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OxfordPress.com

Cottage Ham

I grew up eating cottage ham, a one-pot meal my mother made with green beans — instead of cabbage — added to the simmering smoked pork shoulder and potatoes. The cottage ham is all meat, no bone, and sells for $3.99 a pound or less.

1 smoked pork shoulder roll, 1 1/2 to 2 pounds

1 onion, peeled

1 bay leaf

1 ^1/2 tablespoons sugar

6 or 8 crushed peppercorns

4 to 6 redskin potatoes, unpeeled

1 pound green beans

Put the pork in a large pot with a tight-fitting cover. Cover with water. Add the bay leaf, onion, peppercorns and sugar. Cover and cook the meat for 45 minutes per pound.

Halve the potatoes if very large. Thirty minutes before the meat is done add the potatoes to the pot.

Remove the ham to a serving platter and let it rest for 5 to 10 minutes before slicing. Add the beans to the pot while the meat rests and cook 5 to 10 minutes, with timing depending on the size and age of the beans and how you like them cooked.

Serve with mustard, preferably the course-grained variety.