Miniature Home-Cured 'Ham'
- Total Time
- 5 days’ brining, plus 1 hour for prep and cooking
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- 1cup kosher salt
- 1cup sugar
- 12cups boiling water
- 1teaspoon black peppercorns
- 1teaspoon mustard seeds
- ½teaspoon allspice berries
- ½teaspoon cloves
- ½teaspoon dried thyme
- 2bay leaves
- 1teaspoon curing salt (sel rose)
- 1cup dry white wine for brine, plus ½ cup for cooking
- 4pork tenderloins, about 1 pound each
- 2medium onions, thinly sliced
- 1small bunch fresh thyme
Nutritional analysis per serving (24 servings)
132 calories; 3 grams fat; 1 gram saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 1 gram monounsaturated fat; 0 grams polyunsaturated fat; 10 grams carbohydrates; 0 grams dietary fiber; 9 grams sugars; 15 grams protein; 516 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
Put salt and sugar in a large nonreactive bowl (stainless steel or glass). Add boiling water and stir well to dissolve salt and sugar. Add peppercorns, mustard seeds, allspice berries, cloves, thyme and bay leaves. Allow to cool completely.
- Step 2
Add curing salt and 1 cup white wine to cooled brine. Submerge pork tenderloins in brine. Place plate directly on top of pork to keep it submerged if necessary. Cover container and refrigerate for 5 days.
- Step 3
Remove pork from brine and pat dry. Discard brine. Spread onions and thyme sprigs on bottom of a large shallow baking dish. Add brined tenderloins in one layer, then add ½ cup wine. Heat oven to 350 degrees; as it heats, bring meat to room temperature. Cover dish and bake for 45 minutes or until pork registers 135 degrees with an instant-read thermometer. Remove from oven (meat will continue to cook and reach 140 degrees as it rests). Let cool before cutting into thin slices. Serve with buttermilk biscuits. May be refrigerated, well wrapped, for up to 1 week.
Private Notes
Comments
Cut way back on the Kosher Salt. One cup is too much. One-half is probably plenty. Also, rinse the pork well after the brine, much like rinsing salmon after the brine and before smoking.
I tried four variattions. Divided the brine in half and used pink curing salt (Prague powder/sel rose) for half-1/2 tsp, and 1 tsp celery juice powder in the other half to cure. Second, I roasted one of each per the recipe and smoked the other two at 225 in hickory smoke. All were good, but both smoked were exceptional. The pink salt amplifies the kosher salt taste, and the celery powder cure makes the meat exterior gray in color. My fave was celery powder cure on the smoker. Delicious.
I always have a couple of these in the freezer - great for lunch, snacks and it works really well in pressed sandwiches - use the same ingredients as for Cuban, swap out the ham.
I used this mixture to cure the whole ham and it was the best homemade ham I've ever made. After curing I put the ham in a bowl of clear water for an hour to get rid of excess salt. And then I baked it, said temperature, timing depending on the size of the ham.
Can anyone give me info on the curing time? I got it all ready and curing then got Covid, so it's been in the fridge for 6 days now. Can I leave it for a bit longer?
Y’all—salt cured (vs sugar cured) country ham IS salty! So I’m going to take the comments about too much salt with a grain…of…..well….
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