ham Archives | CaribbeanPot.com

Here we have a quick dish fit for breakfast or brunch and should you want to be creative and add some cabbage or noodles, it can easily be a guest on your dinner table. Like the leftover ham I used, it’s also a great opportunity to clear your fridge of vegetables (mushroom, zucchini, bell peppers, carrots.. be as creative as you like).

You’ll Need…

2-3 cups diced Ham
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cups assorted bell peppers (rough chopped)
2 scallions (chopped)
1 medium onion (sliced)
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon tomato ketchup
1 teaspoon mushroom Soy sauce
2 tablespoon chopped parsley
4 sprigs thyme (leaves only)

Notes! May I recommend that you follow along with the video below as much more is discussed about the recipe there. Especially what other ingredients you may add to this dish.

Prep the ingredients as this is a very quick dish to put together.

Heat the oil in a wide pan on a medium flame and add the diced ham (cut it as large as you like). Cook for 3-4 minutes to render out some of the fat and in doing so, flavor the oil with the smokey flavor of the ham.

If you find that it’s starting to stick to the bottom of the pan, turn the heat down to low. After which you’ll add all of the other ingredients (except the parsley), stir well and cook on medium low.

Stir well and cook until the peppers are tender to your liking. Should you want to add a crushed garlic clove or a bit of heat with Scotch Bonet or your fav spicy pepper, now would be the time to do so.

Five minutes later and it’s time to taste for salt and adjust to your liking. As explained in the video I didn’t add any salt as the ham and the soy sauce were enough to season this dish for me. As you turn off the stove, toss in the parsley and stir.

Served with eggs of your choice and toast.. It’s as simple as that!

Jerk Ham With a Mango Orange Pineapple Rum Glaze.

May 27, 2025December 3, 201810 Comments

You’ll Need…

9-10 lb ham

1 tablespoon ground allspice
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup orange juice
1 inch piece ginger
4 scallions
4 cloves garlic
8-10 sprigs thyme
2 tablespoon dark soy sauce
1 scotch bonnet pepper
1.5 tablespoon brown sugar
1/4 cup rum

Glaze…

2 cups orange juice
1 lemon (juice)
1 can pine apple tibits (14 fl oz)
1 1/2 cup mango pieces
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1 teaspoon grated ginger
1/4 cup rum
zest of 1 orange

Important. If doing this recipe gluten free, please go through the entire list of ingredients to make sure they meet with your specific gluten free dietary requirements. Especially the Soy Sauce which will need to be replaced with a gluten free alternative.

I used a smoked ham leg which had a thick fatty skin which I removed and I made incisions in a diamond pattern across the ham to allow for the marinade to get in and do it’s thing.

I like using a food processor to make the marinade as I can control the texture/consistency much better this way. S omewhat chunky is the goal. Pulse until you get the consistency you like. I didn’t use any salt as I knew the smoked ham would be salty already, plus the soy sauce is loaded with sodium.

Pour the marinade over the ham and work in with your hands, so some of it goes into the incisions we made. Typically I’d say marinate overnight, but in my case I marinated for 30 minutes. Wash your hands immediately after with soap and water as there’s scotch bonnet pepper in there.

Place into your baking dish and loosely tent with foil to cover and into a 350 F oven on the middle shelf.

Now it’s time to make the mango pineapple rum glaze. In a saucepan place all the ingredients (except the orange zest) over a medium flame and bring to a boil reduce to a simmer and cook for 40-45 minutes on low. Then crush with a potato masher to thicken things up a bit. Turn off the stove and go in with the orange zest.

After about 30 minutes in the oven, I used the liquid in the pan to baste the ham every 10-15 or so.

It will take about 10 minutes per pound, so after about 1 hour and 15 minutes I did the following. I turned the heat up to 400 F, removed the foil which was covering it and allowed it back in the oven for another 15 minutes.

At this point I turned my oven setting to ‘broil’ (about 500 F) and went on with my first layer of the glaze we made. I prefer to spoon it on, as I figured using a brush would remove the jerk marinade which should be cooked on at this point. In total I glazed it 3 times.

IMPORTANT! This glaze (due to the high sugar content) can burn very easily, so do keep an eye on things. It was 3-4 minutes between each application of glaze and if you’re wondering.. yes it was still on the middle rack of the oven. Feel free to serve this amazing jerk ham with any leftover glaze.

So there you go.. the ONLY way to do ham this holiday season!

Do you own a copy of my cookbook ?- The Vibrant Caribbean Pot 100 Traditional And Fusion recipes Vol 2

Meat & Poultry

Jamaican Callaloo (spinach) With Diced Ham.

