Turns out that you can cook a fresh ham roast just like you can cook a pork shoulder. Once I found that out from a very helpful internet friend, then the world was my oyster. Or at least my pork roast. I looked around for a while and finally decided to try a recipe from Epicurious. In the end, I altered the recipe to fit what I had on hand and this is what we ended up with.

We ate our pork with salads made from a mix of local and non-local organic greens, fresh steamed broccoli (local) and garlic toast (local).

Cider Braised Ham Roast
serves 3-4

- 3 lb. ham roast, skinless, bone-in
- 3 onions, quartered
- 2 apples, peeled and sliced
- 1 tbs fresh thyme
- 3 cloves garlic - pressed
- 1 cup unfiltered apple juice or cider
- salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 325 F.

Dry the roast thoroughly, lightly salt and pepper. Then sear on all sides in a lightly oiled dutch oven over med-high heat. Remove roast to plate and keep safe from large puppy.

Reduce pan heat to medium and add onions. Saute until soft and lightly golden. Add 3/4 tsp kosher salt and apples and keep cooking until onions are golden brown and starting to caramelize and the apples are soft. Add the garlic and thyme and cook 1 minute until fragrant.

Add back in the roast and then add the apple cider. Put the lid on and put entire thing into the oven to braise for 2 1/2 to 3 hours until pork is tender.

Remove from oven and pull out pork to rest on plate - tent with foil. While pork is resting, bring juices and onions to boil on stove. Cook until reduced to 1 cup liquid. Light mash onions and apple, or put through food processor. Serve sauce with pork.