Russian Style Baked Fresh Ham Buzhenina Recipes

BAKED FRESH HAM: BUZHENINA

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
• With a sharp knife score the fat of the ham in a diamond pattern. Rub generously with salt and pepper. Mix together the mustard and brown sugar and spread all over the ham.
• Set the ham on a rack in a roasting pan, fat-side up, add 1 cup of the beer and 1 cup of the apple cider, the cloves and the bay leaves, and roast for 20 minutes.
• Reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees F. degrees and continue roasting, basting occasionally with the pan juices, until a meat thermometer inserted diagonally into the thickest part of the ham registers 155 degrees F. about 3 1/2 to 4 hours. As the ham roasts, replenish the beer and the cider in the pan. If the top of the ham brown too much, cover it loosely with foil.
• Remove the ham from the oven and let stand, covered loosely with foil, for about 30 to 40 minutes, during which time the internal temperature will rise. Carve the ham into thin slices and serve with the pears.

CUBAN STYLE FRESH HAM

Steps:

• Mix together the juice, garlic, oregano, cumin, salt, and water. Put the ham into a large bowl or leak-proof plastic bag and pour over the marinade. Let soak in the refrigerator overnight. (Or let the marinade steep for 1 hour, strain it, and inject it directly into the ham using a marinade injector; wrap and refrigerate the ham overnight. Use any leftover marinade for basting.)
• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
• Remove the ham from the marinade, reserving the marinade, and pat dry. Strain the marinade into a saucepan and bring it to a boil. Put the ham fat side up into a roasting pan and cook it for about 25 minutes per pound or until the internal temperature registers 155 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer. Baste the ham with the marinade every 20 minutes or so. Remove the ham, cover it with foil, and let it rest for about 15 minutes. The temperature will continue to rise to 160 degrees F. Slice and serve.

RUSSIAN STYLE BAKED FRESH HAM (BUZHENINA)

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
• Using a sharp knife, score the skin of the ham in a diamond oattern.
• Mix together the mustard, brown sugar, and salt and spread all over the ham.
• Place the ham on a rack in a roasting pan, add the remaining ingredients, and roast, basting with the juices, until a meat thermometer reads 170 degrees F or the juices run clear when you insert a skewer into the thickest part of the roast, about 3 hours.
• Let the roast stand, covered with foil. for 15 minutes.
• Carve into thin slices and serve with gravy, if desired.

BAKED FRESH HAM

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
• It is not essential, but you will ease carving the ham after cooking if you run a knife around the contour of the hip bone on the underside of the ham. Run the knife down deep around the bone, but do not remove the bone now. It will be removed after cooking
• In a mixing bowl, blend the salt, pepper, cumin, garlic, sage and oil.
• Place the ham on a flat surface with the rind side up. With a boning knife, make 1/4-inch-deep gashes from the butt end to the shank and cut through the rind at 1-inch intervals.
• Place the ham in a roasting pan with the skin and fat side up; massage it all over with the spice mixture.
• Place the ham in the oven. Bake for 45 minutes and reduce the oven heat to 375 degrees. Bake for 45 minutes more, basting occasionally. Add the onion, carrots, celery and bay leaf. Cover with foil and reduce the heat to 350 degrees. Bake for 2 hours, basting occasionally. Add the chicken broth and continue cooking for 1 more hour. The internal temperature should be about 165 degrees. Two bones will protrude from the shank (the small end), one large and one small. If the small upper bone can be removed with a slight pull, it is an indication that the ham is cooked.
• Remove the ham from the pan, cover with foil and keep warm. Skim off the fat from the gravy with a large spoon. Strain the gravy with a strainer. Let the ham rest for at least half an hour before carving.
• To carve, run the carving knife under the rind, remove it and cut away excess fat. With the ham fat side up make a perpendicular cut down to the bone about 3 inches from the shank end and carve in thin, long slices on the bias. Serve with hot gravy.