Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Lamb Ham

That's right, I said Lamb Ham! We have just started smoking and curing legs of lamb and selling them as whole legs, halved legs or as sandwich slices. All lamb ham products are $10/lb and available at the farmers market or online.

Since this is a new product, I wanted to give it a try. Well, I have to admit it- this actually tastes just like real ham made from a pig! Similar spices and seasonings are used in the curing process so it should not have surprised me as much as it did. However, this is made from lamb and not pork, so it still was a little strange to me that it tasted so similar.

I did like it though. And it really was quite easy to prepare, since it is already cooked. All I did was place the lamb ham on a bed of baby potatoes and pour a little broth into the pan to cover the potatoes and to give the lamb ham a little moisture during cooking. Since these legs are smoked, most of the fat has already cooked off leaving the lamb ham very lean. That is why it is important to give your lamb ham some liquid or it will dry out. I then covered the pan with parchment paper and foil and baked it in a 350 oven until the potatoes were soft, about 45 min. to 1 hour. The lamb ham itself really doesn't need to cook that long, just the potatoes. But as long as there is some liquid in the pan, the lamb ham won't dry out. When it came out of the oven, smelling amazing from the sweet spices of cinnamon and cloves, we devoured it instantly! This meal was smokey and aromatic and the flavor was pure ham. I am excited to fry up the leftovers for tomorrow's breakfast or pile it up on a sandwich with some horseradish mayo. Yum!

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