger.
Stir until the jelly has melted, then serve the sauce warm.

Carve the ham into thin slices. They will be beautifully marbled with the mixture of raisins, nuts, and herbs.

CROWN ROAST OF PORK

MAKES 8 GENEROUS SERVINGS

A spectacular and festive roast for the holidays or a dinner party. The crown is made with 2 rib ends of the loin, tied together, or with the center cuts or the entire loin, tied together, according to how many people you wish to serve. Two chops from the crown roast are an ample serving. A salad of Bibb lettuce or endive with julienne strips of beet is good with this and, if the stuffing is not a starchy one, boiled parslied potatoes or a purée of potatoes, or potatoes and celery root.

Editor: Beard suggests garnishing the roast with garlic sausages, poached in water until hot, and then sliced. This may be gilding the lily, but try it for another layer of flavor and texture.

One 9-pound crown roast of pork

2 teaspoons kosher salt

3 garlic cloves, minced

2 teaspoons dried sage

2 teaspoons dried thyme

½ cup dry white wine

4 tablespoons (½ stick) unsalted butter, melted

Double Recipe
Braised Sauerkraut

When the butcher ties the loin, he will scrape the ends of the bones (keep the scraps; they can be used for stock). Cover the exposed rib ends with aluminum foil to prevent them from charring.

Rub the meat well with a combination of the salt, garlic, sage, and thyme. Fill the center of the roast with crumpled aluminum foil. Roast on a rack in a large roasting pan in a preheated 325°F oven, allowing about 20 minutes per pound, until the internal temperature registers 145°F (test by inserting a meat thermometer in the thickest part of the meat, not touching the bone), about 3 hours. Baste frequently with the pan juices and the wine and butter.

When the meat is cooked, replace the foil on the bone ends with paper frills, if you wish. Remove the foil from the center and fill with the sauerkraut.

Stuffings for Crown Roast of Pork

Fill the center of the crown roast with any of the following combinations:

Buttered homemade noodles, mixed with sliced, sautéed mushrooms.

Rice mixed with peas and parsley.

Braised Brussels sprouts with or without chestnuts.

Sautéed lentils with onion, crisp pieces of bacon, and chopped parsley.

Sautéed mushroom caps.

Sautéed apple slices.

Chestnut purée with melted butter, seasoned with ground ginger and nutmeg.

Carve the roast into chops and serve 1 or 2 to a person, with some of the stuffing from the center.

RED-COOKED PORK SHOULDER

MAKES 10 SERVINGS

Editor: Beard learned much about cooking from the Chinese kitchen staff at his mother’s boarding house in Oregon, as this recipe shows. Serve it with stir-fried Asian vegetables and lots of white rice. To smash rock sugar (available at Asian grocers), wrap it in a sturdy kitchen towel, then hit it with a flat meat pounder or hammer to pulverize it into coarse crystals. It won’t be as fine as granulated sugar.

One 5- to 6-pound pork shoulder, bone in, skin on

¼ cup dry sherry

6 quarter-size slices of fresh ginger

1¼ cups soy sauce

¹
⁄
₃
cup smashed rock sugar or granulated sugar

Rinse the pork and make a few slashes with a knife on the skin side of the meat to allow the sauce to penetrate more easily during cooking. Place the pork in a heavy, medium pot, and add enough water to cover. Cover the pot and bring the water to a boil over high heat. Skim off any scum that forms. Add the sherry and ginger. Cover again, reduce the heat to low, and simmer 1 hour. Drain off one-third of the liquid, and add the soy sauce to the pot. Simmer over low heat for another 1½ hours, occasionally turning the pork. Add the sugar (rock sugar will give the skin a more glazed appearance), and cook for a further 30 minutes, basting the skin very often with the hot sauce. To test for tenderness, pierce the meat with a fork or chopstick. If it penetrates easily, the meat is done. If not, cook a little longer. Place the whole shoulder and sauce in a deep dish. Slice the meat thinly, and serve with the sauce.

