How to cook a bear ham. Recipe from member "Why not?"

[Cariboo]

.... the next time you do a bear ham, bone it out in one piece first. Take the entire ham off the bone in one piece so it can be layed out kind of flat.

Now, marinate it overnight in a large covered roasting pan. It should be big enough to keep the meat flat, not rolled. I use plenty of Italian salad dressing, and turn it often to keep all the meat moist. This means you will have to get up a couple of times, but it will be well worth it.

In the morning fire up your barbeque and get it smoking hot. Take the meat out of the pan and sear it really hard over your barbeque set at the highest heat. Leave the marinade in the pan. Don't sweat it if the meat should appear ready to burn. You want the outside to be really well seared.

Now, put the meat back in the roasting pan with the marinade. Add five or six diced cloves of garlic, a couple of large sliced onions, four or five large stalks of celery cut into chunks about an inch or so long, one teaspoon of salt, one tablespoon of pepper, and a large can of crushed or stewed tomatoes.

Add enough water to bring level half-way up the meat and stir all the ingredients together. Cover the roaster and put in oven. Set to 250 degrees and cook for six hours. Turn the meat over after three hours, turn again every hour after. You will turn the meat four times.

Even though it reduces somewhat, there should be enough liquid to finish cooking, however don't let it get so low that it scorches the meat. Add water if necessary.

After you have turned the meat the fourth time (six hours) add enough scrubbed carrots to give the whole thing a nice colour. I usually use at least eight, sometimes more, large carrots cut in half and then the tops cut in half again lengthwise. Plunge the carrots into the liquid, cover the roaster and cook for one-half an hour at 350 degrees.

Serve with boiled potatoes, rice or noodles, and see if you can keep them from coming back for seconds.

Bet you can't do it!

Ted

[markk]

Intead of the oven and roaster for 6 hours, wouldnt a crock pot be just as good????

[schmaus]

I think it would work if you had one big enough