Started this thread in the hopes of others sharing their favorite foods from their ancestral lands. Feel free to chip in.
Returned from our group trip to Scotland for Hogmanay yesterday. Still fighting jet lag but enjoyed every minute of it. Had the opportunity to have a full Scottish breakfast with authentic ingredients. Breakfast included Lorne (square) sausage, black pudd, baked beans, fried eggs, grilled tomato and tattie scones.
Fun fact: our Scottish host claims that the idea for Spam originated from their square sausage. I can see it.
Returned from our group trip to Scotland for Hogmanay yesterday. Still fighting jet lag but enjoyed every minute of it. Had the opportunity to have a full Scottish breakfast with authentic ingredients. Breakfast included Lorne (square) sausage, black pudd, baked beans, fried eggs, grilled tomato and tattie scones.
Fun fact: our Scottish host claims that the idea for Spam originated from their square sausage. I can see it.
propchef wrote:
Interesting word, "ham."
Dedmiston, is this a raw "ham" (rear leg of the pig) or a cured ham?
I've been slow to post the photos. We had lots of family in town to celebrate grandma's 85th birthday and I never had a minute to sit down at the keyboard.
The pulled smoked ham was a huge success and I'd definitely do it again. I wouldn't use the meat for tacos again though because the meat was too salty. And since I made my own rub, I would delete the salt from the rub altogether.
To answer some of your questions:
GRILL: I use a pellet grill for smoking (a.k.a "Easy-Bake Oven"). I absolutely love these things. I have my original smallish Traeger, a travel GMG for the RV, and my beloved GMG Jim Bowie Prime that my wife gave me for my birthday early on in the pandemic.
HAM: This was not gourmet whatsoever. It was in the discount section of our Ralphs (Kroger) market after the holidays. It was already cured and smoked ("Fully Cooked"). Their cure used a ton of salt unfortunately.
The meat was fantastic though and I'd definitely serve it with my wife's cheese potatoes (or as some of our Mormon friends recently told us they call them, "Funeral Potatoes").
The meat was very moist and the flavor from the seasonings mixed perfectly when I pulled the ham. I usually add a lot more rub to the meat when I pull a pork butt (the inside is usually pretty gamey), but the glaze from the bark mixed in just fine and the meat was plenty juicy.
I used Susie Bulloch's recipe for the ham. I like her sensibilities and her recipes usually turn out perfect: https://heygrillhey.com/smoked-pulled-ham/. The glaze was 50/50 BBQ sauce and apricot preserves, which sounded disgusting, but it worked great.
It took 9 1/2 hours from start to finish, not counting the rest and shredding the meat. I snapped some pics along the way.
I smoked it to 165ยฐ IT and then moved it to a foil pan and added the glaze and a cup of water to braise it. I took it off the grill at 207ยฐ and it was absolutely perfect for pulling. All of the fats and connective tissues were completely broken down and there was nothing tough inside. The fats and skin were easy to separate out and our dogs enjoyed the scraps. The finished meat fed seven of us for two meals, and then my wife and I killed the leftovers last night after we had the house to ourselves again.
