It doesn’t get much simpler than this. The toughest part is the gravy, and really that’s pretty low on the difficulty scale. This is one of those “30 minute” meals, well…under 45 anyways. But you get to kick back for better than half that time, so that counts for a lot. Time to read the paper, play with the dog, or work on a side dish.
This is an recipe to make one of the tougher (and inexpensive) cuts of meat tender and juicy. What’s even better, is that it doesn’t take much work at all! This is something you could do a little prep for, pop into the oven, then entertain guests or just relax while it cooks. It’s extremely little hassle, and very low maintenance.
Anything you don’t serve right away will be good either cold or warmed up later on. A 5lb roast of very lean meat isn’t going to cook down much, so this is quite a lot to eat. Serve with rice or noodles, potato, etc. with the onions, mushrooms and broth. Or pour off the broth and make a delicious gravy. Sandwiches from the leftovers–cold, warm, or even open-faced are delicious and probably worth holding back a few scraps of this big roast for.
I was passing by a row of hams at the grocery store and suddenly had a serious craving. “Cure 81″ ham is one of the things my mother made as I grew up, that I really loved. I believe that was always an Easter treat. Trouble is, a ham is a lot of meat–even if you make a nice dinner of one, you’re often going to end up with some leftovers.
So…to justify the decadent gluttony of a whole ham, I hatched a diabolical plan to justify the means. Basically, I decided on the leftovers first–ham sandwiches. From there, I worked out the details to spruce the simple sandwich up a bit. This isn’t a kid’s ham sandwich–too many flavors and textures for your average kid–so I’m calling it a grown-up sandwich.
You could opt out on any element I suggest here. But whatever you omit, the closer you come to just any old ham sandwich. It’s kind of a win-win scenario, actually. You’ll have something tasty either way!
