Slow Cooker: New England Ham

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Our original crock pot was purchased a number of years ago based on making a large quantity of chili but it has only been in the last few months or so that I realized the potential of this piece of kitchen equipment. I've made Yankee Pot Roast with incredible results along with Slow Cooker Chicken and Vegetable Macaroni and Cheese, Slow Cooker Mexican Chicken, Slow Cooker Smothered Onion and Mushroom Beef Chuck Steak and Slow Cooker Chicken Thighs with Creamy Gravy and Vegetables.



My regret is that I did not discover the uses of the slow cooker during those years of working full time and raising kids. I am so happy with this recipe because this seven and a half pound ham fit nicely in the crock pot after trimming some of the outer fatty rind from it. Here's a photograph of our "slow cooker" and a photograph of how nicely the ham fit it.

Basically its a simple recipe and the slow cooker does the cooking while you are work. I think a ham eight pounds or less is perfect for this slow cooker method.

• ham with bone in (shank portion is great)
• 2-3 bay leaves
• 1 tsp. black peppercorns
• water (fill about half way up the ham)

1. Add the ingredients to the crock pot - all of them.
2. Set it on high and cook 4 hours or low and cook 6-8 hours.
3. Remove the ham and get it ready to carve.
4. When the liquid cools down, save the broth by straining over a large bowl or pot that will fit in your refrigerator. You want to remove the peppercorns and bay leaf and discard.
5. The next day you take the cold broth and remove the cold fat that surfaced. You now have a started base for soup. By the way you will also need the ham bone that still has some ham attached to it to complete the soup recipe that will be my next post.

It will be a delight to have the ham all cooked and ready when you come home from work. Then in about 45 minutes you can peel some potatoes and carrots and cook them up to serve along side to have a New England Ham dinner. Or, choose to make mashed potatoes and any other vegetable of your choice to accompany the ham.

The main portion of the dinner while the outlay of cash may seem steep (I paid $16.56) for the ham, you get multiple meals. This initial New England Ham dinner, perhaps a batch of scalloped potatoes and some hearty and delicious soup can be made from this one chunk of protein. Aside from cutting off two chunks for either sandwiches or perhaps ham and scalloped potatoes I used the ham bone with a fair amount of ham on it to make some Cuban Black Bean Soup which is the next recipe I'll post.