There are disputes about whether the singular of patties is patty or pattie. I’m making a stand for the -ie version, for no good reason.
I baked a boneless half ham in the grill Monday in my cast iron Dutch oven, and that leaves at least two days of what to do with leftovers. Tuesday, some of it became the ham patties shown here, and Wednesday, the last bit goes into a ham and rice casserole.
To make the patties, I halved the spice amounts from my ham loaf recipe and used egg and seasoned bread crumbs to hold it all together. Still, these ham patties are not as dense as a ham loaf, mostly because of the absence of the ground pork that holds the cooked ham together. Trying to keep cooked meat together into any shape is never easy. Shaping, coating, and turning the patties in a pan are delicate processes, sort of like those fish cakes I made a few weeks ago. But it can be done, and it’s a nice change of pace for leftover ham. They can be eaten with or without a bun, but I think the bun invites dressing it up with slaw or grilled vegetables or ranch dressing. My husband is choosing not to eat them with buns, while I’m going to use a soft ciabatta roll and grilled portobello caps marinated in olive oil and balsamic vinegar to make mine more of a burger.
Ham Patties
Set up grill for direct heat.
1 pound cooked ham, ground in food processor or meat grinder
1/2 small onion, grated
1/4 cup seasoned breadcrumbs (fresh breadcrumbs would add more moisture)
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon each curry powder, fresh grated ginger, ground mustard
1/4 teaspoon each paprika, nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon each salt & pepper
1/4 cup milk or more to achieve moist consistency that holds together
1/4 cup seasoned breadcrumbs for dusting
olive oil for frying
- Mix all ingredients together as you would for meatloaf.
- Divide into fourths, shaping each into a pattie. Refrigeration for at least a half hour can help hold the mixture together, but is not necessary.
- Dust both sides of each pattie carefully as you hold it in your hand. Pat the crumbs on lightly. You just want a little barrier between the patties and the hot skillet.
- Place skillet over direct heat on grill, adding about 2 tablespoons oil before the pan gets too hot. You don’t have the same control on a grill as you have on the stove, and your pan can get very hot quickly. As soon as the oil begins to heat, place the patties in the pan.
- Cook about 4 minutes on each side, until browned. I used two spatulas to turn them, so they wouldn’t break up. My second side browned better than the first, because I was impatient.
If you’re grilling some vegetables, do those first, removing them to indirect heat while you cook the meat.
For my mushroom caps, I used 1/4 cup olive oil, 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar, and 1 teaspoon salt, marinating them in a zippered bag for about 1/2 hour.
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