Here's a brilliant recipe I discovered in an old 1970's book on French Regional Cookery. Jambon au Cidre. Ham with Cider. It comes from Le Manoir d'Hastings, a hotel found in a 17th century priory in Normandy. It's an old dish. I love the simplicity.
You take a 3 kg ham and soak it in several changes of cold water for 24 hours. You then place it inside a large saucepan and pour in two bottles of cider, or enough to cover the ham. I would try and find a decent Norman cider, rather than using that sparkly, fizzy, sweet stuff.
The pan is brought slowly to the boil and any scum skimmed off the top. The heat is lowered and the ham simmered very gently until tender. About two and a half hours. 20 minutes per ½ kg. Once done, the ham is left to cool in all that lovely cooking liquor.
And now for the interesting bit. Slice the ham and sauté the slices in a frying pan, in unsalted butter, until they get a little bit of colour. Transfer the cooked slices to a serving dish.
To make the sauce, déglacez the pan with six tablespoons of Cider Vinegar, add 250ml of the reserved cooking liquor and reduce over a brisk flame until syrupy. Taste, and season with salt and white pepper, if needed. Whisk in a knob of unsalted butter, which will give your sauce a nice glaze. Pour over the ham slices, garnish with finely chopped flat leaf parsley and serve.
