Sverige #1

Lamb Ham Pie

I love a woman who's not afraid to tell me what she wants. One who spreads shivers of dark desire through inaudible whispers. With luscious lips, a sensual aroma, an unpredictable bite; her familiar face belies the olfactory orgasm concealed and waiting beneath. While many prefer to bypass the foreplay and pay for the more expedient of pleasures, those poor souls deny themselves the pleasure of long and slow cooking over a gentle heat, continual tasting and licking of lips, spooning, caressing the pastry with bare hands, and... well... let's just say that the two experiences are not quite the same...


Lamb Ham Pie

400 g Hay Valley Lamb Ham, diced + bone
2 brown onions, brunoise
1 carrot, brunoise
4 tomatoes, peeled & diced + stalks
1 head of garlic, peeled & smashed into smithereens
330 ml McLaren Vale Pale Ale
1 L chicken stock
20 g Vegemite
20 g maple syrup
80 g plain flour
2 bay leaves
8 g thyme sprigs
puff pastry sheets
1 egg + 1 Tbsp milk, for brushing

Gently sweat the onion in a large pot.
Throw in the diced ham, carrot, tomatoes and garlic. Stir everything around for a few minutes.
Pour in the ale and chicken stock.
Stir through the Vegemite and maple syrup.
Dust the flour over the surface and stir it through well for a smooth texture.
Add the bay leaves and thyme and simmer gently for 2 - 2.5 hours until ham is tender and the mixture has thickened considerably.
Remove bones, stalks, etc. and cool to room temperature before refrigerating.
Line a pie dish or a few muffin pans with puff pastry trimmed to size.
Fill generously with cold lamb mixture.
Whisk egg and milk together to create an egg wash.
Brush exposed puff pastry rims with egg wash and cover with puff pastry lids.
Remove excess pastry with a knife and press the edges together with the tines of a fork.
Brush the lids with egg wash.
Using a small, sharp knife, pierce the lids to allow steam to escape when baking so the pastry doesn't split.
Bake at 180°C for 35 - 40 minutes, rotating halfway for even heating, until golden brown and bubbling.
Cool for at least 10 minutes on a wire rack before removing from the pan.

Maple Syrup & Vegemite Glazed Lamb Ham

I'm Asian. I love freebies and I'm a sucker for good food.

The cunning pants at Meat & Livestock Australia and Hausmann have played me right into their hands with a sacrificial offering of Hay Valley lamb ham, gourmet mustard and sourdough tucked neatly into a red linen-lined basket. If Little Red Riding Hood had a hoarding habit and accepted her goodies in styrofoam boxes, we could very well be twins.

There was a lovely note slipped in beneath the bread, just in case I'd been struck by a sudden case of amnesia and forgotten the email I'd received two days prior confirming my availability to accept a perishable delivery from so and so.

"Thanks for all of your hard work - taking pictures of random things, chowing down on free food and taking more pictures, posting said pictures with delirious comments attached on a blog that nobody in their right mind would ever read.  Lots of love from the seedy man in admin who signs notes under exotic female aliases to build customer rapport."


I'll pretend to be frank for a moment. I was intrigued yet dubious about the concept of lamb ham from the beginning for the following reasons: 

1. I've never ever heard of 'lamb ham', thus it must be a terrible concoction of farce and nitrites. Perhaps past tasters in market research groups contracted botulism and were unable to speak of its delicious flavour and paralytic effects.

2. This so-called 'lamb ham' contains 20% less fat than the traditional porker. Since fat is flavour and a lubricating agent, the proportionally lower fat content of lamb would no doubt result in a despicable product with the dry and unpalatable texture and flavour profile of shredded cardboard. 

3. Google Images reveals numerous pictures of lamb that appear about as appetising as a dinner party consisting of two girls and one cup.. minus the girls.

I don't normally say this because it never ever happens except maybe just this once ..but well.. I was wrong. Cured in maple syrup and smoked, it was as good as (if not better than) a traditional pork ham - unbelievably tender, succulent, oh so moist. 

To enhance the subtle ingrained smoky sweetness, I sloshed together a fairly traditional ham glaze with maple syrup, Dijon mustard and cider vinegar. Hmm.. There wasn't anywhere near as much fat around the outside so I bypassed the scoring and clove studding and added a light dusting of allspice. Oh what the heck. Lamb is the epitome of the modern Australian diet. In went a blob of Vegemite. 

A whole lot of basting, cursing, basting, peering, and basting later, the lamb ham was removed and allowed to rest for two hours. Admittedly I was upstairs watching an enthralling episode of Better Homes & Gardens but it needed to rest anyway. All that basting would have tired the little lamb out. 

I dug out my biggest knife and sliced into the cooled meat with trepidation, but I needn't have worried. All of my niggling doubts and expectations flew out the window as the quivering pink flesh touched my lips. No words can describe the elation of discovering a ham that surpasses all other hams, or the Kodak moment when one tastes the first sliver of barely warm lamb that's been cured, smoked and basted for an hour with maple syrup and rich Vegemite. This is definitely a recipe that I'll be keeping in the books for next year, and possibly one to overthrow past traditions.



Maple Syrup & Vegemite Glazed Lamb Ham

1 x 2 kg Hay Valley lamb ham
200 g light brown sugar
60 g maple syrup (real maple syrup, none of that flavoured fake stuff)
60 g apple cider vinegar
50 g Dijon mustard
25 g Vegemite
1.5 tsp allspice, ground

Trim the skin off the lamb, leaving as much fat on as possible. Remove any visible sinew.
Cover the bone with foil to keep it nice and clean.
Leave for an hour or until it comes to room temperature.
Preheat the oven to 180˚C.
Chuck all of the remaining ingredients into a bowl and whisk until sugar is dissolved and Vegemite is thoroughly combined.
Place a rack over a tray and half-fill it with boiling water.  
Place the lamb ham on top (make sure the water doesn't touch the lamb), covering loosely with foil. 
Roast for 40 minutes.
Remove the foil, top up the water and baste with maple syrup and Vegemite mixture.
Return to the oven and continue roasting for 40 - 50 minutes, basting lightly every 10 minutes or until a beautiful golden brown.
Stick a thermometer into the centre to make sure that the meat has reached 60˚C.
Remove tray from oven and rest for 2 hours before slicing.
Enjoy! :D