Ginger-kissed with a mustard-glazed sweetness, this fresh ham roast is a revelation of how juicy, flavorful, and succulent this cut of pork can be.
Slow-roasted fresh ham is unlike any ham you’ve ever tasted. (All photos credit: George Graham)
But, the key to it is in getting to know your farmer, and learning how he cares, feeds, and humanely raises his livestock. It is the essence of sustainability in eating local and beginning to understand the difference it makes in quality and social responsibility.
Charles Thompson at his farmers’ market stall.
My farmer friend Charles Thompson runs Market Basket farm (listed on our Faces and Places page) on the outskirts of Lafayette in Youngsville, Louisiana, where he grows organic vegetables and raises heritage breeds of Berkshire, Large Black, and Duroc hogs. A Saturday-morning regular at the Hub City Farmers’ Market in Lafayette’s Oil Center, Charles is passionate about his craft and brings a chef’s eye to his farming techniques and choice of crops.
Buying “hog shares” is a smart way to buy pork. You know you’re purchasing a quality, pasture-raised pig, and you’re helping sustain a local farmer who brings his products and passion to market. While this is not always cheaper than buying run-of-the-mill supermarket pork, it is most always a cost-efficient way to load up your freezer with high-quality, artisan breed pork. What starts out as a 250-pound Berkshire hog dresses out around 175 pounds, and Charles sells his hogs in whole shares or half shares that require a few months from purchase to butchering.
My friend Cle’ Simon and I split a half share, and when the day arrived, we loaded up an ice chest and made the trek to pick up our pig. Butchered in Morse, Louisiana at Elliot’s slaughterhouse, this hog was professionally pieced and parceled from tail to snout into manageable cuts. Chops, loin, belly, shoulder roasts, jowls, backbone, ground pork, ribs, even liver and caul fat, were hermetically sealed, double wrapped, and labeled for efficient storage.
The cut that most intrigued me was a 4.5-pound fresh ham roast. Cut from the hind leg of the Berkshire, this was ham like I had never seen before. I can bake a sugar-cured, spiral-cut holiday ham with the best of them, but this was an untraveled pork path for me. Raw (uncured and unsmoked), I wasn’t exactly sure how to treat this cut, but Charles (a chef-certified farmer) assured me that a long flavor-filled braise would work magic on this ham with dramatic results.
Unique, but easy-to-find ingredients make this Cajun recipe a cinch.
Light bulbs started going off in my head as I brainstormed my culinary memory banks for braising techniques of past successes. Beer is always a good option, and apple juice with ham just makes sense. But, it was a leftover four-pack of ginger beer hidden in the pantry from a long ago Moscow Mule party that got my braising juices flowing. Ginger beer is not beer (alcohol) at all, but rather a culinary cousin of root beer that is produced by the natural fermentation of prepared ginger spice, yeast, and sugar. And with a blend like that, I just know this combination will work. I decided to use apple juice for the brine, and fresh apples and rosemary as my braising flavor enhancers. And to gild this lily, I decided on sugarcane syrup blended with Dijon mustard to glaze on a finishing touch.
This Fresh Ham Roast is an unusual spin on ham that is a must-try recipe. I urge you to find a farmer or a butcher who can deliver a fresh ham roast for your dinner table, and I predict it will quickly become a standout in your Cajun recipe portfolio.
- 1 (4 to 5-pound) fresh ham roast
- Apple juice
- ¼ cup salt
- 1 tablespoon canola oil
- 1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 4-pack ginger beer
- 2 medium yellow onions, cut in half
- 2 large apples, cut in half
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 4 sprigs fresh rosemary
- 1 cup Dijon mustard
- 2 tablespoons sugarcane syrup
- Place the ham in a container with a tight-fitting lid. Add enough apple juice to cover and stir in the salt to combine. Cover and place in the refrigerator for 6 hours or overnight. Remove from the container, rinse any excess salt from the meat, and pat dry.
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, add the oil and heat until sizzling hot. Sprinkle the ham roast with black pepper and brown on both sides, 5 to 8 minutes.
- Remove the roast from the skillet and place in an ovenproof baking pan. Add enough ginger beer to come halfway to ¾ the way up the side of the roast (do not cover in liquid). Place the onion and apple halves around the roast. Add the garlic and submerge the rosemary in the braising liquid. Cover and place in the oven for 2 hours or until the roast is fork tender.
- Meanwhile, make the glaze by combining the mustard and sugarcane syrup in a mixing bowl. Keep at room temperature for later.
- Remove the roast from the oven and uncover. Remove the onion halves and rosemary stems. Pour off all but 1 cup of the braising liquid and reserve. Brush on the mustard glaze, covering the top and all sides with a generous coating. Return the roast to the oven and bake uncovered until the glaze sets and just begins to brown on top, 20 to 30 minutes.
- For serving, slice the ham roast against the grain and serve with any remaining pan juices and mustard glaze on the side. Garnish with a sprig of fresh rosemary. I suggest serving this ham roast with a big bowl of mustard potato salad, a loaf of rustic farmhouse bread, and mugs of ice-cold beer.
With a mustard glaze finish, the burnt edges add a dark, depth of flavor to this Cajun recipe for ham roast.
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Hi George!
Beautiful recipe as always. I have a question – you mention that it’s “Raw (uncured and unsmoked)…” so does that mean a bone-in pork shoulder of comparable weight/size could be used as a substitute?
Thanks in advance.