May 27, 2025April 8, 2018Leave a Comment

Have you ever used canned ham? With a wonderful harvest of Jamaican Callaloo (chorai bhagi | amaranth) from my garden, I decided to put canned ham to use… to add some additional flavor to one of my favorite dishes. I always plant, Spinach, Collard, Jamaican Callaloo, Bok Choi and/or Swiss Chard in my garden every year, such is my luv for ‘greens’. Traditionally I grew up eating Jamaican callaloo cooked with pieces of salted cod (saltfish) and simmered in coconut milk. And while that recipe is indeed a classic, this one is just as tasty.

You’ll Need…

6-8 cups Jamaican callaloo (prepared)
1 can chopped ham (about 1 1/2 cups)
2 tablespoon olive oil (or coconut oil)
1/2 medium onion (sliced)
3 sprigs thyme
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 small spicy pepper (your choice)
1/3 teaspoon salt (adjust)
1/2 cup diced tomato (I used grape tomatoes from my garden)
1 teaspoon lime or lemon juice

2 cloves garlic (diced)

Wash and trim off the flowers and thick stems from the callaloo (discard), then separate the leaves from the stems (tender stems). Roll the leaves together and chop it about 1/4 of an inch ribbons. Trim off the skin off the tender stems and chop the now cleaned stems about 1/4 inch as well. Wash everything again and allow to drain.

Heat the oil in a wide pan on a medium flame, the add the onion, garlic, thyme, black pepper and spicy pepper (I used a scotch bonnet). Turn the heat down to low and cook gently for 3-4 minutes.

Remove the ham from the can, drain well and give it a quick rinse under cool water. Then dice into 1/4 inch pieces and add to the pot. Turn the heat up to low/medium and cook for about 5 minutes. The goal is to render out some of the fat and to brown the edges of the ham.

Turn the heat to medium/high and start adding the trimmed/washed callaloo to the pot. Stir well. It will wilt down so don’t stress about it all not fitting in the pot.

Since the ham will already have some salt, you can add the salt now.. but taste later on to make sure it’s enough to your liking. Turn the heat down to med/low, cover the pot and cook for about 8 minutes. After that it’s time to add the diced tomato and lemon juice and cook with the lid off until all the liquid (it will spring naturally) is burnt off. Depending on how ‘cooked’ you like your callaloo, you may need to leave the lid on a bit longer with the lid on.

I gave it a further 6 minutes after I removed the lid off the pot. While not the traditional way of cooking Jamaican callaloo with saltfish, this ham version is quite tasty and well worth the test-drive. If pork is not your thing you can always use smoked turkey or salted cod as in the traditional recipe.

Do you own a copy of my cookbook ?- The Vibrant Caribbean Pot 100 Traditional And Fusion recipes Vol 2

Meat & Poultry

Caribbean Sorrel Glazed Ham.

May 27, 2025January 5, 20172 Comments

After posting this recipe on FaceBook someone commented “Sorrel only make for drinking” and while when I was a kid on the islands I would have agreed, seeing what creative cooks/chefs are now doing with sorrel, I know better. I’ve had sorrel cake, cheese cake, relish, ice cream, pudding.. even a sangria or two, just to name a few of the exciting ways sorrel is being put to use. Since sorrel plays such a huge role in the culinary Christmas landscape in the Caribbean, I though I’d rock a sorrel glazed ham this year.

You’ll Need…

1 Ham (I used an 8 lb hickory smoked ham)
1 pineapple (cut into spears)
20-40 cloves

Sorrel Base

2 cups dried sorrel
4-6 cloves
4 cups water
1 orange (sliced)
4 thin slices of ginger
1 cinnamon stick

Sorrel Glaze

Sorrel juice (from above)
1 packed cup brown sugar (I used golden brown)
1/4 honey
1 tablespoon orange zest
juice 1/2 orange

Note: Cooked ham – cook 10 mins / lb. From raw, cook 20 mins/lb. I did use the pineapple and some of the re-hydrated sorrel petals to make a chutney. However I did not include the recipe here, but you can follow along in the video down below.

I gave the ham a cross pattern cut, about 1-2 mm deep as to make the glaze absorb into it later on and for the fat to render down a bit. Plus it looks gud when it’s done baking. In each square (or diamond) pierce in a clove (watch the video below). Preheat your oven to 350F. Place the ham on a tin-foil lined baking tray and surround it with the pineapple spears (wedges). Cover with tin-foil loosely and go into the now hot oven on the lower rack.

It’s now time to start the sorrel glaze. Place all the ingredients listed above for the Sorrel Base in a deep pot and bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook for about 20 minutes. Then turn off the stove and allow this to steep for about 30 minutes.

It’s now time to strain the base into a smaller pot, bring to a boil and add the ingredients listed for the Sorrel Glaze.

