Skip to main content

Tasso ham

While we're dry-rubbing-and-grilling...

I got this recipe from the chef at la Grassa, and used it for the Tasso ham sandwiches we sold at the Summit IRA release party. This is an easy one to keep in the memory bank for when you to need to pack a wallop of flavor, cajun style.

1) Obtain fresh ham or other whole cut of pork (despite being a recipe for ham, shoulder is actually ideal due to superior marbling.) Cut the meat against the grain into long, thin strips.

2) Bury the strips of meat in a cure of 1 part salt: 2 parts sugar. Ensure the meat is covered on all sides. Allow it to cure for no more than 8 hours; this is intended to be a quick cure.

3) Rinse the cure off the meat and pat it dry. Make the dry rub:

2 parts white pepper
1 part ground chile
1 part marjoram (thyme or oregano work equally well here)
1 part ground allspice

Cover the meat in the rub. Grill, slow roast, or, ideally, hot-smoke the meat. Make sandwiches, soup, etc.

Comments

Lillian said…
I am so thrilled about this! One of the few restaurants in Ithaca that didn't suck had a tasso gravy that was out-of-this-world. Yay!

Popular posts from this blog

Thick-cut Pork Chops

These intimidating chops were actually pretty easy to cook. They're called an "Iowa Chop", and they're just a thick-cut, bone-in, center-cut chop. I've discovered that the secret to juicy pork chops is to start with a cold pan and obsessively checking the temperature . I find they're best just under 160 degrees. Pork Chops 2 1-lb. Iowa Chops 2-3 Tbsp. salt 2 Tbsp. white pepper 2 Tbsp. dried sage 2 Tbsp. Smoked (or regular) paprika 3 Tbsp. oil Sauce (optional): 1/2 c. chicken broth 1/2 c. white wine (I used Pinot Grigio) 2 Tbsp. corn starch 1 tsp. white pepper 2 tsp. Dijon mustard 1/4 c. cold water Preheat the oven to 350. Pat the chops dry with some paper towel. Sprinkle them liberally with the salt and spices and allow them to warm up to room temperature while you start the quinoa and chop the cauliflower. Place the oil in your pan, but do not pre-heat the pan. Add the chops to the pan and place them on the stove. Heat the pan up to medium, turning the chop

Miele Steam Oven Pulled Pork

I've been debating whether I should post some of these more niche recipes--now that we have a steam oven and a high powered stove, I am making recipes that not everyone can reproduce with other equipment. I've decided to post some of them 1) for my own records, and 2) because there are very few recipes available online for these devices (especially the steam oven). Perhaps these recipes will be of use to others. I don't have a photo for this one because I decided to post the recipe after the fact. 3-5 lb pork shoulder roast (~3 lb without bone, ~5 lb with) 1 large white onion, 1/4" slices 1 Tbsp. butter 1 chicken boullion cube 1 c. water 2 tsp. dried thyme 1 tsp. dried sage 1 tsp. whole coriander 1 Tbsp. coarse ground salt 1 Tbsp. brown sugar 1 tsp. dry mustard 1 tsp. white pepper 1/2 tsp. cinnamon 1/4 tsp. cayenne 1/4 tsp. allspice 1/4 tsp. celery seed Saute the onions in the butter in a saute pan over medium for 10 min until the onions are somewha

Quick Turkey Meatballs

For various reasons, Melanie likes ground turkey more than ground beef, and so I've been making turkey meatballs a lot. Obviously the problem with turkey is that it can be really dry since it's so lean, but one day we made a random hippy turkey burger recipe and it taught us the he secret to making ground turkey not be gross: ground mushrooms!  If you grind up the mushrooms and mix them in, they kind of cook away but keep whatever you're cooking moist and give that umami flavor that's also missing from turkey. People who don't like mushrooms won't notice their presence at all unless they're specifically looking for them. This recipe is also designed to cook up really really quickly - you can have these done in the time it takes you to boil the water for the noodles. The spices are loosely based on Lillian's meatball recipe but only use dry spices for convenience. They still come out a little dry, but especially with a wetter sauce (marinara, vodka, etc.