Feelin’ Country

Yesterday I found a new product in the deli section of the supermarket. It was in a vacuum pack and hanging with the packages of sliced salami, ham, cheese, and other sandwich fixings — Shaved Country Ham. Woo hoo!

The product was from Clifty Farms — a Tennessee company that sells whole country hams as well as country ham steaks, ham pieces (for seasoning), and thin slices of raw ham for biscuits.

Red meat is not bad for you. Now blue-green meat, that’s bad for you! ~ Tommy Smothers

Clifty doesn’t make the best country ham around, but it’s pretty good and Clifty does make the most ubiquitous products (you can find the company’s ham in most grocery stores in the area) in the greatest range of packaging. This product was different in several ways. It was pre-cooked, sliced very thin (about 1/16 inch), and being marketed as a sandwich meat. It was also labeled “American Prosciutto,” but I’ll save you my rant about that. Suffice to say, I had no choice but to buy a package and make a sandwich.

I decided a panini would be best. I had a loaf of fairly good French bread that was getting old, but would do fine for a grilled sandwich and I bought a wedge of Alpenzeller reasoning that its flavor was strong enough to stand up to the ham. Brushed with olive oil and grilled on my cast iron grill pan, I had a marvelous lunch with the salt in the ham pairing perfectly with the acid in the cheese.

By the way, Clifty Farms products are available online as well.

Technorati: Food | recipe | sandwich | panini | country ham