I receive a newsletter about the area around Prescott, AR. The owner, about every five years, does a cook book and I want to influence that part of the world with stuffed ham, SMC style. So, while I have several stuffed ham receipts stowed away, a recent reorganization of my files makes it a bit difficult to bring them up to forward, without a struggle. So, if any of you guys have stuffed ham data that is easy to get at, I would much appreciate receiving them. Origin, names and any history would also be appreciated and will be sent along to Arkansas. R/ DEC405

You asked for it David, Here is 7 years of research on St. Mary's County Stuffed Ham. NY TIMES December 5, 1982 http://www.nytimes.com/1982/12/05/travel/stuffed-ham-with-a-kick.htmlSTUFFED HAM WITH A KICK By Mary Z. Gray; MARY Z. GRAY, a writer who lives in Maryland, is the author of a book of humorous essays to be published by Atheneum. Published: December 5, 1982 It's not true, as some tasteless cynics say, that it takes at least a 12th-generation southern Marylander to love southern Maryland stuffed ham. Occasionally one hears of a newcomer - a visitor, even - whose sensitive palate quivers with delight at the first piquant bite. Piquant, in the sense of being pleasantly disturbing. Few foods can match the aromatic mixture of sweet boiled ham redolent with cabbage, kale and onions, laced with mustard seed, celery seed, crushed hot red pepper, black pepper and salt. When spiced with a heavy hand, southern Maryland stuffed ham can curl the tongue and open the sinuses even before it reaches the lips. Some restaurants tone down the seasoning, but it is never bland. For those who can take it, the dish is especially savored because it is available only in southern Maryland, that remote point of the jigsaw puzzle formed by the Potomac and Patuxent Rivers and Chesapeake Bay. St. Mary's County, the real home of the ham, is about 50 miles south of Washington, on State Route 5. The Ark and the Dove brought the first settlers to Maryland in 1634, landing at St. Mary's City, near the tip of the peninsula, and there is convincing evidence that they brought the recipe for stuffed ham from England. Many residents of the county are direct descendants of the original settlers and have kept the recipe ''in the family'' ever since. There are many recipes, each with minor variations. Some call for ''field cress'' to be added, and the amounts of spices vary according to tolerance for such high seasonings. But basically, cabbage, kale, onions, spices and seasonings are chopped and mixed, then stuffed ''with the thumb'' into deep slits slashed in a whole, corned ham. (That's corned ham, not canned.) These 10 or so slits, or pockets, must be cut vertically, and on a 45-degree angle, each stuffed to the depth of the ham. Any remaining vegetable and spice mixture is then packed around the ham, and the whole package placed in a cloth bag. (Many recipes call for an old pillowcase, sewed or tightly tied.) The bag is covered with water and set to simmering for four hours or more, 20 minutes to the pound. When done, it must cool in the ''likker,'' or juice, for at least two hours. Then the bag is removed and the excess stuffing repacked tightly around the ham, which goes into the refrigerator overnight, to soak up the strong flavors of the stuffing even more. Total preparation time: close to 16 hours. If you corn the ham yourself, add a few months. The time factor alone could explain why the dish has never achieved the universal popularity of the Maryland oyster, which can simply be lifted from the shell and allowed to slide down the throat. The ham is traditionally served cold, and often in a sandwich, although in some homes and restaurants it is offered as a hot, main course. ''It's a meal in itself,'' says Cuthbert Fenwick 3d, who serves some of the best southern Maryland stuffed ham in St. Mary's County at The Willows, a mile south of Leonardtown on Route 5. The Willows is a small, family restaurant with but 10 tables, two booths and a partitioned bar in the back. The 28-year-old Mr. Fenwick, who was born and raised in the county, bought the restaurant a few months ago from Irene Holdson, who ran it for 11 years and who searched the area for an expert in preparing stuffed ham, knowing instinctively that it took a native to do it right. (Mrs. Holdson is from ''Ballmer,'' or Baltimore, so does not qualify.) She found her expert, Helen Schreiber from Mechanicsville, about 15 miles up the road, six years ago, and Mrs. Schreiber has been preparing the dish for the restaurant ever since. She is now ''Chip'' Fenwick's head cook. Mrs. Schreiber learned the technique and the recipe from her mother, who ''used to go