Best 7 Cuban Style Fresh Ham Recipes

CROQUETAS DE JAMóN (HAM CROQUETTES)

Steps:

• In a saucepan, melt butter at medium-low heat. Add onion and cook for 1 minute.
• Slowly whisk in milk, 1/3 cup of flour, nutmeg, salt, and pepper. Continue to whisk until it becomes a very thick sauce (a roux).
• Add in the cooking wine and ground ham to the sauce. Mix together slowly until all is combined. Reduce heat to low and let simmer for 5 minutes.
• Transfer the filling to a bowl. Let it rest at room temperature then refrigerate for 2 hours or overnight (the longer the better). The mixture has to harden in order to form into logs and coat evenly. If this step is skipped, it will be very hard to form logs, coat with the breading, and fry. This is an important step. Don't skip it.
• Remove the filling from the refrigerator. Form logs from the mixture straight from the fridge. It's ok if they are cold, it will be easier to form the logs this way. You want the logs to be approximately 3" long and 1" wide. If the mixture is sticky as you're making the logs, add bread crumbs, 1 tablespoon at a time, to the mixture until it's no longer sticky.
• Continue forming the logs until you have all the croquette logs done then place them back in the fridge to firm up once again, about 30 minutes.**
• To bread the croquette logs, you want to set up a breading station. In one bowl, whisk eggs and set aside. In another bowl, mix the remaining flour and bread crumbs.
• Remove the logs from the fridge. Dip each croquette log in the egg wash and then coat in bread crumb/flour mixture. Repeat with each one until they are all breaded. Let the croquettes rest at room temperature for 5 minutes before frying.
• In a large pot or pan, heat enough vegetable oil to cover the croquettes completely. Fry each croquette until golden brown, approximately 3-4 minutes. Don't crowd the pot too much as you are frying. This will help them all get evenly cooked.
• Remove the croquettes from oil and drain on a paper towel-lined plate. Serve with saltines and lime wedges. Enjoy!

CUBAN LECHON ASADO (ROASTED FRESH HAM)

Steps:

• The day before you plan to serve this dish, trim the excess fat off the pork leg; make shallow slits all over the pork, using the tip of a knife; mash the garlic, salt, oregano, cumin, pepper, bay leaf and olive oil to a paste in a mortar; rub this mixture all over the roast, forcing it into the slits; combine the sour orange juice, sherry, and onions in a small bowl; place the roast in a large, heavy plastic bag; add the sour OJ mixture, making sure that the whole roast gets covered with the mixture; refrigerate and marinate the roast in the bag overnight, turning occasionally during the time.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Drain the roast, and pat dry, reserving the marinade; place it in a lightly oiled, nonreactive, heavy roasting pan; cook the roast for 1 hour, turning once or twice to brown it on all sides.
• Reduce the heat to 325 degrees; pour the marinade and onions over the pork; tent the pan with heavy-duty aluminum foil; (tear off a piece that is 1 1/2 times the width of your pan; fold it in half and crease the top; open it up, and place over the pan like a tent, tightly crimping edges to seal) continue roasting the pork, basting from time to time with the pan juices, until almost cooked, about 1 hour; add a little water or sherry if the pan dries out.
• Uncover the roast and continue cooking until the internal temp reads*at least* 150 degrees F on a meat thermometer, about 30 minutes more; (most Cubans like the meat well done, so after sitting, it should be up to 180 degrees--it's safer, also).
• Let the roast stand for 10 minutes before carving.
• Note: this is traditionally served with black bean soup and white rice, and fried, sweet plantains; for dessert, serve a rich flan and you're set!

