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A Fresh Idea: How about a 'fresh ham' with glaze?

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This Easter, you might want to serve a fresh ham. The balanced glaze made from chutney and hot sauce goes nicely with the fresh meat.

By Pervaiz Shallwani

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Published: April 8, 2009

An Easter ham is a tradition that dates to pre-Christian Europe, when the pig was considered a symbol of luck. But the Easter ham as we know it is more a creation of American marketing.

During the 1930s, Chicago meatpackers launched a campaign promoting hams as an Easter dish. According to news accounts from the era, the effort was advertised in more than 100 newspapers and women's magazines.

And thus was born the precooked- ham industry, allowing Americans to heat, glaze and serve. That sort of ease makes it simple to forget just how good a fresh ham with a proper glaze can be.

A fresh ham technically isn't a ham; it's a roast, said Scott Peacock, an expert on Southern cooking. The term "ham" refers to a hog leg that has been preserved using some combination of water, salt and cold smoke, giving the meat its pink color.

A fresh ham is the raw leg of a hog, usually with skin and bone intact. Because this cut can be tough, and you don't have the benefit of a brine to tenderize, cooking it at low temperature for a longer period is the best bet.

"Fresh ham" can be a very confusing term. Many markets use this to describe a cured ham using "fresh" to indicate that it has not been frozen.

If shopping for this in a market, just be sure that your fresh ham is in fact raw meat. Actually, not even all markets sell raw, fresh ham. If not available, pork shank or shoulder work just as well in the following recipe.

But it's worth the wait. Bone-in fresh hams can be wonderfully flavorful. And thanks to a brief initial roasting at 450 degrees, this recipe also produces a tasty outer crust (where the skin has been rubbed with salt, pepper and oil).

It is important to score a cross hatch pattern into the skin. This allows the juices and glaze to sink into the meat as it cooks. But be sure not to cut all the way through the fat and into the meat, which can dry out the meat. You will need a strong arm and sharp knife.

Though sweet glazes are traditional, fresh hams do well with a more balanced flavor combination. In this case, the glaze has a hint of sweetness from jarred chutney and a kick of spice from hot sauce.

And to keep things easy, the dish is finished by adding halved new potatoes to the pan drippings during the final 45 minutes of roasting -- an instant side dish with almost no extra effort.

To carve the ham, start at the thick end and cut into thin slices working against the grain.

This chuntey glaze also can be applied to a cured ham during the last hour or so of heating.

Fresh Ham With Chutney Glaze

1 10-pound bone-in fresh ham (shank or shoulder) with skin intact

Kosher salt and ground black pepper

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 cup mango chutney

2 cups chicken broth

1 to 2 tablespoons hot sauce

1 head of garlic, cloves skinned

1 large yellow onion, quartered

2 pounds new potatoes, halved

1. About 30 minutes before cooking, remove the ham from the refrigerator and let sit at room temperature. If your butcher has not already done so, cut away any excess fat, but leave the skin and the fat under it intact.

2. While the ham sits, heat the oven to 450 degrees.

3. Use a knife to cut a diamond hatch pattern over the surface of the ham. To do this, cut multiple lines first in one direction, then in the other. You should cut just through the skin and into, but not through, the layer of fat beneath it.

4. When the oven is hot, place the roasting pan in the oven on the middle rack.

5. Liberally sprinkle the ham with salt, pepper and the oil. Remove the roasting pan from the oven and carefully place the ham, cut side down, in it. Roast for 20 minutes, or until the skin turns golden brown.

6. Meanwhile, in a food processor or blender, combine the chutney, broth and hot sauce. Puree until smooth.

7. Reduce heat to 325 degrees. Remove the ham from the oven. Scatter the garlic and onions into the pan around the ham, then use a large spoon to liberally baste the ham with a bit of the glaze. Reserve the remaining glaze.

8. Cover the ham with parchment paper, then with foil. Bake for another 3½ to 4½ hours, basting with the reserved glaze every 30 minutes. If you run out of glaze, baste using the liquid in the bottom of the roasting pan.

9. About 45 minutes before the ham is done, fill the roasting pan around it with the potatoes. Toss gently to coat with the drippings.

10. The ham is done when an instant thermometer inserted at the thickest part of the meat (without touching bone) reads 160 degrees. Remove the roast from the pan and let it rest on a cutting board for 15 to 20 minutes.

11. Strain any remaining juices in the pan into a gravy bowl and serve with roast.

Makes 10 servings.