My two girls are quickly growing up and so too is their appetite. This has lead to the regular small joint of gammon not being big enough, so we have had to start buying a larger joint. The problem now though is that we have far too much gammon left over.

So over the past months I have been playing with recipes to try and use it up, but I am drawing a bit of a blank on what to try next and wonder if anyone out there might have some ideas to add to what we already do.

The two most favourites we do so far is a Leek & Potato Soup with the chuncks of gammon added in or, a creamy shredded gammon, cheese, leek and potato  hot pot/bake.

I love making chicken and gammon pie in a white creamy sauce. I usually whack it in the slow cooker before work and come home and it's done. I buy frozen puff pastry and cut out some circles to cook and sit on top of the mini pie dishes.

That sounds really good, I'll give that a go. Do you top the pie like a cobbler but using the pastry?

Depends if I'm being lazy. It's better if you transfer the pix filling into individual pie dishes then crimp the pie tops to the edge of the pie dish and stick it in the oven. If I'm being lazy they just go on a baking sheet and get popped on top afterwards.

Cheers Chris, I think for ease i'll just make the one family sized pie. I might also try it as a cobbler adding thyme and maybe some chopped shallot to the suet.

Do you do anything particular for the sauce or just a simple rue with milk/cream?

Being brought up a good Methodist boy we always bought a joint for the week, not for a meal only. With beef it would be roast on sunday, cold cut monday (while it was still moist), cottage pie tuesday (shepherd's pie by another name), something like spaghetti bolognese or savory mince on wednesday (made from the left over mince from tuesday). Thursday I think we had Findus frozen chicken pie with peas and chips. Friday, fish and chips. Saturday was dad's pick and it could be anything. (Anything you could cook with a cow thigh bone in it, it would still be in the fridge).

Sunday was an over-sized joint again.

Gammon weeks were less fruitful. By Wednesday we were packed up and packed off to school with sandwiches of bread from the bakery up the road, butter and homemade piccalilli. Of course with the ham.

Pea and ham soup is a no brainer, though your gammon joint is best bought on the the bone. Some butchers will give you a joint or a rolled joint and chuck the bone in for free if you ask nicely.

Finally (I suddenly felt I was writing an autobiography for a minute - not good) a link

http://www.lovefoodhatewaste.com/recipes/list?food=61-gammon

Good luck. I've got a kid that will only eat spaghetti bolognese. What do you do with that but wait? (Love her to bits). Sorry for the essay. Just love my food.

Mike

Thanks for the link Mike and don't worry, I love my food too.

We've found that more is actually less. Buying a bigger joint goes along way if you use it right. Though I have to admit, I sometimes get a little fed up but finding new ways to use it is all good fun.

I must admit, I had not thought about mincing the cold meat and using it that way. I guess that might lend itself better to Beef and Lamb maybe. But its certainly got my mind thinking.

Thanks again Mike.