FRESH PICNIC HAM TWO WAYS: CUBAN STYLE & BBQ

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. While the oven heats score the skin by slicing through the skin and fat to the meat below. Be careful not to cut to deep.
• Then rub the ham all over with spices, you can rub on a little olive oil to help the spices stick. Put the ham on to a roasting rack in a pan and place in the oven for at least 4 hours.
• The longer you cook it the more the internal fat and muscle will break down; my mother cooks a fresh ham for at 6+ hours, she wants it falling apart. I like mine to have a little more substance left so I go more like 4-5. It's your choice.
• Right before you remove the cooked ham from the oven turn it up to about 425 degrees and let the skin on top brown, don't let it burn. This should take about 15 to 20 minutes.
• Remove the cooked ham from the oven and let it rest at least 20 minutes so the juices can redistribute.
• Now it is time to start cutting this big boy up. Begin by removing that lovely crispy skin. The skin is very similar to chicharon, Latin American dish of fried pork skin. I serve the skin on the side like a lovely pork flavored appetizer, my mother finds this gross so do what you would like. You can also dice the skin up small and sprinkle it over the sliced pork to serve it. Or if you want to break my heart you can discard the skin.
• To slice the ham cut parallel to the bone and you will be able to free large wedge shaped sections of the ham from the center bone. It's not going to be as pretty as you thanksgiving turkey carving but oh well.
• I serve the meat with a squeeze of lime, sprinkle of cilantro, and dash of salt. I always serve this "Cuban style" pork with rice and black beans. Find my recipe for black beans here.

CUBAN BLACK BEANS

Steps:

• Cut 1 green pepper into 1-inch squares. Smash and peel 4 of the garlic cloves. Put the green pepper and garlic into a large pot with the beans, ham hock, bay leaves and 1 tablespoon salt. Add 2 quarts water and bring to a boil. Cover the pot and simmer until the beans are tender, an hour or more.
• Meanwhile, make a sofrito. Cut the remaining ½ green pepper into ¼-inch dice. Peel and finely chop the remaining garlic. Heat the olive oil in a very large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the bacon and cook, stirring occasionally, until it starts to brown, about 5 minutes. Add the green pepper and onion and cook, stirring, until slightly softened, about 3 minutes. Add the garlic, jalapeño (leave out the seeds if you don't want it too spicy), oregano, cumin, black pepper and 2 teaspoons salt and stir for another minute. Pour in the vinegar and scrape any browned bits from bottom of pan with a wooden spoon. This is your sofrito.
• When the beans are cooked, discard the bay leaf. Remove and set aside the ham hock and let it cool. Transfer 1 cup of beans to small bowl, mash them into a paste with the back of a fork and return to the pot. Add the sofrito, then the sugar. Pull the meat from the ham hock, leaving behind any white sinew or gristle. Chop the ham into ½-inch pieces and return it to the bean pot.
• Stir the beans well and bring to a boil over medium heat, then lower to a simmer and cook, uncovered, for 20 minutes or so, skimming any foam from the top. Taste for salt and serve with white rice.

FRESH HAM WITH CRACKLINGS AND PAN GRAVY

Steps:

• With a small sharp knife prick the ham skin all over, make 4 parallel 1/2-inch-deep incisions through the skin the entire length of the ham, and rub the ham lightly with the oil. In a small bowl rub together the coarse salt, the thyme, the sage, the pepper, and the mustard and rub the mixture over the entire surface of the ham. Put the ham on a roasting rack set in a roasting pan and put the pan in a preheated 500°F. oven. Reduce the temperature immediately to 325°F.> and roast the ham for 1 hour. Pour half the beer over the ham, roast the ham for 30 minutes more, and pour the remaining beer over the ham. Roast the ham for 2 1/2 hours more, or until a meat thermometer registers 170°F., and let it cool on the rack in the pan for 15 minutes. Pull off the brown crisp skin, leaving the layer of fat on the ham, with scissors cut the skin into small pieces, and arrange the cracklings in one layer in a baking pan. Sprinkle the cracklings with salt and bake them in the middle of a preheated 350°F. oven, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes, or until they are crisp and browned. Transfer the cracklings to paper towels and let them drain. Cut the remaining fat from the ham, slice the meat thinly across the grain, and arrange it on a platter. Keep the ham warm, covered.
• Skim off the fat from the juices in the roasting pan, add 1 cup water, and deglaze the pan over moderate heat, scraping up the brown bits. Transfer the liquid to a saucepan. In a small bowl whisk together the flour and 1/4 cup of the broth until the flour is dissolved and whisk the mixture into the deglazing liquid with the remaining 3/4 cup broth, the mustard, the sage, the thyme, and the vinegar and pepper to taste, and simmer the gravy, whisking, for 5 minutes.
• Garnish the ham with the cracklings and the watercress sprigs and serve it with the gravy.

