Only_Oli (The O_Zone)

I have made some “Jambon a l’eau”, with the new meat slicer it is easy to make very thin slices which make a very nice aperitif for “after work” recovery.

I buy a gammon which I cook in a big pan with unsalted water, an onion, a few cloves, a carrot, a celery, a couple of leaves from the laurel tree of the garden.

I cook 1 hour per kilo of meat. I have tested the temperature of the centre of the gammon and it reaches roughly 55 degrees celsius.

[Update]

I have now made 3 or 4 hams. I have found that the cooking must be very gentle with the water just barely boiling. Wait 1 hour per kilo of meat.

I am now trying a “final roast” method. When I put the ham in the oven for 30 minutes on 230 degres celsius with either maple syrup or other spices to coat the outside of the ham.

Will report here if it worked…

For Archive : How to make “Cured” Ham:

Just savings quickly some details to make cured ham for a different type of recipe.

Need 3 days of curing in salt for every kilo of meat

To make saucisson you need at least 2 to 3 % of salt per weight of meat.

I knew the best brand for a meat slicer was Berkel, but their machines are simply too expensive for a home user, until very recently when they introduced the Homeline. It is still very expensive so it took me a long time before I committed to the purchase…

Just received my machine this week and had to wait for the weekend to be able to try it out.

First impressions are that this machine is incredibly well designed. Feels very solid and the blade, motor, traveller are all extremely well balanced and simply function as expected.

It has a very professional feel, but the look is nice.

The downside, the machine is still huge for a home kitchen and very heavy (required to make get the rigidity necessary for thin straight cuts).

However making thin slices of saucisson or thin slices of cheese make everything taste a little different and special, a big success with the family…

I love slow cooking food but it is too long to wait !…Here comes the fast slow cooker, essentially a pressure cooker mixed with a slow cooker or the opposite… 🙂

Perfect to make ribs….or bolognese sauce…

With the recent turn of the weather to a very Wintery style…and the office in full Glacial mode…I am finding the weekend a great place to try comfort food…this one is a great simple slow cook dish.

I use my Le Creuset dutch oven and cook at 150 degres for 3 hours…simply perfect.

Ingredients :

• Slow cook beef, Tesco has a pre-diced meat which is nice.
• Salt and Pepper, olive oil, butter, spices such as piment doux, nutmeg
• Celery, Carrots, a tin of chopped tomatoes, Paris white mushrooms
• Shallots and Garlic, chopped.
• A small glass of wine, I use Cote de Rhone
• Vegetable cube diluted in hot water

How to Prepare :

• First bring the olive oil to temperature in the Dutch oven on a strong flame
• Put the spices in the oil, mix a little to spread the spices
• Put the meat in the pan and seal it well. Let it turn a slight caramel colour.
• Take the meat out of the pan, reduce the heat and put the shallots and garlic
• Stir the shallots and garlic to get all the juices off the sides and the bottom of the pan
• Put the carrots, the celery and keep stirring. This should coat the vegetables with the juices and spices.
• Check the seasoning and adjust to your taste. I like to add the nutmeg at this point.
• Throw the glass of wine in the pan and stir again.
• Bring the meat back and finally the mushroom. Stir…
• Cover with the vegetable broth until the meat is covered but not so much that it is all in a soup. Probably just a finger under the top of the vegetables.
• Put into a pre-heated oven at 150 degres celsius (fan assisted), live it there for 3 hours.
• Check once in a while to make sure that there is enough sauce and nothing is overcooked.

I like to eat this dish with Charlotte potatoes that I have pre-boiled for 15 minutes, then placed a large oven proof dish, I sprinkle salt, pepper, herbs and olive oil and let brown in a hot oven at 220 degres celsius. This will make them nice and crispy outside and soft inside.

Enjoy !