hhgregg FINE LINES

This recipe comes from "Virginia Celebrates," a cookbook supporting The Council of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts located in the state’s capital of Richmond. 

12- to 14-pound Smithfield ham

7 cups water

Ground cloves

Honey

Fine cracker crumbs

Whole cloves (optional)

 

Soak ham in cold water to cover 12 to 24 hours. Remove ham from water and scrub well with a brush to remove all coating. Preheat oven to 500° F. Put ham in roaster, fat side up, with 7 cups of water. Cover tightly. Let temperature come back to 500° F and cook ham at this temperature for 15 minutes. Turn off oven. DO NOT OPEN OVEN DOOR. Three hours later, turn oven on 500° F, start timing and cook for 20 minutes. Turn oven off. DO NOT OPEN OVEN DOOR. After three hours, ham is done. 

 

When ham is cool enough to handle, remove skin. Cut gashes in fat on the diagonal to make a diamond pattern. Sprinkle with ground cloves, smear with honey, and sprinkle with fine cracker crumbs. Put whole cloves in center of diamonds, if desired.

 

Bake at 250° F until top of ham is golden, crispy, and crunchy, about 20 to 30 minutes. Your ham will be tender and moist, not dry, as is so often the case. Slice very thin.

 

2 cups flour

4 teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon brown sugar, packed

1/8 teaspoon cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

½ stick butter

¼ cup shortening

1/3 cup finely chopped pecans

2/3 cup cooked, mashed sweet potatoes

½ cup half-and-half

 

Preheat oven to 425° F. Sift flour, baking powder, salt, brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg into a medium-sized bowl. Cut in butter and shortening until mixture is mealy. Add pecans and stir. Mix potatoes and half-and-half, and add to flour mixture. Knead briefly on a floured surface. Roll out to ½-inch thickness, cut with a round cutter. (Leslie says: I often just use a juice glass as a cutter.) Place on greased baking sheet and bake for 12 to 15 minutes.

Makes 18 biscuits (Don’t double the recipe if you’d like more, just make it again!)

 

Any oven will do of course, but you may want to see what Fine Lines has available. You will be amazed at the selection of appliances for entertaining like warming drawers, refrigerator drawers and wine chillers.