Traditional Potted Spiced Ham For Tea Time By Mrs Beeton - cooking recipe

Ingredients

450 g cooked ham
225 g butter
1/2 teaspoon ground mace
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
black pepper

Preparation

How to clarify butter: Place all of the butter in a small pan over a low heat and let it melt gently. Place a clean piece of muslin in to a sieve over a bowl, then pour the butter through the cloth and sieve very gently, trying to keep as much of the cloudy milk solids in the pan as possible. You should be left with a clear, golden liquid (clarified butter) in the bowl. Discard the milky solids left in the pan and the cloth.
Put the ham and spices in a food processor and blend briefly. While blending, pour in about three-quarters of the cooled butter and blend to a paste. Add the mace, nutmeg, cayenne pepper and black pepper. The spices should give a warm background flavour and not dominate the ham, so add gradually and taste. (For a more textured paste, blend half the ham in the processor and pull the rest into shreds with two forks, then mix it together.).
Pack into 4 small ramekins, pots or glasses, then spoon over enough of the remaining butter to make a thin layer. Chill until the butter sets (about 30 minutes), then cover and chill for several hours. The flavour matures if this is made a day in advance. Keeps for up to 4 weeks in the cool place or fridge if the airtight butter layer has not been broken.