ROAST PORK LOIN

MAKES 6 SERVINGS

Probably the most commonly used cut of pork is the loin. In United States parlance the loin is the stretch from the shoulder to the leg that takes in the ribs and the loin chops with the tenderloin. It is usually sold divided into the rib end, the center cut, which includes a small portion of the loin, and the loin end. Or you can buy the entire loin. The roast may be bought boned and tied, or left with the bones intact. In the latter case, the chine bone that runs the length of the loin should be removed or cut through to facilitate carving, and the roast should be trimmed of excess fat and securely tied.

Editor: Beard originally cooked this pork roast to 165°F, which is much too high for today’s leaner pork; an internal temperature of 145°F ensures juicy meat. As the meat stands before carving, the temperature will rise 5° to 10°F.

One 5-pound pork loin, trimmed and tied

2 to 3 garlic cloves, peeled and cut into thin slivers

1 teaspoon dried thyme or summer savory

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

12 small new potatoes, peeled

3 large carrots, quartered

12 small white onions, peeled (see
here
)

Watercress, for garnish

About 1 hour before roasting the pork, pierce it all over with the point of a small sharp knife and insert slivers of garlic into the holes. Rub the loin lightly with thyme and then with salt and pepper to taste.

Put the loin, fat side up, on a rack in a shallow roasting pan and roast in a preheated 325°F oven for 20 to 25 minutes per pound, 2¼ to 2½ hours.

Parboil the potatoes, carrots, and onions for 5 minutes in salted water to cover (this softens them slightly, so they cook faster) and arrange them around the meat in the roasting pan for the last hour of roasting time. When you add the vegetables, baste them with the pan juices and sprinkle with a little salt and pepper. Continue to roast the meat until the internal temperature registers 145°F. Check 30 to 40 minutes after adding the vegetables to find how near the meat is to that mark, inserting the thermometer at the thickest part, but not touching the bone.

When the meat is done, transfer it to a hot platter and let it rest in a warm place for 10 to 15 minutes before carving. Keep the vegetables warm in the turned-off oven. Arrange the roasted vegetables around the pork and garnish with watercress.

Carve the roast downward, cutting between the bones. If the meat has been boned, cut into slices about
³
⁄
₈
inch thick. Skim the fat from the pan juices and serve them with the pork. A dish of sautéed, glazed apple rings is a perfect accompaniment. Wine for such a dish might be a chilled Riesling.

ROAST SMOKED LOIN OF PORK

MAKE 6 SERVINGS

Editor: Here’s what Beard has to say about smoked pork roast: “Smoked pork loin is a great delicacy. When buying, ask how much cooking it needs. Some types require 30 minutes a pound in a 300°F oven, while others which are hot smoked and more fully cooked, require little more than reheating, 12 to 15 minutes a pound at most. Baste a smoked loin of pork during roasting with dry white wine or sherry, and serve it with buttered new potatoes and sauerkraut.” This tasty cut, a roast with hamlike flavor on succulent bones, can be found at Eastern European butchers. Take a moderate approach with modern smoked pork, and bake it just until hot enough to serve at about 12 minutes per pound.

One 3-pound smoked pork loin with bones

½ cup dry white wine or sherry

Place the pork, bone side down, in a roasting pan. Pour the wine over the pork into the pan. Bake in a preheated 300°F oven, basting occasionally with the wine in the pan, until the pork registers 130°F on a meat thermometer, about 1 hour. Let stand for 10 minutes at room temperature. Carve and serve with the skimmed pan juices.

COLD BARBECUED LOIN OF PORK

MAKES 6 TO 8 SERVINGS

Editor: Beard’s glazed pork dish was developed before every backyard sported an outdoor grill, so it isn’t truly barbecued. But it is delicious, with faintly Asian flavors. He suggests garnishing the platter with sliced tomatoes, thinly sliced onions, and sliced cucumbers.

For the Horseradish Applesauce

2 cups prepared applesauce

6 tablespoons peeled and freshly grated horseradish or ¼ cup drained bottled horseradish