lots of deli ham! what to do with it?

Yesterday someone gave me a deli ham, the kind of ultra processed "loaf" you'd see if you went to the deli counter for cold cuts.
This stuff is not a part of our normal diet and we don't usually eat sandwiches, so I'm at a bit of a loss for what to do with it.
I'm thinking of cutting it up into large chunks for cooking and then freezing them. Any suggestions of how will be most welcome!

So far I've got:
ham and eggs, and maybe eggs benedict if I get my act together to make english muffins.
Someone suggested fried rice with ham, and using ham for some of the spam recipes from Hawaii (moko loko, spam musubi).
Any other great ideas? (we also don't eat cheese, since we can only get tasteless mozzarella most of the time- seems like most ham recipes involve cheese!)

It will freeze well.

Our daughter's favorite pizza is ham and pineapple.  I cut the ham in strips even when not fixing the pizza for her as it is good on all pizzas.

Though since you don't eat cheese does that mean you don't eat pizza?

Anne Miller wrote:Though since you don't eat cheese does that mean you don't eat pizza?

Very rarely, a couple times a year. Got to make the dough, make the sauce, and yes, minimal cheese. I'm all for eating tasty cheese, but when it's just blah and oily it's hard to justify putting it in my mouth!!

On the other hand, ham on a foccaccia with olives sounds inspired, so thank you!

Howdy,

Ham and split pea soup, and then I find for me Ham and Beans, is a really good combo and freezes well.

ooooh ham in soup and beans, both excellent ideas (i got so focused on ham bones/lack thereof that i didn't even think about that)!!

Tereza Okava wrote:I'm all for eating tasty cheese, but when it's just blah and oily it's hard to justify putting it in my mouth!!

On the other hand, ham on a foccaccia with olives sounds inspired, so thank you!

Do the people in the country where you live make a good cheese?  I would expect that they do.

Mozarella is not the only cheese that a pizza can be made with.  It might not be quite authentic though.

Try making pizza with that kind of cheese sometime when there is a craving for pizza.  You might find that it is not that bad.

Sometimes when I am out of mozzarella I use cheddar.

I just took my last package of deli ham out of the freezer for ham and cheese sandwiches and only have two slices left otherwise I might try some of these suggestions.

My mother in law used to make ham and corn chowder and it was delicious. Main ingredients are ham, sweet corn, potatoes, onion, and milk or cream to thicken at the end. And lots of butter. For added flavor, brown the ham and onions in butter, then add the water, raw potatoes, cook for a while, then add the corn near the end since it doesn't take long to cook.

My friends sometimes bring me smoked pork from New Delhi, good stuff. It has a thick layer of fat on it. I don't know if your ham has that.

I find it really fabulous to use in small amounts to liven up plain vegetables. I cut a small piece and cut the fat off it. A small ratio goes a long way. Melt the fat on low heat for several minutes with or without a little veg oil, then press the remaining fatty lumps with a wooden spoon. Then throw in the minced pork, saute, add some onions or garlic, or not, add some simple vegetable like spinach or broccoli and saute or cover till done. Everyone who isn't vegetarian always loves it.

Also... pizza with cheddar or whatever cheese is available? Are you kidding me, Tereza? I never even considered hesitating for a second! And now some 5 years later mozzarella is available here, but I still kinda like cheddar better on homemade pizza :P

Pretend it's gamon, cut off a square that's big enough for you two for one meal, coat it in a mixture of honey, brown sugar and any spices you like, I would use cloves and maybe orange zest, then roast it briefly, just long enough to heat it through and caramelise the glaze.

Slice it about 1/2 inch thick and fry like gamon.

Slice it into cubes and use it in fried rice

Slice it into strips, fry up with peppers, pineapple a bit of ginger and garlic and call it dinner.

Believe me, if there were cheddar i would be eating cheese!!
I bring back a few pounds every time I travel. Plus it is so cheap in North America!!

Here cheese is bland or, if I want to spend the big bucks, I can get a parmesan like cured cheese. Good for eating with wine... I`d rather just get real pizza when I travel to the US, while I'm enjoying my root beer and other things (Rebecca, I suspect you can understand).

(I guess I awakened the cheese passions! I was a vegan for 10 years, my kid gets very sick from dairy, and my spouse grew up in a culture mostly without cheese or milk. It's not really been part of our lives for a long time, and to be honest I don't particularly miss it very much.)

It can be a tasty upgrade in any sort of biscuit or savory muffin.

Great for pasta or mashed potatoes in cubes or matchstick-shaped bits.

Any sort of egg dish from an omelet to a frittata.

Sliced into thick 1/4-1/2 inch "steaks" and simply pan-fried.

Sliced very thin, then topped with greens and such, then rolled like a burrito 🌯 for finger sandwiches without bread.

Sliced thin, placed in a muffin tin (line the cup, so it's like a ham cup), topped with seasoned whipped eggs, and baked.  

As mentioned by others, fried rice is fabulous.

Easiest? Chop into cubes or matchsticks, freeze in small portions so you can add it 😉 at will to anything needing a kick of flavor or protein. Freeze flat on a tray, then break up for storage,  that way it's not an unmanageable chunk.

Chopped up ham can be good in rice dishes. We use it in Puerto Rican rice. Or I make a pasta with ham, leeks, sometimes favas if I have them. It's in a cream sauce with thyme and parmesan (crappy parm works fine or just leave it out).

It can be crisped in the oven and crumbled into salads or whatever. Good little salty bits.

A friend would use it in cream gravy over biscuits instead of sausage.

Honestly it can be used a lot like bacon in recipes, just some salty pork flavoring. Soup and stews are good for this as others have said.

A really simple recipe my family likes is creamed ham on toast.  Just make a white sauce and put cubed ham in it and simmer on low about ten minutes. Then spoon over toast.

Another use for the ham would be to dice and mix with sautéed mushrooms, onions and chicken in a white sauce and make into pies or vol au vents. If you can’t be bothered with vol au vent cases, you could use sliced bread pressed into small muffin tins or wrap in filo pastry.

Thank you all for these great ideas. For a long time we have been pretty careful about what we eat and avoiding this very type of processed food, so I really appreciate the meal ideas that let me spread it out and use it in smaller quantities.

Wham, bam, thank you ham!

I would cut it up and cook it with rice and beans (I call it risotto, but the Italians wouldn't).  Or saute it with onions and peppers for a savoury pancake filling - usually I'd fold it all into a cheese sauce - maybe if you add mustard this would give the cheese some flavour?