COOKING WITH IBÉRICO HAM OFF-CUTS

Once you have eaten your ham, here are some mouth-watering ideas for using the off-cuts like tacos and fat:

How to make a simple stock using an Ibérico or Serrano bone

Fill a large pot with water, and place a piece of ham bone in it with several carrots, leek and onion, perhaps some fennel and bay leaves or other herbs like our farcellet bundles. Boil slowly for an hour or more and skim the surface occasionally. Season to taste.

How to prepare Ibérico fat for cooking

Put the white/pink fat into an oven tray and cook at around 180C for approximately 15-20 mins. Pour off the liquid fat and eat the tasty crispy bits. The liquid fat can be used for roast potatoes, stews, fried eggs, popcorn etc. It’s rich and strong so we recommend tempering with olive oil when cooking.

Ibérico risotto using the ham bone stock

Follow any basic risotto recipe but use the Ibérico fat for frying and the Ibérico stock for cooking the rice. Use the rendered fat and some olive oil to fry onions. When they have softened, add Ibérico tacos and warm through. Add the rice and fry gently with the onions and ham until mixture is slightly sticky. Then add some Ibérico stock. You could add other ingredients like saffron. Keep stirring and adding stock till rice is cooked but not stiff. Finish with grated hard cheese (Parmesan/or Spanish Zamorano) and season. Garnish with truffel oil and chopped parsley or a couple of fried tacos.

Mashed potatoes with grated ham.

For this you need a very dry piece of Ibérico ham. Finely grate the ham into almost a dust and stir into smooth mashed potato with cream. This ham dust can also be used on gratin dauphinois or as a seasoning for pasta or whatever you can think of!