ABACO JOURNAL November 1997

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ABACO'S COOKING!

Fed up with all those green cherries and pineapple slices on your ham? Like a good cliche, the idea was once original and exciting but is now overdone. For those who like their meat savoury and their desserts sweet, with no mixing of the twain, here's a recipe that will take a star turn at any Thanksgiving or Christmas feast.

PARMESAN HAM

3 oz dried Breadcrumbs
3 oz freshly grated Parmesan Cheese
Freshly ground Black Pepper
3 Tbsps Redcurrant or Guava Jelly
4 oz Butter
Cooking spray
1 Ham butt, 6-8 lbs

Prepare your ham. Follow directions for soaking or preboiling depending on whether your ham is salt, sugar or honey cured. If you have to boil your ham, make sure it is cold before continuing. Remove all skin and most of the fat and score the meat lightly with cross diagonals.

Set oven to 375 degrees F, 190 C. Mix together the breadcrumbs and Parmesan cheese, then add the black pepper. Warm the jelly until fluid then spread it over the trimmed ham. (Redcurrant jelly is traditional but guava adds a nice Bahamian touch.) Press the breadcrumb mix onto the jellied surface. This, to be honest, is harder than it sounds but an even coating is important. Putting the ham on a rack above a large bowl helps retrieve the crumbs that refuse to stick at first. You certainly can't coat the ham in the pan you cook it in! Use a cooking spray to keep the breadcrumb layer in place. Canned sprays tend to blow the breadcrumbs away. Much gentler are the pump sprays such as produced by I Can't Believe It's Not Butter .

When you ham is nicely coated, place it in a pan in the centre of the oven with the butter for about 40 minutes, basting the surface with the melted butter and ham juices every 10 minutes. Allow to cool to room temperature and garnish with parsley sprigs and Parmesan baskets.

Parmesan baskets? Grate 4 ozs Parmesan cheese using the coarse grater which gives you strips of cheese instead of powder. Warm a small non-stick omelet pan and sprinkle 1 oz of Parmesan cheese evenly over the surface. Use a spatula to regulate the outer edges and keep the cheese in a circle. When the cheese has melted into a lacy pancake, lift it out with your spatula and press it over something to shape it into a basket. The bottom of your jelly jar should be fine. Allow the basket to harden, then remove. You can fill each edible basket with anything that suits your fancy, from glorified mashed potatoes to sour cream and caviar. Happy Holidays!

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