CookEat Recipe
Londonderry Braised Ham
A piece of cured ham braised over raw mirepoix with Port, brandy, demi-glace, tomato sauce and currant jelly, served with its strained gravy.
Method
Steps
Step 1
Use one piece of uncooked, mild-cured boneless gammon from the pork leg. Remove its packaging and weigh three pounds before soaking or trimming. Cover it with cold water in a clean covered container and soak for one and a half hours in the refrigerator at 4°C or colder. Drain, discard the soaking water and trim the same piece neatly.
Step 2
Preheat the conventional oven to 150°C. Have the linked raw mirepoix ready for the pan. Measure two gills of actual finished demi-glace first, then loosen that measured portion with a little hot finished unsalted veal broth as directed in the linked preparations. If the demi-glace was refrigerated or thawed, bring the loosened portion to a full rolling boil while stirring and check that it reaches at least 165°F before using promptly. Have one gill of finished tomato sauce and four tablespoons of finished, set currant jelly ready; keep the remaining jelly refrigerated.
Step 3
Use a heavy braising pan suitable for both the hob and oven, with a close-fitting lid and enough room for the ham, its bed and the liquids. Put the required raw mirepoix in the bottom with two tablespoons of rendered pork lard. Gently brown for ten minutes, stirring occasionally.
Step 4
Take the pan off the heat and lay the drained ham on top of the browned mirepoix. Pour in one gill of Port wine, two tablespoons of brandy, all the prepared two-gill demi-glace portion with its little added broth, the one gill of tomato sauce and the four tablespoons of currant jelly. Cover the pan.
Step 5
Braise in the 150°C conventional oven for about two hours, occasionally basting with its own gravy. Check that the pan does not dry out; add only a little hot water if needed to prevent drying. Continue as needed until the deepest part of the ham and the pork-containing mirepoix bed each reach at least 75°C, checking with a clean thermometer.
Step 6
Lift the cooked ham onto a large serving dish and keep it hot while finishing the gravy.
Step 7
Boil the same pan gravy on the hob for ten minutes. Strain it over the ham, leaving the coarse mirepoix solids behind, and serve promptly.
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