Keep it on a rolling boil as we want this to reduce by at least half.. closer to 2/3. So we have a thick and sticky sorrel glaze for the ham. Speaking about the ham, after 50 minutes, remove the tin foil and cook for another 30 minutes (see above comment about how long to cook your ham above).

After which it’s time to crank-up the oven to 400F (remove the pineapple pieces to make your chutney.. or roast further on the high heat for an amazing treat) and brush on your first coat of sorrel glaze.

Continue glazing every 5-7 minutes, until you have something looking gorgeous. I did it about 5 times in total (I think). Any leftover glaze can be used when serving the ham or to put on top of ham slices if you’ intend on enjoying some sandwiches with the leftovers.

YES! A wicked way to put such and iconic Caribbean Christmas ingredient to use! BTW, this same glaze can be poured (when cooled) on a basic cheese cake or on your fav vanilla ice cream with delicious results.

Are you following us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram yet? Join in on the fun today!

Meat & Poultry

Caribbean Christmas Ham.

May 27, 2025December 27, 20129 Comments

Christmas ham is a must in just about every pork eating home in the Caribbean. There are many who choose not to dine in the swine, but I refuse to be prejudice against this wonderful meat, so you know I had to share this wicked recipe. I fondly recall the ham sandwiches our mom would have ready for us at breakfast on Christmas morning as she had other delectable goodies going in the oven and stove. Speaking about ham, don’t forget to check out the chow chow recipe I shared a few days back.

You’ll Need…

Ham (smoked/bone in) * about 8lbs
5 sprigs thyme
8 cloves
2 scallions
=========>
Glaze…

1 cup pineapple juice
1 table spoon grated ginger
1 tablespoon orange marmalade
1/2 cup brown sugar (golden)
2 table spoon honey
pinch of cinnamon

Dressing the ham when glazing…

5-8 slices of pineapple
10-15 cloves
tooth picks for securing the pineapple slices

Note: If using a shoulder ham with a fat cap on the top, be sure to place that side up when roasting. As the fat melt it will keep the ham nice and juicy.

If your ham is encased in a cloth mesh be sure to leave it on at this point, but you’ll have to remove it before get it in the oven. Give the ham a rinse (btw I used a smoked leg), then place it in a deep pot. Cover with water, add the scallions, cloves and fresh thyme. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a gentle boil and cook for about 30 minutes. This will help remove some of the smoky impurities and infuse it with the herbal notes.

Drain and get ready to finish cooking in the oven. Set your oven to 350F and you’ll be using the lower rack. Remove the cloth mesh if your ham is covered in one, then wrap the entire ham in tin foil and place in a roasting tray. On average you’ll need to cook for 20 minutes per pound.

* Please use a roasting pan with a rack, so you can add a couple cups of water to the pan without the ham sitting directly in it. If you find that the water dries out before it’s fully cooked, do add a cup or 2 more. This will help keep the ham moist.

As we wait for the ham to roast evenly, lets prepare the glaze. In a sauce pan add all the ingredients mentioned above, bring it to a boil then simmer for about 5 minutes. Remember to whisk it so the sugar melts and everything is blended.

When you ham is fully cooked (use the 20 minutes per pound guide), it’s time to dress it up and start the glazing process. Trim off the skin and most of the fat (a little good), then stick in the cloves in a pattern evenly. Attach slices of the pineapple with the toothpicks and hit it a good dose of the glaze (I used a brush). Then place back in the oven for 10 minutes.

Repeat the glaze a couple more times.. brush and place in the oven for 10 minutes. You will start getting a lovely shiny finish on the ham, the slices of pineapple will start getting lovely caramelized edges and the entire kitchen will have a lovely aroma. Remember to brush on the glaze evenly. For additional color I turned on my broiler (about 450 – 500 F) and allowed the ham to sit in there for about 5 minutes. Be sure to keep an eye on it as the high heat can burn it very fast.

* You’re free to add as many layers of glaze as you like. For me.. 3 layers was enough.

Allow the ham to rest (cover in tin foil) before slicing. I assure you this will be the best ham you’ve ever had or serve… don’t be surprised if your kids start giving you unexpected hugs and your “special” someone may even get frisky.

Before you go, don’t forget to check out the latest cooking videos, connect with me on twitter and join our community on facebook. oh yea! leave me a comment below – it’s appreciated.

ham

Turn Leftover Ham into a Quick Breakfast or Brunch.

Jerk Ham With a Mango Orange Pineapple Rum Glaze.

Jamaican Callaloo (spinach) With Diced Ham.

Caribbean Sorrel Glazed Ham.

Caribbean Christmas Ham.

Log In