Fannie Farmer Ham Patties

This recipe is from my 1981 Fannie Farmer Cookbook.  It’s simple and delicious and a perfect way to use the not-so-pretty ends of your holiday ham.    I shaped mine into more, thinner patties, so they cook quickly…I froze the extra patties to cook another day.  A real nice thing about this recipe is that you can freeze your uncooked patties, and cook them from frozen, about 3 minutes on each side if you make 8 patties from this recipe.
I had a large slice of somewhat holey homemade bread I used for the crumbs; I whirled pieces of the bread in my mini-processor, then added the egg, cream and mustard, and poured it over the ham in the mixing bowl and combined lightly.  I pattied them in my hamburger press.  I have also made this with ham loaf mixture from the meat counter at our Fareway store, which is a combination of ham and ground fresh pork.
Our plate looks like Iowa – with mashed potatoes and creamed corn.  We enjoyed it with a cucumber salad and fruit for dessert.                 
Ham Patties
  2             Cups  Ham -- ground, cooked
  1             Large  Egg -- slightly beaten
     1/2      Cup  Bread Crumbs -- freshly made
  1             Tablespoon  Dry Mustard
  3             Tablespoons  Heavy Cream
  2             Tablespoons  Bacon Fat -- or lard or shortening
Mix the ham, egg, crumbs, mustard and cream until combined.  Shape the mixture into four to eight equal patties.  Melt the bacon fat or shortening in a large skillet and sauté the patties until well browned on each side.

The cookbook recommends serving with chilled cucumbers in sugar and vinegar dressing.

12 comments:

  1. Sue, you must've been looking over my shoulder while I was digging around in the freezer yesterday and wondering why in the world I bought such a big ham last Christmas and what I would do to use up the last of what I packed away. We just don't eat ham very well, and it's just the two of us. Hugs to you and Myrna!

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    1. Thanks Ilene...hope you like them; we sure do.

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  2. I have never heard of ham patties! I will so try this, can't wait, it looks delish!

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  3. I made this recipe today and enjoyed it. Thanks for the nice new recipe..... Julie

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    1. Thanks...it's hard to go wrong with the Fannie Farmer cookbooks...this is my go-to recipe for left-over ham. Glad to know you liked it too.

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  4. Lovely recipe.I cook for a relative with dysphagia from a broken neck operation. His gullet is half the size it should be, leading to choking and gagging. I grind everything very fine and serve with plenty of white sauce to help it slide down.

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  5. I just wanted to add that I did make some tweaks. I didn't use bread crumbs but 1/2 cup flour to 1 2/3 cups ground ham. Bread crumbs are just glorified flour.

    No egg -too expensive. I did add fried and ground peppers, about 1/2 cup total.

    You need to have an eye for what is the right consistency.

    I heated bacon fat very hot and that is important. You want a crisp coating fast.

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  6. Where are you buying your eggs??

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  7. We were getting ours from my brother-in-law until they moved...now we buy locally, not as good.

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  8. Honestly. I made these and they seem rather powdery mealy consistency flavor so-so. Will try letting mixture refrigerate overnight maybe crumbs will soak up better. I may add some fresh ground pepper

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  9. These ham patties were so good, saving this recipe for sure!

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    1. Try freezing any extras, you can fry them from frozen without thawing if you don't make them too thick.

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