Ireland: Gammon Steak with Sauteed Apples and Whiskey Sauce (March 7, 2008)

The word gammon goes back a long way, at least to the fourteenth century. It may have come into English from French, as the word jambon starts being used for ham in the middle-French dialects around the same time. Once gammon meant any rear haunch of a pig, or specifically the ham: later it came to mean some of the side cuts as well, though only as long as they were still attached to the pig's haunch while the meat was being cured. Today it simply means ham, and "gammon steak" is ham steak.

Generally speaking, gammon steak isn't a dish you would often see offered at breakfast in Ireland (though some hotels might do it). It's more usually a lunch or dinner entree. At a pub it would most likely turn up with chips / fries on the side, as so many things do here. (The illustration shows champ and braised cabbage, which are a good idea too. There should be some kind of mashed potato preparation involved, so that the sauce that comes iwth this recipe has something to soak it up.)

This treatment is particularly nice because of the synergy of the apples and the whiskey in the sauce. Try to use a tart apple like a Granny Smith or Bramley for this: the sweeter eating apples won't work so well.

Click on "read more" for the recipe.

• 4 gammon / ham steaks, 1 1/2 cm thick

• 15g butter
• 1 large onion, thinly sliced
• 15g butter (extra)
• 2 green apples, peeled, cored and cut into 5mm slices
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons Irish whiskey
• 1 tablespoon plain flour
• 3/4 cup chicken stock
• Ground pepper to taste
• 2 tablespoons cream

Trim the gammon steaks and snip their edges to keep them from curling up during cooking. Heat the butter until it bubbles: then cook the ham steaks quickly on both sides until they're brown. Remove them from the pan and keep them warm.

Add the sliced onions to the pan: cook them until they're golden. Remove them as well and keep them warm with the ham.

Heat the extra butter in the pan. Add the apple slices, and cook carefully until tender: remove and keep warm with the ham and onions. Sprinkle sugar over the pan juices and cook until the sugar dissolves. Add the whiskey and swirl it together with the pan juices.

Blend in the flour and cook for a minute. Then add the chicken stock and stir until the sauce is smooth. Cook until the sauce boils and thickens. Season with the pepper. Add cream just before serving.

To serve, arrange the steaks on a serving plate and pour the sauce over the meat. Arrange the fried onions and the apple slices on top. Serve with champ, colcannon or plain mashed potatoes, and quickly braised cabbage.

(This recipe is part of the 2008 Festival of Traditional Irish Saint Patrick's Day Recipes at EuropeanCuisines.com. For the rest of the recipes, please check the menu at this page.)

Technorati Tags: apples whiskey sauce ham gammon recipe Ireland Irish