Virginia Ham Audio Class: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Listen now to Chef Cary’s instructions on preparing your ham. Cary has lived in Virginia for over twenty years and prepares these hams often for guests. He highly recommends Alton Brown’s Virginia Ham recipe for home use that uses Dr. Pepper. That recipe is found here and the highlights are using Dr. Pepper as the roasting liquid.

Cary recommends mustard butter as a great compliment to the ham and recommends serving the ham with sweet and starchy side dishes. I happened to stop by Chef Margaret’s recent Christmas Cooking class and came upon her Virginia ham which had been soaking for 3 days and was going to be served with a very simple raisin sauce. Fact is, soaking your ham will release a lot of the salt but perhaps never enough for your family’s taste so a great bet is to make a really fantastic ham, slice as thinly as possible, and serve with delicious side dishes. Be sure to use your ham hock for soup and don’t hesitate to contact us for ideas about great dishes to create (leftovers) with the ham.

You might also consider serving a sauce or chutney with you ham that is a bit sweet and tangy to balance the saltiness of the ham. Typical and delicious sauces included peach, pineapple, apple, apple cider, or bourbon and apricot. Lisa- please let us know if you would like to prepare homemade biscuits or serve your ham with a sauce. Just tell us what fruit you enoy and one of our chefs will prepare a recipe for you.

Mustard Butter
1 stick butter, softened
2 Tbsp parsley, chopped
1/2 shallot, chopped
4 Tbsp mustard, dijon is preferred
1/2 tsp salt
fresh pepper to taste

Blend all ingredients together, except for salt and pepper, by hand with a fork. Season to taste. You can form a nice log and chill. Or, place in a crock and store in refrigerator wrapped.