Anatomy Of A Ham

Buying a ham can be a wonderful investment.  I find I can get a lot of mileage out one single ham.  Depending on the price I buy both bone-in or boneless hams.  This last time I bought a bone-in shank ham.  After heating it through in the oven I served it for one of our Sunday dinners.  Then it was time to get work and carve it up for many more meals to come.

I like to thinly slice a fair amount for sandwiches and wraps.  Then dice up another good sized portion to put in soups, casseroles, baked beans, macaroni and cheese, pork fried rice, quiche or omelets.  Thicker slices make great ham steaks for dinners or for breakfast with eggs and toast.

Upper L - R  Chunks for ham salad, soup bone
Lower L - R  ham steaks, diced, sliced for sandwiches, sliced for sandwiches

I also like to take a chunk or two and run it through the meat grinder.  Add a little mayonnaise and some sweet pickle relish and you can make a terrific sandwich spread.  It is also nice served on crackers.

Grinding ham for ham salad

Once I get everything sliced up and diced I put it in Ziploc bags and mark it with the date and of course what is in it.  Then into the freezer until I am ready to use it for a meal or in a recipe.

I save the juices in the bottom of the pan to add to soup or baked beans.  It is like a concentrated ham broth and has a wonderful flavor to add in with beans, lentils or split peas.

I used chopped up ham in my Pork Fried Rice

I also like to leave a little meat on the bone, quite a bit actually, and put it in a with a big pot of navy beans.  There is nothing more enjoyable than a hot bowl of navy bean soup with a nice piece of cornbread.  Or a lovely, silky pea soup is also quite nice.

As you can see there is a lot one can do here.  The possibilities are endless.  One can easily feed a family several tasty meals with just a single ham.

You may also enjoy revisiting Anatomy Of A Turkey or Anatomy Of A Pot Roast.