Recipe(tried): Pernil Or Fresh Ham At The Oven And Other Recipes For Natika

PERNIL OR FRESH HAM AT THE OVEN

8 lbs. fresh ham
8 lg. garlic cloves
3 tsp. black pepper
Salt to taste

Using a knife, make small holes in the ham (without removing any meat). Crush garlic. Mix garlic, salt and pepper together. Fill the holes with the above mixture. If there is any mixture left, spread it over the skin of the ham. Bake at 300 degrees for 5 hours.

ROAST FRESH HAM, STUFFED

4 to 5 lb. fresh ham, boned-weight, tied
1/4 c. fresh parsley
1/4 c. Romano cheese, grated
1 slice fresh bread crumbs
1 to 2 cloves garlic, minced,- depending on how garlicy you- like
Black pepper to taste
1 tbsp. olive oil

Combine stuffing ingredients and put into cavity created by the boning. Place roast in a pan with sliced onion around. Roast in a 325 degree oven for 20 to 25 minutes per pound. When done, remove roast from pan and skin as much fat as possible. Add a small amount of water to deglaze. Add chicken bouillon if desired and thicken with flour to desired consistency for gravy.

NOTE: Make sure the ham is well tied. Also, this stuffing is very good with leg of lamb.

PERNIL:

Pernil - At the market ask for it by any of the following names . . .pork arm picnic or pork picnic roast or fresh pork picnic or pork picnic shoulder roast or fresh pork picnic ham. Best way to fix it is season with same quantity of salt, pepper, oregano, and twice as much garlic. If you need to save time and energy use garlic sold in a jar - which is already ground. Cut slits all over and deep season. Use a broiler pan or a large cake pan that has tall sides. Bake for 5 hours in a 300 - fat side up. Don't turn it!

Roast Puerto Rican Pork Shoulder (Pernil Al Horno)
It's the traditional holiday meat and it's EASY as 1-2-3
Note: Season the meat one day ahead and refrigerate.

5 lbs. pork shoulder - picnic cut (with fat)
7 garlic cloves (You may use powder garlic or ground garlic sold in glass jars - 1 tsp. equals one clove.)
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon crushed oregano
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon salt -- for every pound of meat

Crush the garlic in a pil n (mortar). Pour garlic into a small bowl and mix in the pepper, oregano, olive oil and salt. Mix it all well.

Wash the meat and dry. Make very deep slits all over the meat and season the meat making sure that seasoning goes into all the slits. Refrigerate the shoulder, covered with plastic wrap, for 24 hours. Place the meat in a deep pan with the fat side up. There will be a lot of grease so be sure to use a deep pan. The fat side up will make nice crunchy "cueritos." Do NOT cover with foil. Cook in a pre-heated - 350 oven for about 3 hours without turning. You might have to let it cook longer if the cueritos are not right yet. Pernil should be cooked in a pre-heated 300 oven for 35 minutes per pound. If using a meat thermometer, it will be ready when it reaches 185 F. If the picnic cut is not available just buy a pork shoulder - it won't have the fat and you won't get any cueritos - but it will be delicious.

Grill instructions: In the summer we cook our pernil outside on the grill. We do this to prevent the house from heating up. Follow all the instructions above. Put your pernil in a deep pan. But do cover with foil to prevent burning the meat - this means no cueritos. Put the pan on the grill. Cook a bit longer than if using the oven. Cook on high for the first half hour and then on low heat. Keep your eye on it.