Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume 2 (133 page)

(*)
STORAGE NOTE
: Meat may remain in cure for 6 to 8 weeks in all, but be sure all pieces are well covered with salt.

COOKING NOTE
: Salted meat must be de-salted before cooking—soak in several changes of cold water overnight if cured 15 days, 24 hours if cured several weeks.

  
JAMBON PERSILLÉ

[Mold of Parslied Ham in Aspic]

As described in the introduction to this section,
jambon persillé
is a Burgundian creation. Inevitably when dealing with well-known regional specialties, there are dozens of variations and minor versions, and always hundreds of very definite opinions on how to conduct each step. Among the considerable number of serious and trustworthy formulas we have studied, this is the one we prefer.

A NOTE ON STORE-BOUGHT HAM

If you are not using home-cured ham, buy 6½ to 8 pounds of bone-in, ready-to-bake, mild-cured smoked ham or picnic shoulder. Omit Step 1, proceeding directly to the simmering in Step 2; skin and bone the ham after cooking.

For 2½ to 3 quarts of ham, serving 12 to 16

1)
Soaking the ham—12 to 24 hours

4 to 6 pounds of boned, home-salted fresh ham or shoulder-arm, and the salted ham rind (preceding recipe; or see preceding note)

Soak the ham and the rind in a large basin of cold water, changing water 2 to 3 times. Overnight is enough for ham cured about 15 days; soak for 18 to 24 hours if ham has cured longer. (Soaking removes the preserving salt, not the flavor.)

2)
Simmering the ham

A kettle just large enough to hold ham comfortably

Either
1 bottle best quality, young, strong, dry white wine (Côtes du Rhône or Pinot Blanc);

Or
3 cups dry white French vermouth

3 cups bouillon (made from fresh ham bones, or a mixture of beef and chicken bouillon)

Necessary water

1 tsp thyme, 2 Tb tarragon, 4 allspice berries, 2 imported bay leaves, and 2 large cloves of garlic tied in washed cheesecloth

1 large onion, roughly chopped

1 medium carrot, roughly chopped

1 celery stalk

Place soaked ham (and rind) in kettle, add wine, bouillon, and enough water to cover by an inch. Add rest of ingredients listed, bring to the simmer, and skim for several minutes until scum ceases to rise. Cover partially and maintain at the simmer until ham is tender when pierced with a sharp knife (about 2 hours for boned, home-cured ham). Let ham cool in liquid an hour or two.

While still warm, remove rind from kettle (or from bone-in ham), scrape off and discard as much fat as possible, and purée rind through coarse disk of food mill or fine blade of meat grinder; reserve in a 1-quart bowl. Tear ham apart with your fingers, discarding fat and gristle. Cut ham into pieces about ½ inch thick and 1½ to 2 inches square, and place in a 2-quart bowl along with any meat scraps. Moisten with a tablespoon or so of cooking stock, and set aside. Thoroughly degrease cooking stock, boil down rapidly to concentrate flavor if necessary, and correct seasoning.

3)
The aspic—for about 4 cups

5 cups thoroughly degreased ham-cooking stock in a saucepan

2 to 3 egg whites (½ cup)

Optional for added flavor: ½ to 1 cup minced green tops from leeks or scallions

2 packages (2 Tb) powdered unflavored gelatin

Following directions in Volume I, pages 111–13, clarify the cooking stock with the egg whites, add optional greenery, strain, and then dissolve the gelatin in it.

4)
The parsley and aspic flavoring

The bowl of puréed rind

1 cup (lightly pressed) chopped fresh parsley

1 clove of garlic, mashed

1 Tb dried tarragon
or
3 Tb fresh minced tarragon leaves

1 Tb wine vinegar

Salt and pepper to taste

1 cup of the aspic, cool but not set

Mix all ingredients except the aspic in the bowl, and just before assembling the ham in Step 5, stir in the cup of aspic. (You will have 2 to 2½ cups when all is blended.)

5)
Assembling and serving

The following assembly method is informal: the meat is packed into a bowl, and slices are cut and served directly from it. If you want a dressier presentation, line the bowl with aspic before filling it, and unmold onto a platter for serving.

A 2½- to 3-quart serving bowl, casserole, or crock (this can be of clear glass through which you can see the design of the ham and parsley)

The parsley and aspic mixture

The cooked and cut ham

A rack and/or plate that will fit into the bowl

A weight of some sort

The remaining aspic, cool but not set

Chill the bowl and spread a layer of parsley-aspic in the bottom. Then pack with layers of ham and of parsley-aspic. When filled, cover with rack and/or plate and weight, and chill for an hour or so, until set. (If you do not weight down the ham, it will be difficult to cut into slices later.) Remove the rack and so forth, scumble the top a bit with a fork (to disguise plate or rack marks), and pour on the cool aspic. Cover and chill until serving time.