Stuffed Ham, Southern Maryland Style Recipe (2024)

Doing it yourself is not nearly as daunting as it seems in the recipe. If you live in MD or NC you may be able to find corned hams in grocery stores around the holidays, which makes this dish even easier. NC-based Food Lion carries them here in MD.Hopefully, this recipe and the associated article will help to spread this wonderful dish. Everyone for whom I've prepared it has instantly fallen in love. Once you taste it, you just know these ingredients were meant to be together.

Wow! this is a recipe worth its monumental efforts. In Maine our pork farmers offer plenty of fresh ham legs ready to corn.

In Kentucky the Luckett version (which came from Maryland in the early 1800's) uses salt and air cured country ham.

For the past several years, a group of friends have gathered in Clements, MD on a November weekend and, in loving memory of the mother of one of the groups' members who showed us how it's done, we collectively prepare 30 or so hams. One is prepared the night before which we enjoy after all the work is done. We share the fruits of our labor with friends and keep one (or two!) in the freezer for later use.The process is a great group task and the rewards are delicious.

I use pink curing salt when corning a brisket to get that nice color (1 Tbsp for a 4-5 lb. brisket). I bet that could readily apply here.I use Anthony's Pink Curing Salt #1.

This fascinating story makes me wish I had lived in Maryland! How wonderful to see an example of a beloved local (and complicated!) dish that has survived the hom*ogenization of American tastes.Unfortunately it's beyond my abilities (and audience). I'm gearing up to try posole for the first time, and deciphering dried hominy, pork butt vs. pork shoulder, etc. has been challenging enough for me!

Great article but there is no mention of neighboring Charles county. We also have been making stuffed ham for generations. It’s funny how many variations of this ham there are. In Our version, we use much more kale, less cabbage and we also add watercress. We also add quite a bit more of the listed spices as our family and friends like the ham spicy! We make a 25 lb ham for Easter every year. Once wrapped with the greens, it is so large we have to boil it in a big crab steamer!

This was a slave recipe here in Maryland, not an English one that some locals want to say about it, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise. The fact that heat is in this recipe says it all, like most Afro-Caribbean cuisine, English food does not. The slave owners gave the slaves at the holidays the worst part of the pig & African and Caribbean influence from enslaved cooks brought a new twist to European ham, to create something uniquely American.

I lived in Maryland for years and this is what I make every Christmas and in between. But I got tired of always looking for a corned ham, so I started using a regular old shank portion ham and I don't corn it. My family likes it better less salt also ! Just a tip if you use just a regular ham just cut the bone out and freeze it for later use. put a rack in the bottom of pot or a basket "which makes it so much easier to pull your ham out" But add two cartons of vegetable broth and the rest water.

I was taught in St.Mary's County how to stuff a ham years ago and I still do it whenever able. I am going to make one this Christmas time. I enjoy it tho it is a task for me at times due to shoulder surgery last year. But I think I will be up for the task again this year. I live in NC now but would love to just purchace half a corned ham to do the job again next month. My parents and Grandparents are long gone but may have to have my brother grab me a corned ham so I can just drive 3 hrs away.

Just alittle idea make a honey pineapple glaze it makes the ham melt in your mouth, save some of the hot glaze to pour over you meat when served use a gravy boat this is terrific holiday treat ,idea from london ontario Canada From kat MacDonald Enjoy everyone

Some of my family has been in st. Mary's county since the dove landed.... All I can tell you is kale, and a little mustard greens. Some guy in the comment who said go heavy handed on the spices is absolutely correct. Plenty of spiced kale mostly kale and spices on the ham. You can order one from Hills if you really want to but they're expensive, our Google the country store in Clements Maryland. They sell the original and have the oldest recipe that I know of. 🍻

Mix the stuffing outside. It creates quite the mess. We also cooked this on a burner outside (one of the ones for brewing beer or frying a turkey). Use a heavier hand on the spices. Use sodium nitrite (curing salt #1) if you want to turn the ham pink.

I made this for the first time for Easter lunch. I was intrigued by the whole process, though while doing it I was often unsure if I was doing it right. My family and I liked the end results, though I wish I had had the authentic southern Maryland version so I could know how close mine was. I imagine those who continue the tradition have more counter space and brute strength than I do, two things the recipe requires.

Wouldn't this need sodium nitrate to get the ham pink (as in the picture)? Otherwise, it would be a rather unappetizing gray, I think.

Great article but there is no mention of neighboring Charles county. We also have been making stuffed ham for generations. It’s funny how many variations of this ham there are. In Our version, we use much more kale, less cabbage and we also add watercress. We also add quite a bit more of the listed spices as our family and friends like the ham spicy! We make a 25 lb ham for Easter every year. Once wrapped with the greens, it is so large we have to boil it in a big crab steamer!

This recipe does not adequately address the "corning" or the ham. Just soaking the ham in salt water will not produce a lovely pink ham as depicted in the photo. You need to add some kind of corning agent like saltpeter, which is no long available for purchase on the internet. It would be useful if the recipe would include some instructions as to how you end up with a pink ham

This fascinating story makes me wish I had lived in Maryland! How wonderful to see an example of a beloved local (and complicated!) dish that has survived the hom*ogenization of American tastes.Unfortunately it's beyond my abilities (and audience). I'm gearing up to try posole for the first time, and deciphering dried hominy, pork butt vs. pork shoulder, etc. has been challenging enough for me!

The appearance of this ham strongly suggests the presence of pink salt in the cure although it is not mentioned in the recipe. Comments welcome.

For the past several years, a group of friends have gathered in Clements, MD on a November weekend and, in loving memory of the mother of one of the groups' members who showed us how it's done, we collectively prepare 30 or so hams. One is prepared the night before which we enjoy after all the work is done. We share the fruits of our labor with friends and keep one (or two!) in the freezer for later use.The process is a great group task and the rewards are delicious.

Doing it yourself is not nearly as daunting as it seems in the recipe. If you live in MD or NC you may be able to find corned hams in grocery stores around the holidays, which makes this dish even easier. NC-based Food Lion carries them here in MD.Hopefully, this recipe and the associated article will help to spread this wonderful dish. Everyone for whom I've prepared it has instantly fallen in love. Once you taste it, you just know these ingredients were meant to be together.

Wow! this is a recipe worth its monumental efforts. In Maine our pork farmers offer plenty of fresh ham legs ready to corn.