I am a food illiterate - please help- advice on how to make parsley sauce and a starter idea for gammon.?

Question

I want to make gammon with parsely sauce (with fresh parsley). How do i make the sauce? I also need ideas for a starter that will go with this as my main course.

Many thanks.

Answer 1

Parsley sauce
15fl oz/425ml milk
a few parsley stalks
1 bay leaf
1 slice onion, ¼in/5mm thick
1 blade of mace
10 whole black peppercorns
¾oz/20g plain flour
1½oz/40g butter
4 heaped tbsp finely chopped fresh parsley
1 tbsp single cream
1 tsp lemon juice
salt and freshly milled black pepper

Method
Place the milk and the next five ingredients in a small pan, bring everything slowly up to simmering point, then pour the mixture into a bowl and leave aside to get completely cold.

When you're ready to make the sauce, strain the milk back into the pan, discard the flavourings, then add the flour and butter and bring everything gradually up to simmering point, whisking continuously with a balloon whisk until the sauce has thickened and is smooth and glossy. Then turn the heat down to its lowest possible setting and let the sauce cook gently for 5 minutes, stirring from time to time.

To serve the sauce, add the chopped parsley, cream and lemon juice, taste and season, then serve in a warm jug.

ROLLED GAMMON WITH SWEET POTATO CRISPS

Ingredients
drizzle of olive oil
2-3 spring onions, blanched
pinch of salt
1 gammon steak
2-3 slices of brie
For the sweet potato crisps
vegetable oil, for deep-frying
½ sweet potato, peeled and cut into long ribbons (use a mandolin)
plain flour, to coat

Method
1. Heat a pan one-third filled with vegetable oil, for deep-frying until a breadcrumb will sizzle gently in it. (CAUTION: Hot oil can be very dangerous. Do not leave unattended.)
2. Preheat the oven to 220C/425F/Gas 7.
3. For the gammon, heat the oil in a non-stick frying pan and fry the spring onions for a few minutes. Season to taste and remove from the heat.
4. Lay the gammon on a board and arrange the brie slices on top. Top with the spring onions and then roll up. Secure the gammon with skewers or cocktail sticks.
5. Pan-fry the gammon for 2-3 minutes on each side. Transfer to the oven and cook for 10-12 minutes.
6. Meanwhile, to make the crisps, coat the sweet potato strips in flour and then deep-fry in the hot oil for 1-2 minutes or until golden.
7. Carefully remove using a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen paper.
8. Remove the gammon from the oven and transfer to a serving plate. Serve the sweet potato crisps alongside.

Answer 2

If you start the parsley sauce with a roux base you may end up with lumps so be careful. See the links below.

If you buy a gammon joint make sure that you soak it overnight, chuck the water and then boil it for an hour at least before roasting to get rid of the salt!

Parma ham and melon is a nice starter. Maybe just melon in port? Waldorf salad?
Sliced Mozzarella and sliced tomatoes with chopped oregano?

If you are entertaining, try to have as much of the food prepared beforehand as possible so you're not chopping starters while the guests chat and your gammon burns.

Answer 3

Umm do you know what goes really nice with gammon? Creamy wholegrain mustard sauce which is a litre of cream, a dessert spoon of whole grain mustard and some of the juice from the joint. It's lovely and subtle, not too mustardy. And you can garnish with the parsley, parsley sauce is really a fish thing though I think personally.

And a nice starter would be a blue cheese and pear pizzette With caramelized red onion.

Just get a ready made roll of pastry, it doesn't matter which kind, as long as it's not filo,
cut it up into however many slices,
Blind bake on both sides for just a minute of 2 untill it's baked but not coloured.
Cut half a red onion per person into half moons.
fry gently in a nob of butter and dollup onto the pastry.
open a tin of pears, slice and put a wee fan on top of the red onion
crumble blue cheese on top.
Pop in the oven for 10 mins. on 180degC

Answer 4

The best way to cooko gammon (i assume you mean a whole one and not slices) is to boil it up for a couple of hours. THen remove the skin leaving some fat and use a knife to criss cross it. Then drizzle over some honey and cook in the oven on about gas mark 6 for about an hour (obviously depending on the size of the joint). Very yummy and you can just ignore it most the time giving you loads of time to do other bits and get ready. Good Luck

Answer 5

Starter - Egg mayonnaise or a veg soup.

Parsley sauce is just a basic white sauce with fresh parsley

Answer 6

For parsely sauce: Blend together parsley, a few capers, two anchovy fillets, a boiled egg yolk, a dash of olive oil and lemon juice.
Bon appétit.