around to people's houses to prepare their hams.'' Mrs. Schreiber's mother had learned from her mother, and back through the generations, all southern Marylanders. At The Willows, simply boning a ham and stuffing the cavity is considered the lazy and the wrong way of doing the job. ''To get the full flavor through the ham you have to cut the pockets and stuff each one,'' says Mrs. Holdson. Another taboo: preparing the ham before the first frost. ''The stuffing sours too easily to keep it around in warm weather.'' (Page 2 of 2) There are rumors that the dish appears on some Kentucky tables at Easter, a phenomenon explainable by the fact that a few early Maryland settlers went to Kentucky in the late 1700's. Otherwise, it remains in St. Mary's County. Oh, it has traveled a bit for special occasions - a White House dinner during the Eisenhower Administration, a British Embassy banquet honoring the late Lord Louis Mountbatten, the Governor's Mansion, and the Maryland Pavilion of the 1964-1965 New York World's Fair, where 28,000 orders were served. There are numerous stories about the origin of the dish. One says it originated in the county in the early 18th century when a slave at St. Inigoes Manor House dished it up as a special Easter treat for the Jesuit Fathers emerging from their Lenten fast. The most credible stories, however, trace the recipe back to 16thcentury England. A personal note on George Calvert, the first Lord Baltimore, recorded in English archives of 1599, mentions that as a boy he partook of stuffed ham while at the ''ancient family estate'' on the Yorkshire coast. It was the Calverts, of course, who founded Maryland. ''Stuffed Chine,'' a familiar recipe in Elizabethan England, called for a ''Bradenham gammon (ham) ... cut to the bone with slots and a mixture of herbs and lots of parsley pressed in, tied in muslin and boiled.'' Although there seem to be no traditional vegetables or condiments served with the ham, beaten biscuits are often put on the table when it is prepared in homes in the county. These biscuits, which resemble small cannonballs, and are almost as hard on the outside, are beaten (with an axe, says one old recipe) for no less than 20 minutes before baking. Restaurants do not feature them. The Willows charges $2.50 for a stuffed ham sandwich, while the ham plate is $7.95 with vegetables and salad, plus individual loaves of homemade bread and coffee. The ham is served only in winter. The restaurant also serves a seafood imperial dinner, with shrimp lobster and crab, for $8.75. (The Willows is open Tuesday through Saturday from 11 A.M. to 11 P.M and on Monday from 11 to 3; in summer it opens on Sunday, 1 to 9. The few other St. Mary's County restaurants - there are not many down there -that also serve authentic stuffed ham include the St. Mary's Landing on Route 5 in Charlotte Hall, and the Belvedere Motor Inn on State Route 235 in Lexington Park. At the St. Mary's Landing, the ham sandwich costs $2; and the ham with a vegetable, salad and bread is $3.50. A stuffed ham dinner costs $6.95. The Belvedere lunch menu offers ham on a roll, with coleslaw and french fries, for $2.65. On the dinner menu it is a cold platter for $9.25, including an appetizer, salad, choice of potato, three vegetables and rolls. Both places are able to serve the ham the year round because of their large cold-storage spaces. As you can see there are as many recipes as there are Countains. St. Mary's County Thanksgiving Stuffed Ham Huffington Post | Huffington Post Commenter meteor First Posted: 11-21-07 10:27 AM | Updated: 03-28-08 02:45 AM Here in St. Mary's County [Maryland], we do a stuffed ham. They vary if you live "up county" or "down county." Use a corned ham. We use a butt half with the bone in about 12 lbs. Some do a whole ham, about 24 lbs. Some have the bone removed. It takes a lot of greens run through a food processor. We use kale, cabbage(s), 4 large onions. A large canning pot about 2/3 to 3/4 quarter full of chopped greens is about right. Blanch the greens with a couple gallons of boiling water. Drain off the water and add the spices stirring well into the greens. The recipes vary on the spices, basically salt, pepper, red or hot pepper, lots of mustard seed and whole celery seed, for visual interest as well as taste, and dry mustard powder. You cut many slits down into the ham; some do a curved slits or crosses. Pack the slits as full of the greens as you can. Easier to do this in the sink, ham in a shallow pan and the greens in the other side. This takes about a half an hour just to stuff the ham. Any remaining greens can be packed on top of the ham. Wrap the ham in cheese cloth or cotton material and wrap and tie it snug with