Cardamom

Cold-smoked, Maple-glazed Ham

March 25, 2012
0
0 Ratings
  • Makes 6 cold-smoked slices
Author Notes

I was thinking of 'tastes' and layers of flavour when I began to craft this recipe - Sweet (maple), salty (ham), hot (ancho chile powder), sour/fresh/citrusy (lemon), herby (cilantro) and smoky (hot, red coals).

Most of all I got to experiment with heating charcoal pieces till flamin' hot and kicking off a method of cold-smoking that I saw Reza Muhammad use on food netwok with Salmon pieces. This would work well with salmon (already mentioned :-)) and a host of other things. —Kitchen Butterfly

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Ingredients
  • Cold-smoked, Maple-glazed Ham
  • 2 tablespoons maple syrup
  • 1/2 teaspoon microplaned lemon zest
  • 1 - 2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • 1/4 teaspoon ancho chile powder, or to taste
  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black peppercorns, or to taste
  • 1/2 teaspoon chopped cilantro leaves
  • 6 slices of cooked ham
  • Cold smoking ingredients
  • 2 - 3 pieces of charcoal
  • 8 green cardamom pods
  • 6-8 whole black peppercorns
  • 6 cloves
  • 1 tablespoon of ghee
Directions
  1. Combine all the ingredients in a bowl, except the ham, to make the glaze. Set out a large shallow oven-proof dish or roasting tin to hold the ham in a single layer. Brush the glaze on both sides of each slice, repeating till all six slices are done and the glaze is used up.
  2. Arrange the slices of ham in a single layer leaving room in the centre for a small bowl. Then make a small bowl out of foil, large enough to contain the charcoal pieces.
  3. Heat the charcoal over a gas burner until red hot. While the coals are burning, cut two pieces of foil, large enough to cover the tray or dish holding the ham. Once hot, transfer the coals into the small foil bowl then place the bowl in the centre of the tray. Sprinkle the cardamom, black peppercorns and cloves onto the hot coals then pour the ghee over it - it will smoke...a lot. As soon as it starts to smoke, cover the tin tightly with the cut up pieces of foil to trap the smoke. Set in the refrigerator for 4-6 hours.
  4. Serve as part of a main course with rice or potatoes or use in sandwiches, pizza toppings, salads
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2 Reviews

Kitchen B. March 27, 2012
wssmom, thanks. I can tell you that it tastes awesome - you get a refined smokiness....which matches the sweet-salty flavours. I had torn bits on some pizza with fried potato slices, pesto and Blue Plate mayo (from New Orleans) - heavenly!
wssmom March 25, 2012
What a nifty technique! Can't wait to try this!