Mar-Apr2016_Final-FlipBook

the Seafood issue

Hwy. 1 Double Smoked Ham WHAT YOU WILL NEED 7-8 pound Smithfield spiral sliced, shank or butt ham 1 48-ounce can of pineapple juice

Green Eggs & Ham

Spicy Creole Mustard Bad Byron’s Butt Rub 1 tablespoon cloves

3 bottles Abita Rootbeer 1½ cups dark brown sugar

½ cup orange juice Whole fresh pineapple HOW TO PREP

Make sure the vents on your Big Green Egg are wide open. Fill with lump charcoal and 2 handfuls of hickory wood chunks to just above the bottom air holes. (Use more wood chunks and less charcoal for a stronger flavor.) Place a piece of firestarter down in the center of the coals and light it. Sprinkle with hickory wood chips. Place the bottom grate over the charcoal and wood. Set BGE on indirect cooking at 225 degrees. Rinse the ham with cold water and pat dry. Using a long sharp knife, score the fat in a 1-inch-wide, ¼-inch-deep diamond pattern. Coat with mustard, then pat brown rub over mustard coating, pressing firmly to adhere. Stud ham with whole cloves. When the BGE is hot, you’ll need to “burp it” by raising the lid a few inches then closing it, raising it, then closing it. This will release a bit of the heat. Burp the BGE a few times before opening the lid completely. Fill a large disposable aluminum pan with pineapple juice. Place the pineapple juice pan on the bottom grate of the BGE to catch any drippings. (The juice will help keep the pork most). Cover with the top grate and place the ham directly on it. Cook for one hour. While ham is cooking, core the pineapple. Start by removing the base and leaves of the pineapple using a sharp knife. Then stand the pineapple on one end and shave off the skin top to bottom. Cut out the eyes. Cut into quarters. Working one at a time, stand the quarter on its end and cut downward to remove the core. Repeat until all quarters are cut, then chop into chunks. One medium pineapple will yield about three cups of chunks. Open the lid of BGE and add the pineapple. Continue cooking for another hour. TO MAKE THE GLAZE Bring rootbeer, brown sugar and orange juice to a boil in a large saucepan over medium heat, stirring periodically. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook until glaze is reduced by half. Open the lid and pour the glaze on the ham. Continue cooking for another hour or until internal temperature of 140 degrees. Remove from BGE. Let rest for 5 to 10 minutes. Slice and serve with smoked pineapple.

by Tim Acosta, Rouses Advertising &Marketing Director U nless the package states otherwise, all prepared hams — bone-in, boneless, spiral cut, shank or butt — are wet cured and smoked, which means they’re already cookedand just need tobeheated.Additional smoking and/or using a rubor glaze are just away to add your own flavors.I cook hams onmy Big Green Egg every Easter using the same low and slow smoking technique that I use for my ribs (get Tim’s award-winning Big Green Egg ribs recipes at www.rouses.com) . A mixture of lump charcoal and woods are a must — I use hickory wood chunks, but you can use pecan, cherry, mesquite or apple wood chunks or chips.The whole process, start to finish, takes less than four hours or six beers. Leftovers are great with — what else? — eggs.

40

MY ROUSES EVERYDAY MARCH | APRIL 2016