Porchetta Roasting and Grilling Discuss Porchetta in the Brick Oven Cooking forums; OK, looks like I have enough evidence to present my case to the presiding judge of Christmas dinner (my wife). ...

[RTflorida]

OK, looks like I have enough evidence to present my case to the presiding judge of Christmas dinner (my wife). I may give this a try this weekend as a trial run. My local market always has small to medium fresh hams (shoulders) with the skin on, boning and spices should not be a problem....I can't wait for a sandwhich like the one posted by Drake...mmmmmm

[Hendo]

RT - thanks for the clarification of head cheese. I figured it must be something like that, but the word 'cheese' had me guessing, as cheese it certainly ain't!

Another cultural question. Here we can buy a leg of pork (uncooked), or a leg of pickled pork (pickled in brine) to cook up, but ham is (usually) a leg of pork that has been first pickled and then smoked over a slow fire for a good period of time. Come Christmas time, legs of ham here are skinned, the fat scored into a diamond pattern and studded with cloves, then basted with a nice glaze.

As far as I know, prosciutto is dry-cured in salt, and is quite dry. Our ham is quite moist by comparison.

So when you say you're going to buy a 'fresh ham', is it raw pork or something else?

Paul.

[dmun]

In the US a "fresh ham" is unsmoked pork leg. A "picnic ham" is a pork shoulder, either fresh or smoked.

[Hendo]

Although the original recipe did not include fennel seeds, my daughter has just pointed out that a teaspoon of fennel seeds were included in the stuffing at the demonstration she attended, and make it even nicer!

I've amended the recipe in the previous post, should you wish to include some.

Cheers, Paul.

[BrianShaw]

Originally Posted by Hendo

Although the original recipe did not include fennel seeds...

I've amended the recipe in the previous post, should you wish to include some.

Great idea! There are plenty of porchetta recipes that include sliced fennel, but I think the seeds are both easier and maybe even more tasty. Great idea (if I didn't say that already).

[barbarian]

correct .. no fennel seeds way to strong .
In tuscany we have finocchiona in the US this similar to dill but the stuff you find in the food stores is not fully grown you need the flowering part if you can grow it you got it ..
Porchetta is really really simple what really makes a big difference is the pig you use. At the farm I used to live near pisa we made it on a fire pit
once a month more or less...

Originally Posted by Hendo

Although the original recipe did not include fennel seeds, my daughter has just pointed out that a teaspoon of fennel seeds were included in the stuffing at the demonstration she attended, and make it even nicer!

I've amended the recipe in the previous post, should you wish to include some.

Cheers, Paul.

[BrianShaw]

I recently adapted Paul's daughter's recipe to do a porchetta-style pork tenderloin. (I wouldn't normally use a tenderloin but it was all that I had available at the time.) For the fennel (didn't have anny fennel bulb, frond, or pollen available either) I used freshly-ground fennel seed. My theory was that grinding the seed would make it more of a background flavor. The spice/herb mixture was rubbed on the tenderloin and then it was wrapped and tied in a hollowed out bagguette that was drizzled with olive oil -then roasted to 160 deg F. After a rest, slice and serve. Perhaps not terribly traditional, but yummy.

[Dannyboyblue]

What was the idea of roasting the loin in the bagguette? Did it end up being part of the dish? Was it crispy or soggy? I've never heard of this?

[BrianShaw]

The baguette keeps the pork tenderloin from cooking too fast and drying out. I serve it sliced about 2 inches thick and leave the bread attached. It is crispy. The "guts" of the bread are pulled out so it is just the crust.

[Dannyboyblue]

Thanks,
cool idea. I'll give it a try one of these days.