Hey John – Sure! That should work deliciously. Thanks for the comment.
Looks like a delicious use of Market Basket pork. Once you taste this delicious pork, you won’t want to go back to generic, tastes-like-dry-chicken, commercial pork! Charles will cure your bacon without nitrates and cut your pork half however you like it. Can’t wait to try this recipe.
Hey Anne- You said a mouthful; Charles has the best heritage-breed pork around. I urge everyone to buy their pork (and other products) from a local farmer; Go to the Faces and Places page on Acadiana Table and scroll down to find Market Basket and Charles Thompson’s contact info. There are over 200 other great Acadiana-based food product vendors listed there as well. Thanks for the comment.
Thank you so much for this recipe! We raise pigs, and I am never sure of what to do with these ham roasts. Could you also do a few more like these, though we have made our own leg of prosciutto which I highly recommend you try. Since we also live in Louisiana, we had to cure it in a fridge though.
Hey Christine – House-made prosciutto is impressive! I will certainly add more recipes using fresh ham cuts of pork. Meanwhile, I’ve been experimenting with the pork belly cut and if you haven’t made it yet, my Cajun Pork Belly Porchetta is a great recipe. Give it a try. Thanks for the comment.
Wonderful!
YUM!! This sounds fantastic!
I buy the small fresh ‘picnic hams’ frequently to make roast with crackling (the smaller cut works better for my family) and dijon is always part of the marinade/rub but ginger beer as the braising liquid sounds amazing. I’ll be trying that next time instead of my usual white wine. I too love adding apples and onions to the braise but at the end I puree them into the braising liquid with a stick blender to make the ‘gravy’.
Hey Viva- Great idea on blending the “gravy”; I will try that next time. Thanks for the comment.
I have a ham roast that has been smoked. Can I use this recipe with the same great results or is there something else I should do? My first try with a ham roast!!!
Hey Jack- Not only can you make this recipe with a smoked ham, but the final result should be even more flavorful. Happy Easter!
So I have a few questions:
Do you brown the meat 5-8 total or 5-8 per side?
What type of apples do you use?
Can I use sea salt for the brine?
Thanks!
Hey Jess- Sear the meat until it is browned on both sides, and that should take about 5 to 8 minutes total depending on how hot your skillet is. Any type of apple will work and I used the Honeycrisp variety. Any salt will work in a brine. I used cheap table salt; save the more expensive sea salt for finishing. All the best.
Hey George – I’m making your ham roast today. Not finished yet; smells delicious.
Eric- Let us know how it turns out. All the best.
I made this last weekend. It was beyond delicious and made the house smell great as it cooked
Will definitely be making this again!
Thanks Brian.
Has anyone ever tried this on a 20lb fresh ham? Would I just quadruple the recipe? The flavor sounds great but I need a big one.
Hey Kellen- As I like to say, “Go big or go home!” I like your thinking, and scaling up the ingredients is the way to go. All the best.
Would like to make this roast for Christmas but I’m confused about the Ginger Beer. Do I use alcohol ginger beer or just a regular ginger root beer?
Thanks
Hey Terry-
Ginger beer is not alcohol, just the flavor of ginger. All the best.
Hi George, can’t wait to make this recipe! Can I use apple cider in place of apple juice?
Hey Naomi- Yes, apple cider has a more defined apple flavor and should work even better. All the best and thanks for the comment.
Thank you. Will let you know how it turns out!
Hi George,
Another? If you don’t mind, I have pure maple syrup from Vermont. Will that work in place of the cane syrup? I had cane but got rid of it because it wasn’t tasty. Ham thawing in the refrigerator as I email! Thanks in advance.
Naomi- While cane sugar is a Louisiana ingredient that we love, I am sure that maple will work. All the best.
Thanks!
This was perfect! I loved the ginger flavor that infused into the meat. Sometimes those flavors can be lost, but no flavor was lost today. Thank you for this delightful recipe!
Lele- Thanks so much for the kind comment.
I have a 2.7 lb roast — suggestions on how to adjust the cooking time?
Hey Catherine- The thing about a tough piece of meat like a roast is that it will take a long cooking time to break down the muscle and cartilage in the beef. So, your cooking time will be about the same as with a larger ham roast. The key will be to check it after 1 hour and remove it when it becomes fork tender. All the best.
Good Morning. The picture you have of the finished product seems to be fat cap side down. Is that how you cooked it. I usually would be inclined to cook fat cap side up.
Hey Jeff- If you look at the uncooked photo, you will see that the cut of pork is with the fat off to the side. Traditionally, for a pork belly or a pork loin, I would render the fat crispy on top, but that is not the intent of this ham cut. All the best.
Hello. Can you use this recipe in an instant pot? How long would you cook it?
Thanks in advance.
Carla- Without testing the recipe in an Instant Pot, I cannot advise you. That said, I would think that it would work if you browned it first and then pressure-cooked it much like you would a roast. Give it a try and let us know how it turns out. All the best.
George, I have a cured ham roast I would like to try this recipe on. Would all ingredients and cook time be the same? It’s a 5 lb ham.
Maranda- While different, it should work okay. Give it a try. All the best.
Prepping my fresh ham for this recipe. Looking forward to the results!
I am wondering if I can make this ahead? Any tips?
Also, can we brine for longer or is overnight the maximum?
Haly- Make a few days ahead for sure. As for brining, I only know what I did and is in the recipe. I suggest you follow the recipe. All the best.