Cooked ham in wine sauce

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 4 slices of cooked ham (thicker, I used about 6mm)
• 40 g butter
• 400 ml wine, white Burgundy (e.g. a Meursault)
• 3 sprigs of tarragon
• 3 shallots, very finely chopped
• 4 tbsp balsamic vinegar, white
• 1 tbsp pepper, coarsely ground black
• 100 ml double cream
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 tbsp flour butter
• Salt (Fleur de Sel)

Instructions

Working time approx. 15 minutes; Total time approx. 15 minutes

a French bistro dish

Bring the wine and tarragon (reserve the tips of the sprigs for garnishing) to a boil over low heat, set aside, and let stand for 10 minutes. Brush a medium-high casserole dish thickly with butter. Place the ham slices in it and cover with the wine. Place a suitably large piece of baking paper over the top and place in an oven preheated to 150°C for 10 minutes. In a small saucepan, cook the shallots with the pepper until the liquid has almost evaporated. Pour the wine from the casserole dish in which the ham was heated into a saucepan and reduce by one-third. Keep the casserole dish with the ham warm in the switched off oven with the baking paper on top. Add the shallot mixture, the double cream, and the tomato paste to the wine. Mix with a whisk, thicken with the flour and butter, and season to taste. Then pour the sauce over the ham slices in the casserole dish and garnish with tarragon tips or torn leaves. This often goes well with just a baguette and a simple green salad. Mashed potatoes and mixed vegetables are also suitable. As always, the sky’s the limit.