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Broiled Devilled Ham
Have six slices raw ham one-fifth of an inch thick; arrange them on a broiler and broil for two minutes on each side. Remove from the broiler, then roll each piece in a devilled butter lightly roll them in bread crumbs, arrange again on the broiler and quickly broil again for one minute on each side; remove, dress on a hot dish and serve.
A two-stage broil: the ham is set most of the way through, then coated and returned to the heat just long enough to crisp the crumbs. The whole thing takes under ten minutes, so have the butter and crumbs ready before the broiler is lit.
- The hinge: crumbs go on secondThe devilled butter and crumbs are applied only after the first broiling, and get one minute a side. Any longer and the crumbs scorch while the butter runs off into the pan.
- "Devilled butter"A softened butter worked with dry mustard, cayenne, a little Worcestershire and salt; roughly a teaspoon of mustard and a pinch of cayenne per 4 tablespoons butter is a workable starting point. There is no fixed formula, and period versions vary widely in heat.
- "Raw ham"Most likely means ham that has not yet been cooked, as against the ready-to-eat boiled or baked kind; the recipe does not make clear whether cured or fresh pork is meant. A fresh ham steak or thick-cut pork leg slice will work; if you use a cured but uncooked country ham, cut the salt in the devilled butter.
- One-fifth of an inchAbout 5 mm, thinner than a supermarket ham steak. Ask for it cut on the slicer, or flatten a thicker slice slightly. The timings depend entirely on this thinness.
- BroilerThe 1906 broiler is a hinged wire gridiron over coals or under a gas flame, turned by hand. Use an overhead broiler on high with the rack close, or a ridged grill pan; either way preheat fully so the surface sears rather than steams.
- DonenessFresh pork is served at 145F with a short rest. Six minutes total under a hot broiler will take a 5 mm slice past that, but check the first one before committing the rest.
- YieldSix thin slices serve three as a main course, or six at breakfast or supper alongside eggs or toast.
"Devilled" entered English cookery in the late eighteenth century to describe anything made fiercely hot with mustard and cayenne, usually applied to leftovers or to plain cold meat that needed rescuing — temperature and character both. By the time Alexander Filippini, long a chef at Delmonico's in New York, compiled The International Cook Book in 1906, devilled ham, devilled kidneys and devilled bones were standard items on hotel breakfast and after-theatre supper menus, dishes a kitchen could turn out fast on a gridiron already hot from other work. The crumb coating gives the slice a crust and a gloss that plain broiled ham has not got, and it keeps the seasoned butter clinging to the meat instead of dripping into the fire.