apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I've not used whole ham steaks, but for holidays we buy a half ham, and I find myself cooking with hunks of it.

Cubed ham is, of course, wonderful in pea soup. Also try lentil or other bean soup. Last night I made a soup of butternut squash, potatoes, cabbage, white beans, and cubed ham. It was wonderfully filling.

Or, try it with pasta - pasta, peas, Parmesan, cream, lemon zest and a handful of ham cubes is a quick and tasty weeknight dish.

Finally, I really enjoy baked mac & cheese (made with smoked Gouda) with some cubed ham mixed in.

I tried it once but then I found little pre-cut pre-cooked ham cubes and now I use those instead.

I stole a tasty gratin recipe from a brunch place in Carroll Gardens, BK: I slice ham steaks so they are half the thickness, place the slice in a gratin dish, crack an egg on top of the ham, and cover with a little grated Gruyere and cracked pepper. Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes. Delicious!

I just bought a ham steak (and a ham hock) to make a soup my mom used to make. In addition to the above-mentioned pork, it's water (or stock) green beans, onions and potatoes. Simmered all day in a crock pot and oh my goodness.

Look for Nueske brand ham steaks. They are very good.

There's nothing like an indulgent winter breakfast of a sauteed ham steak with red-eye gravy and biscuits.

Just sautee the ham and deglaze the pan with strong coffee, add sugar and finish with butter.

Damn, I want some ham now.

Trader Joes also sells a Niman Ranch (no antibiotics/hormones, etc.) ham steak that is very tasty. We've used it with eggs, in mac and cheese and like others, in soups.

I usually don't buy ham steaks, because I am excessively frugal. Typically I buy whole ham roasts while they're on sale, then take them home, slice them and wrap the slices in butcher paper to freeze. I find ham keeps an extraordinarily long time this way, so it saves me money in the long run.

I use ham steaks when I want to cook the U.S. Senate Bean Soup (white bean and ham soup with carrots and celery). It has been served every day in the U.S. Senate restaurant for about a century. One of the most filling and delicious soups I know of, and a great winter food. It just gets better as the flavors mix in the fridge.

Man oh man--I remember ham steaks from my childhood days as well! When I was little and my dad had to cook (not very often), we either had omelette night or ham and hominy night. Ham and hominy is a traditional Southern meal--you fry up ham ("city" ham steaks like those pictured above or cured "country ham) with hominy, salt, and pepper for a simple meal. It would probably be improved by the addition of some dried thyme or seasoning of some sort. Though I no longer eat meat, I loved this meal growing up.

Not many Northerners are familiar with hominy, which is corn soaked in lye to soften and remove the outer hull of a corn kernal. The resulting puffy corn treat (normally found in the Latino/Mexican grocery section or with the canned beans) is a wonderful foodstuff to put in all kinds of recipes. I use it in veggie chili and in Southwestern flavored stews with sweet potato, chiles, cumin, etc. But I digress......

Here's a great recipe from Betty Lives:
http://bettylives.com/baked-stuffed-ham-steaks-with-sweet-potato-sausage-stuffing-and-southern-style-green-beans/

Art, in the south, ham (red eye) gravy is from the old cured salty ham. There used to be wonderful ones from pigs that rooted out the peanut fields and produced "peanut ham" that was the best of all ham. Wish I could send you some. These pink kind are ok. I fry it, add pineapple slices and juice and raisins to simmer down to slightly brown the pineapple, all that sugary fruit will burn easily.