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Frizzled Ham
Cut a pound of Smithfield ham into thin shavings, after slicing off all fat, melt a tablespoon of butter in your trusty, rusty, skillet, frizzle ham, and when it begins to color sprinkle 1 tablespoon flour over and fry on until nicely browned, giving it a stir once in a while to keep things from scorching. At the finish pour in about 2 cups of milk, let it boil up once, then season well with pepper and serve on campfire toast made by holding slice after slice to the coals on a long extension fork and then turning the other cheek.
A camp version of country ham with milk gravy, built in one pan. The only real difficulty is the ham itself: Smithfield is a dry-cured, heavily salted, often aged product that behaves nothing like supermarket sliced ham.
- Know your hamTrue Smithfield ham is dry-cured, smoked and aged, and is sold whole or in slices; it is generally uncooked and needs soaking before use, though cooked hams are also sold. If you substitute ordinary wet-cured deli ham the dish will be bland and watery; look for country ham, prosciutto ends, or speck instead.
- SaltNo salt is called for anywhere in the recipe; the seasoning is pepper only. A pound of country ham carries more than enough salt for two cups of gravy. Taste before you even consider adding any.
- "Thin shavings"Slice against the grain as thin as you can manage, roughly 1/8 inch or less. Thick pieces of aged ham turn leathery in a hot pan.
- The rusty skilletPeriod camp humour, not instruction. Cook in a well-seasoned cast-iron pan; scrub any actual rust off and re-season before use.
- FrizzlingMedium heat, not high. The point is to drive off moisture and lightly brown the edges, which takes three or four minutes. Aged ham scorches fast and scorched country ham is bitter.
- The roux is deliberately thinOne tablespoon of flour to two cups of milk gives a pouring gravy, not a sauce that mounds on toast. Cook the flour in the fat for a full minute before the milk goes in, add the milk in stages while stirring, and let it come to a boil once to thicken.
- FatTrimming all the fat, as directed, leaves you with only a tablespoon of butter to carry the flour. If your ham is lean and dry, an extra teaspoon of butter keeps the flour from catching.
- YieldA pound of ham and two cups of gravy serves four generously over toast, or three at a campsite breakfast.