some heavy thread or cord. The ham is then placed in a canning pot with the rack in the bottom to keep it off the bottom. Cover the ham or almost cover it with water and take to boiling and then cook for 20 minutes per pound or about four to five hours. This is a labor intensive process, kind of a family thing. The ham should cool for at least a day in the refrigerator and it is served cold, not re-heated. Serving the ham with dinner rolls large enough to make a sandwich is also part of the culture. Great with a beer for lunch in the following days. ~~~~~~~~~~ Chaptico Market Chaptico - 301-884-3308 Lenny's Restaurant California - 301-737-0777 McKay's Food & Drug Hollywood, California, Charlotte Hall and Lexington Park - 301-475-2531 Murphy s Town & Country Avenue 301-769-3131 Raley's Town & Country Market Ridge - 301-872-5121 St. Mary's Landing Restaurant Charlotte Hall - 301-884-3287 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Stuffed Ham Recipe Southern Maryland Stuffed Ham can be made several ways. From mild to hot, from having just cabbage to having an equal mixture of cabbage and kale, some with watercress and celery, some without, there is no wrong way. Here is a recipe for our delicious St. Mary s County delicacy if you would like to try your hand at serving this for your next holiday meal. St. Mary s County Stuffed Ham Chaptico Market s Recipe 1 corned ham weighing 20 25 lbs Store will de-bone for you 4 lbs of kale 2 large heads of cabbage 1/2 bunch of celery (stalks only) 2 large onions Chop all ingredients into small pieces. You may use a food processor. Be careful not to chop too fine. Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil. Blanche cabbage and kale until just soft. Remove and drain. Let your ingredients cool then add chopped onions and celery. Spices < - = Cup salt = Cup black pepper < Cup ground red pepper = Cup crushed red pepper (Amounts vary according to taste) In large bowl mix spices into stuffing. Stuffing your ham Cut twelve 3 slits into ham on both sides. Generously stuff the ham until it will hold no more in slits. Place remaining stuffing on top. Wrap ham in cheesecloth. Cooking Place ham in a large pot. Bring water to a rolling boil. Reduce heat to low boil and cook ham 20 minutes per pound until it reaches 155 degrees on a food thermometer. Keep water level over ham at all times. Carefully remove ham from pot. Cooling Quarter ham and place directly into an ice bath (ice and water to cover entire ham). Add ice frequently! Cool until ham reaches 140 degrees then place in refrigerator until it reaches 45 degrees on a food thermometer. This process can take up to 6 hours. This recipe is a spicy version of stuffed ham. There are many variations. Experiment with the ingredients to come up with a recipe that is uniquely yours and start your own tradition. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ St. Mary s County lore has several variations on how stuffed ham came about. One such story is that slaves working on plantations in St. Mary s used greens such as kale, cabbage, onions and watercress from their small gardens and stuffed them into the parts of the hog they were given such as the jowl, feet and stomach to make them tastier. When plantation owners had the occasion to taste this dish they then started to serve it. Another theory is that a cook for the Jesuit Priests at St. Inigoes Manor wanted to serve a special treat following the Lenten Fast and created Stuffed Ham for Easter. The third theory is that it was created by an English immigrant farm wife who used what she had on hand to dress up the traditional pork for Easter. In the spring she used cabbage and onions from the root cellar, watercress and wild onions from the fields. In the fall, kale was substituted for the cabbage. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ St. Mary s County Stuffed ham has been served at the White House and Governor s Mansion in Annapolis. During the World s Fair in New York, 1964 1965, more than 28,000 orders of Stuffed Ham were served in the Maryland Pavilion. The following is a letter to Mr. Arthur Buck Briscoe Mr. St. Mary s County from President Dwight D. Eisenhower. The White House Washington October 18, 1958 Dear Mr. Briscoe: This is to thank you and the people of St. Mary s County for the fine country ham and fresh oysters that Mr. Gruenther brought back from the Leonardtown Fair. Mrs. Eisenhower and I are deeply grateful to all who participated in providing such a thoughtful gift for us. With best wishes and warm appreciation, Sincerely, Dwight D. Eisenhower ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ [Back to index of April 2009 articles] St. Mary s Stuffed Ham Washington