Who Ever Heard of Fresh Ham?

I mean, if it isn't fresh then what is it? It turns out that almost all pork legs are cured and become what we refer to as hams. But if they are not cured, they are still hams, and in that case they are 'fresh'. However don't plan on just picking one up at the grocery store the next time you're there, because they need to be ordered ahead and they are not small. Mine was 20 pounds, which at $1.59/lb. was more than a turkey would have cost, but much less than many other main courses I have purchased-and this one could have easily fed an army.

This dish needs to start two days before you eat. That is when you make the 'rub' and rub it all over your leg. My rub, which was Julia's rub, consisted of 1/4 c. of salt, 1 t. fresh ground pepper, and 1/4 t. each of paprika, sage, thyme and allspice. After rubbing, place the leg in a closed plastic bag and refrigerate until ready to bake.

When the big day finally arrives brush the leg with vegetable oil, set it on the rack in a roasting pan and put it into a preheated oven at 425 degrees for 15 minutes, basting every 5 minutes. Then reduce the heat to 350 degrees and cover the leg with an 8" x 10" piece of pig fat or an equivalent amount of thick sliced bacon that you have blanched for 10 minutes. After 2.5 hours add a chopped carrot, a chopped onion and 5 cloves of garlic to the pan and make sure you baste the entire leg with the accumulated pan drippings every 20 minutes until done. Julia says that should be in about 22-25 minutes per pound. In my case that would be at least 440 minutes or 7+ hours. Dinner is planned for 7:30, so I put him in at 11:15 which should get him out of the oven at between 6:15 and 7:00, which should allow plenty of time for him to 'rest' for a half hour and me to make the sauce.

She recommends letting him cook until he reaches an internal temperature of 155 degrees and directs us to begin taking his temperature after 3 hours. At 3 hours he was at 140 degrees and by the time he had been cooking for 4 hours he was done. After I got done with my heart attack I read her 'ahead of time note' which says we can keep him warm in an 120 degree oven for up to an hour before serving. In this case I kept him warm for 3 hours and he was still delicious. Not dry, not over- done, just great.

To make the sauce she requires us to brown the bones with some carrots and onions in peanut oil. But my bones were still in my pig and my butcher didn't have any to sell, so I bought 2 pounds of pork ribs, certainly not the most economical method, but at least it worked. After browning I whisked in a little flour, 3 cups of chicken broth, 2 cups of port wine, 2 stalks of celery, 2 seeded, peeled and chopped tomatoes, and an herb bouquet consisting of fresh rosemary, bay, sage and thyme, and allowed it all to simmer for 3 hours. After simmering, all the vegetables, bones and meat are strained out of the sauce. In addition, after removing the leg from the roasting pan the juices are poured into a fat separator and after separating the non-fat juices poured into the sauce. Then I added half a cup of port wine to the roasting pan, put it on a burner set to medium and allowed to cook for a few minutes to loosen the stuck on bits in the bottom of the pan and added that to the sauce as well. It is ladled onto the sliced pork after plating.

As is frequent with Julia's recipes, this one is a bit fussy, but the end result was wonderful.

The Bottom Line:
Roast Leg of Pork-Thumbs Up