CUBAN ROAST PORK, PERNIL O PIERNA ASADA ESTILO CUBANO

Steps:

• 1. Buy a nice large pork shoulder or fresh ham try to buy with the skin on the fresh ham. I am doubtful you will find a pork shoulder with the skin on it but you can try.
• 2. THE NIGHT BEFORE: Take your pork shoulder or fresh ham and stab it all over making deep stabbings in the meat all over the roast. Next, take your salt and pour about two tablespoons full in your hands and rub deep all over the pork roast or fresh ham sticking your fingers in the deep stabbed holes to penetrate the salt well into the meat. Do this all around the fresh ham. You will need about 2 tablespoons of salt altogether. If it is a very large fresh ham you might need as much as three tablespoons of salt. Rubbing deep into the meat all over and into the holes made with a sharp knife. Please be careful with the knife when stabbing the pork so as to not cut yourself. Make sure your hands are dry as well as the handle of the knife when stapping the pork. You do not want your hand to slide down onto the sharp blade as I have seen happen when stabbing the pork.
• 3. After salting put the pork to a side. In a blender add the lime/lemon or sour oange juice, garlic cloves, and the seasonings bay leaf, cumin powder, oregano, pepper, 1 teaspoon salt. Blend on high until all is liquified.
• 4. This is your Cuban Mojo, pour one cup of the mojo in a jar cover and reserve for later.
• 5. Now take your pork roast and pour the rest of the sauce all over the pork roast rubbing the mojo sauce deep into the pork meat in the slits or holes. The secret is to make sure you rub your pork meat roast or fresh ham with all this lime/garlic sauce making sure it is well introduced into the meat.
• 6. When done sprinkle a little more oregano, cumin, black pepper over the entire roast again just a little sprinkle. Cover with aluminum foil and refrigerate until the next day for roasting.
• 7. Next day remove pork from the refrigerator let stand on the counter for at least an hour then put into a preheated 325 degree oven.
• 8. Depending on how large a roast you have roast about 3 to 4 hours or a little more.
• 9. Pour a half cup of the reserved mojo and baste your roast every hour with some of the mojo.
• 10. Roast is done when the juices run clear and the meat is tender. Do not cover with aluminum foil to roast. You can tent the roast with aluminum foil but do not crimp the edges all around. You want to roast your pork meat not steam it. I do not even tent mine.
• 11. If the roast starts to get too brown on top tent it with the foil. Take a large piece of foil and fold in half then put over the roast leaving the sides open, no crimping. A five pound roast can take as long as five or six hours slow roasting. When done remove roast from the oven take out of the pan put into another pan. Let roast hang out for a bit.
• 12. In your pan there should be lots of pan drippings. Pour them into a frying pan over medium heat and add the onions and fry them in the drippings.
• 13. Next, take a half cup of the reserved mojo from the refrigerator and pour into the onions sauteing everything for about five minutes. After about 10 minutes slice all of your roast and pour the mojo with onions all over the meat mixing it well into all of the pork meat. Serve with Cuban black beans and white rice. There is another traditional dish served with the pork, rice, and black beans. It is called Yuca (Casava). It is boiled when tender it is served with the pork, black beans, and rice. It looks like boiled potato only it is long and very starchy. It is served with a mojo sauce that is also pored over it but only lemon or lime juice and fresh garlic are used. But that is another recipe. It is a tradition to also include that dish with the Cuban roast pork dinner. Don't forget the Crispy Cuban bread and the Sangria or wine, For dessert pass a delicious flan. Buen Apetito. Enjoy.

LEFTOVER HAM SHEET PAN CUBANOS RECIPE BY TASTY

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
• Make the mojo turkey: Add the turkey, orange juice, lime juice, garlic, salt, and oregano to a large bowl. Toss well, then set aside.
• Split the hoagie rolls in half lengthwise and spread 1½ teaspoons of mustard over each roll.
• On the bottom half of each roll, layer 2 slices of ham, ¼ of the mojo turkey, 2 slices of Swiss cheese, and 4 dill pickle chips.
• Bring the sandwiches together and set on a rimmed baking sheet. Brush the top and bottom of each roll with the melted butter.
• Place another baking sheet on top of the sandwiches and put a cast iron skillet or other heavy pan on top to compress the sandwiches.
• Transfer to the oven and bake for 20 minutes, until the exterior of the bread is golden and crispy and the cheese is melted.
• Enjoy!