Generally, you can add “nutrition” to that list of subjects best avoided outside your inner circle, but sometimes I really like to take a chance in the strip, you know? By coincidence, I cooked a ham yesterday. It wasn’t some watery pink thing that you might as well eat right from the package, because it isn’t going to get any better. It was a monster ham that came in a cloth bag and weighed almost 18 lbs. I had always wanted to tackle such a ham but never had. When I saw it in the grocery store, I just had to have it. It had been cured somewhere in North Carolina, but I still had to bake it for five hours. That part was easy! The part that wasn’t easy was removing the enveloping skin and fat, as per the instructions on the bag. I now know why they make footballs out of pigskin. I vividly was reminded of something during the process. I was reminded of a passage from Anthony Bourdain’s best-selling breakout book, “Kitchen Confidential.” He was discussing the pressures on those who work in busy restaurant kitchens, one of those pressures being, If you don’t show up for work, you’d better bring a note from the coroner upon your return. He concluded his discussion with (I’m paraphrasing.), “I won’t even talk about blood. Let’s just say we cooks cut ourselves. A lot!” The ham turned out well! We won’t even talk about blood.
Green Ham and Eggs
By Jimmy Johnson
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19 responses to “Green Ham and Eggs”
You can tell great cooks from good ones by their fingertips, or lack thereof.
My culinary education took a giant step forward Tuesday.
I am glad that you got a cured ham….Never purchase a sick one.
Know how you can tell if there’s a vegan in the room? Don’t to need wonder…they’ll tell YOU.
I have one of those hams hanging the the basement that I bought on a whim at a country store and diner in rural Virginia 18 months ago. It’s protected by an extra paper bag. I hope that it’s continued to age well. Planning on eating it this spring.
Possibly the best reply when somebody tells you that they don’t eat red meet is, “Oh? You like your steaks well done?”
happy PI day.
Saturday is St. Urho’s Day.
Somebody, maybe last year’s resident, nr the Great Spirit Bluff peregrine nestbox: https://explore.org/livecams/birds/falcon-nest-cam Somebody else please tell me how I can view the postings I missed while I was away. Peace,
Check your email. I sent the information and link.
Early this morning, I posted this on yesterday’s strip while it was still today’s strip:
I like to think of pi as God’s number.
Jimmy:
Was the ham a country ham? Salt cured and then smoked?
pi is certainly fine, but its very best thing is in e^(i*pi)=-1
I can just sit and smile, contemplating that
One of the (many) things I miss about not still having my parents is the many trips we made to our home town in the fall of the year to visit relatives, enjoy seeing the autumn tree colors, and purchasing the salt-cured, smoked country ham we would have for our Christmas Day and New Year’s Day meals. My dad had a source of hams he claimed rivaled the ones his dad cured in the smokehouse on their family farm.
Hint: Slices of real salt-cured ham should be soaked in water a while and rinsed prior to frying. Yeah, I know the hams can be baked or boiled, but then how you gonna make redeye gravy to go with your ham and eggs and homemade biscuits? (Hey, I never said it was health food. 🙂 )
I had forgotten about the redeye gravy! It was incredible.
My mom also fried the country ham in a cast-iron skillet. Nothing better.
I like Cheddar with my Pi (Apple of course)
Mom cut the ham skin so it was 1″ squares (It looked like she measured)
then put a Clove in the center of each square. Man that was good
When the Ham came out of the oven we would chew on the fat & the crispy
skin.
St Urho’s Day Saturday.
http://sainturho.com/origin.htm
Heard around the house recently:
J: Have you noticed that Girl Scout cookies don’t seem to taste nearly as good as they did years ago?
G: Yes, I have. To paraphrase Wednesday Addams from the movie, perhaps they are no longer made from real Girl Scouts. Or, more likely, they’ve changed bakers…to the lowest bidder.
Ghost, I think the Girl Scouts formerly used different bakers depending on what part of the country they were in. Now, they are most likely all made by the same baker. Probably one of the big name outfits.
Mark, that’s nearly true. According to USA Today: “Girl Scout cookies are made by ABC Bakers in Richmond, Virginia and Little Brownie Bakers in Louisville, Kentucky.”
https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/allthemoms/2019/02/15/girl-scout-cookies-find-buy-cost-online-ordering-why-cookies-are-different-by-location/2783565002/
JJ – You must have had a big crowd for dinner – or now a lot of leftovers.