Ham, roast potatoes and veg for dinner

So.  My "ham" has been soaking in its salt, treacle and water bath in the bottom of the fridge for three weeks.  Somewhat tentatively, I took it out last evening.

It looked OK.  It smelled OK.  I took it out, rinsed it thoroughly off, patted it dry and put it into a pot with hot water, two bay leaves and a finely chopped onion to simmer for an hour or so.

Then I anointed it with a local flower honey and put it into a moderate oven with some home grown fluffy potatoes to roast for another hour.

It tasted rather nice. The stock that it was simmered in is definitely rather nice - I've reserved it for use in soups or stews.  The cured pork is perhaps a little salty for my taste (although the stock isn't particularly).  I think next time I'll reduce the salt level a little bit and up the treacle level.  I might also give it a go using honey instead of treacle and see what happens.

I really must also have a go at dry curing - although I think that will definitely be too salty for me.

So a huge thank you to Fiona and Danny at the Cottage Smallholder blog. I'd never quite have got the courage together to experiment with wet curing ham and bacon before I had read about their endeavours and experiments.

Oh - we had the cured pork last night with home grown vegetables as well as the potatoes, and a grainy mustard gravy.  It was a great success.  And there's lots more for lunches and dinners for the rest of the week.

Home cured pork and home grown roast potatoes

... and our vegetable selection for the evening