Best Roasted Fresh Ham Recipes

ROASTED FRESH HAM

Steps:

• Place a rack in lower third of oven and preheat to 425 degrees. Trim skin and excess fat from ham, leaving a layer of fat. Score ham all over in a diamond pattern of 1/2-inch-deep cuts about 1 1/2 inches apart.
• In a small bowl, combine salt, pepper and thyme, pinching and sifting mixture until thyme becomes fragrant. Pat mixture all over ham and into crevices.
• Place ham fat-side up on a rack in a large roasting pan and roast uncovered for 1/2 an hour. Turn heat down to 350 degrees, pour 2 cups wine and 1/2 cup water into pan and loosely tent with aluminum foil. Continue to roast, basting every hour. Add water to pan, if necessary, to keep pan juices from scorching; bake until a meat thermometer pressed into thickest part of ham reads 155 degrees, about 3 1/2 hours.
• Let ham stand 15 to 20 minutes before carving. Pour pan juices and remaining 2 tablespoons wine into a small saucepan and simmer about 2 minutes. Turn off flame, add half-and-half, and serve with ham.

CUBAN LECHON ASADO (ROASTED FRESH HAM)

Steps:

• The day before you plan to serve this dish, trim the excess fat off the pork leg; make shallow slits all over the pork, using the tip of a knife; mash the garlic, salt, oregano, cumin, pepper, bay leaf and olive oil to a paste in a mortar; rub this mixture all over the roast, forcing it into the slits; combine the sour orange juice, sherry, and onions in a small bowl; place the roast in a large, heavy plastic bag; add the sour OJ mixture, making sure that the whole roast gets covered with the mixture; refrigerate and marinate the roast in the bag overnight, turning occasionally during the time.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Drain the roast, and pat dry, reserving the marinade; place it in a lightly oiled, nonreactive, heavy roasting pan; cook the roast for 1 hour, turning once or twice to brown it on all sides.
• Reduce the heat to 325 degrees; pour the marinade and onions over the pork; tent the pan with heavy-duty aluminum foil; (tear off a piece that is 1 1/2 times the width of your pan; fold it in half and crease the top; open it up, and place over the pan like a tent, tightly crimping edges to seal) continue roasting the pork, basting from time to time with the pan juices, until almost cooked, about 1 hour; add a little water or sherry if the pan dries out.
• Uncover the roast and continue cooking until the internal temp reads*at least* 150 degrees F on a meat thermometer, about 30 minutes more; (most Cubans like the meat well done, so after sitting, it should be up to 180 degrees--it's safer, also).
• Let the roast stand for 10 minutes before carving.
• Note: this is traditionally served with black bean soup and white rice, and fried, sweet plantains; for dessert, serve a rich flan and you're set!

FRESH HAM ROASTED WITH RYE BREAD AND DRIED FRUIT STUFFING

Steps:

• Have your butcher bone and butterfly the ham and score the fat in a diamond pattern. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine 2/3 of the garlic, 2/3 of the caraway seeds, 3 teaspoons of the salt and pepper to taste and rub the mixture over the inside and outside of the pork. Set aside.
• Heat the olive oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the remaining garlic and the onion and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Place in a large bowl with the bread cubes, prunes, apricots, apple, rosemary, egg, remaining caraway seeds, remaining teaspoon salt and pepper to taste. Mix until well combined.
• Open out the pork, spread the stuffing, fold the pork around it and tie securely with twine. Place in a large, deep roasting pan and pour in the chicken broth. Bake, basting from time to time, until the roast reaches 145 degrees on a meat thermometer, about 3 1/2 hours. Let stand for 15 minutes. Degrease the pan juices, slice serve passing the juices separately.

ROASTED FRESH HAM WITH CITRUS AND RYE

Steps:

• Using a utility knife or a sharp knife, carefully score skin of ham at 3/4"-1" intervals in a crosshatch pattern, taking care to cut just through skin and fat, not into the meat.
• Whisk sage, 1/4 cup salt, orange zest, and red pepper flakes in a small bowl. Rub salt mixture all over ham. Transfer ham and any excess salt mixture to a jumbo (2-gallon) resealable plastic bag. Place ham in bag on a large rimmed baking sheet and chill, turning ham every day to ensure even curing, for 4 days.
• Remove ham from bag and pat dry with paper towels. Let ham stand at room temperature for 2 hours.
• Arrange a rack in lower third of oven and preheat to 500°F. Place ham, shank bone up, on a rack in a roasting pan.
• Roast ham until skin turns deep golden brown and starts to puff, about 20 minutes. Reduce heat to 325°F. Carefully add 1 cup water to pan (it may spatter) and roast, rotating pan once, for 1 hour.
• Add 2 cups water to pan. Scatter star anise around ham; continue to roast, rotating pan every 45 minutes and adding more water if needed to maintain 1/4" liquid in bottom of pan, until skin is deep golden brown and crisp and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of ham registers 140°F, 1 1/2-2 hours more. If skin does not crisp within last 30 minutes of cooking, increase heat to 450°F and roast about 5 minutes longer (watch closely).
• Transfer ham to a carving board; let rest for at least 30 minutes or up to 1 1/2 hours (the ham's internal temperature will increase as it rests to about 150°F). Pour juices from roasting pan through a fine-mesh sieve into a large measuring cup; set juices aside and discard solids in strainer.
• Set roasting pan over two burners; add rye. Cook over high heat, scraping up any browned bits from bottom of pan, until rye is reduced by half, about 1 minute. Pour rye through same sieve into the measuring cup with ham juices. Chill in freezer for 15 minutes (this will make skimming the fat from the surface much easier).
• Skim fat from surface of juices; discard. Transfer juices (you should have about 1 cup) to a medium saucepan. Add orange juice and broth or 1 cup water. Bring to a gentle boil over medium-high heat. Cook until reduced to 1 1/2 cups, about 20 minutes.
• Remove pan from heat; stir in butter. Season sauce with salt, if needed. Carve ham. Pass sauce alongside.

BEER-ROASTED FRESH HAM WITH BRAISED ONIONS RECIPE - (4.7/5)

Steps:

• 1.Preheat the oven to 450°. Scatter the onions and garlic in a large roasting pan (12-by-16-inch). Place the ham, fat side up, on top of the onions. Drizzle with the EVOO and sprinkle with the caraway seeds; season with salt and pepper. 2.Roast the ham in the oven for 1 hour. Rotate the pan a half-turn and roast for 1 hour more. Lower the oven temperature to 350°, pour in the beer and cook until the internal temperature of the meat registers 155° on an instant-read thermometer, about 2 hours more. 3.Using a large spatula and a kitchen towel, or 2 meat forks, transfer the ham to a platter or cutting board. Tent with foil and let rest for 20 to 30 minutes before carving. Meanwhile, pour the juices and onions from the roasting pan into a large, heatproof measuring cup; let the juices settle. Skim off any fat that rises to the surface. 4.Using a sharp knife, carve the ham into thin slices. Reheat the pan juices and onions if necessary and serve with the meat.

SLOW-ROASTED FRESH HAM

Steps:

• 1. Place ham flat side down on cutting board. Remove skin, leaving 1/2-1/4 inch fat. Cut 1-inch diagonal cross-hatch pattern in fat. If there is a bone, cut one 4-inch horizontal pocket about 2 inches deep in center of flat side of ham. 2. Combine sugar, salt, rosemary, and thyme in bowl. Rub half of mixture in ham pocket. Tie kitchen string around base of ham. Rub exterior of ham with remaining half of mixture. Wrap ham tightly in plastic wrap (or place in oven bag) and refrigerate until roasting (12-48 hours). 3. Adjust oven rack to lowest position and heat oven to 325 degrees. Set V-rack in large roasting pan. Put ham in roasting bag flat side down and tie top of bag closed with kitchen string. Placed ham, flat side down, on V-rack and cut 1/2 inch slot in top of oven bag. Roast until thermometer inserted in center of ham registers 160 degrees, 3 1/2-5 hours. Re ove hand from oven and let rest in oven bag on V-rack for 1 hour. Heat oven to 450 degrees. 4. Whisk maple syrup, molasses, soy sauce, mustard and pepper together in bowl. Cut roasting bag and let juices down into roasting pan. Remove ham from bag and discard bag. 5. Baste ham with half of glaze and roast for 10 minutes. Brush ham with remaining glaze, orate pan, and roast until deep amber color, about 10 minutes more. Move ham to carving board, flat side down, and let rest for 20 minutes. Pour pan juices into fat separator. Carve ham into 1/4-inch slices, arrange on platter, and moisten lightly with defatted pan juices. Serve, passing remaining pan juices separately.