BREADED HAM

I am sure you could bread leftover cooked ham, but I don’t think much of the quality you will end up with. Breading ham isn’t for using up leftover scraps from the holiday ham. Make croquettes instead. To be sure breaded ham tastes like ham. The point of breading is that it’s the most pleasant way to prepare a few slices of fresh tender ham in the shortest possible time. The ham slices I bread come from the leanest part of a large uncooked ham.  Ham is salty; don’t let salt touch any part of it. I bread the Hungarian way, it always yields tasty, tender, stable, no mess, and most importantly crispy breaded food. Read about breading here. 

I never buy ham steaks; by far the cheapest way to enjoy ham is getting a large specimen before the holidays at a reduced price and then portioning and assigning it to various uses. Some of the ham I slice; the rest is cubed or ground up for a wide assortment of dishes. The bone goes for pea soup.

The leanest ham is for breading

BREADED HAM

4-5 slices of fresh ham

1/4 cup flour
1 beaten egg
1 cup fine breadcrumbs
oil for deep frying

• Place the flour, the egg, and the breadcrumbs on 3 separate plates.
• Beat the egg with a fork until slightly frothy.
• One by one dip the ham slices into the flour, coating well.
• Next dip them into the beaten eggs, coating well.
• Finally place them in the breadcrumbs, coating well.
• In a large heavy skillet, place enough oil for frying.
• Heat the oil to medium hot.

• One by one gently slide the cutlets into the hot oil.

• Fry on both sides to golden crisp. Do not cover the pot.
• To minimize oil absorption, flip cutlets only once.
• Drain cutlets on wire rack.
• Leftover cutlets maybe heated in the oven at 320F or in a lightly oiled, barely heated non stick fry pan, turning over once. Don’t reheat in the microwave, the breading will get soggy. Enjoy it cold.