Window Vol. 78, No. 3, April 2009 "If there is anything that sets St. Mary's County apart, gastronomically speaking, from the rest of the world, it is stuffed ham," claims "Cooking With Two Saints," a recipe collection jointly produced by the Southern Maryland parishes of St. George's, Valley Lee and St. Andrew's, Leonardtown. Many St. Mary's residents would agree, although the recipes and methods used for this dish are as individual as the county residents themselves. This unusual dish's history is something of a puzzle, according to Henry Miller, director of research at Historic St. Mary's City, who is quoted extensively in a section of the cookbook titled "Glorious Stuffed Ham." Legend has it that this delicacy was first prepared for the Jesuits by an African slave, perhaps as an Easter dish. There is no hard evidence to support this, Miller says, although the general agreement is that the dish is African-American in origin. While most of the ingredients were typical of English colonial cuisine, red pepper a New World plant widely used in the Caribbean was not. The dish is traditionally prepared by stuffing corned ham ham that has been cured by soaking in brine, sugar and bay leaves with cabbage, kale or watercress and a mixture of spices, which can include mustard and celery seed, onions and cracked black pepper in addition to the red pepper. Ideally, local cooks contend, some green should show with every slice. Cabbage is more commonly used in the southern end of the county, whereas kale is favored in the north. A recipe from local historian Joseph Alfred Dillow, who spent some time investigating the origins of stuffed ham in England, is reprinted here: Stuffed Ham Recipe from Joseph Alfred Dillow 16 to 20-lb corned ham 2 large, firm heads of cabbage 2 lbs kale < lb watercress (optional) 10 large onions 1 bunch Pascal celery 12 spring onions (white and green parts) 15 collard leaves (optional) 3 Tblsp. salt 2 Tblsp. cracked pepper or peppercorns 1 Tblsp. ground black pepper 4 Tblsp. crushed red pepper 1 tblsp ground ground red pepper (cayenne) 2 Tblsp. celery seed 3 Tblsp. mustard seed 3 Tblsp. dry mustard Fill a 30- or 40- quart pot with a rack in the bottom two-thirds full of water. Cover and bring to a boil. Chop cabbage, kale, watercress, onions, celery and collards. Place in a cheesecloth and immerse in the boiling water for 7 minutes. (Reserve the cooking water). While the greens are boiling, mix seasonings in a quart jar and shake well. To prepare the ham for stuffing, start at the butt end of the fat side of the ham. With a long, sharp, boning knife, cut vertically through the top of the ham, 5 or 6 lengthwise slits, 2 inches apart, through to the bone or bone cavity. Make a second row of slits 2 inches up from the first row. Make 5 slits only in the second row, making sure the slits in the second row are not parallel with the slits in the first row, and so on to the hock. Make sure one row of stuffing does not slit into another. This is important, so be very careful when cutting slits. Make about 16-18 slits in the ham. After the ingredients have cooled, spread evenly in a pan and mix well with the seasonings. Place ham in a container suitable for stuffing. Pack stuffing into slits until cavity is completely filled. Place excess stuffing across the top of the ham and cover with cheesecloth. Place ham in the vegetable water and cook for 20 mins. to the pound, subtracting one hour from the total and allowing the ham to sit, off the heat, in the pot liquor for an hour and a half before removing to a colander or wire rack. Allow to drip and cool for two hours before placing in the refrigerator. John S Wilkinson Rome, NY "A veteran is someone who, at one point in his or her life, wrote a blank check made payable to The 'United States of America', for an amount of up to and including their life." (Author unknown) John S Wilkinson Rome, NY John S Wilkinson Rome, NY -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of David Cummins Sent: Friday, February 11, 2011 6:39 PM To: SMC Maryland Subject: [MDSTMARY] Help I receive a newsletter about the area around Prescott, AR. The owner, about every five years, does a cook book and I want to influence that part of the world with stuffed ham, SMC style. So, while I have several stuffed ham receipts stowed away, a recent reorganization of my files makes it a bit difficult to bring them up to forward, without a struggle. So, if any of you guys have stuffed ham data that is easy to get at, I would much appreciate receiving them. Origin, names and any history would also be appreciated and will be sent along to Arkansas. R/ DEC405 ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message