Recipe - Ham Jackets

6 ounce Bestquality ham
2 tablespoon Minced shallots
2 Egg yolks
One fourth cup Heavy cream
Worcestershire sauce; to
taste
Hot pepper sauce; to taste
Freshlyground black pepper;
to taste
2/3 Recipe Fast French Puff
Pastry; see * Note
6 tablespoon Grated Parmesan; Swiss,
and/or Cheddar
Cheese
1 Egg; beaten with
1 teaspoon Water; for glaze

* Note: See the "Fast French Puff Pastry" recipe which is included in this
collection.

Cut the ham into thin irregular slices about 1 by 1 by 1/8inch and saute
briefly in the butter with the shallots or scallions, just to warm through
thoroughly. Remove from the heat. In a small bowl, beat the egg yolks with
the cream; stir this mixture into the ham along with drops of
Worcestershire and pepper sauce and freshlyground pepper to taste. Warm
over low heat, folding the ham into the sauce, until it thickens but does
not boil. Set aside to cool and thicken even more. It should be cold when
it goes into the Pithiviers. Roll the dough out into a rectangle about 18
by 9 inches and cut into thirds crosswise; refrigerate 2 pieces, wrapping
and storing one of them for another use. Roll remaining pieces, which will
be the bottom of the tart, into a square 12 inches to a side; using a pie
plate or cake pan to guide you, cut a 9 1/2inch disk out of the center of
the dough. Remove surrounding dough and set on a bake sheet for
reconstituting later. Lightly fold disk in half and set upside down on
dampened baking surface. Roll out second piece of dough to a thickness
slightly more than 1/4inch and cut into a disk the same size as the first.
Refrigerate it along with the surrounding dough pieces from both disks.
With the balls of you fingers, push and pat the bottom disk of the dough
out onto its baking surface to make an even circle slightly larger than
your cutting guide. With a rollerpricker or two forks, prick the dough all
over at 1/2inch intervals, going down through dough to pastry sheet to
keep this bottom layer from rising too much. Form the ham into a round cake
about 4 One half inches across and place in the center of the dough. It is
important to leave a 2inch border of clear dough all around the ham to
prevent leakage of the filling during baking. Preheat the oven to 425
degrees. Paint the border of the dough with cold water, and immediately
center the top layer in place, stretching gently as necessary. With a
sharppointed knife make a little hole 1/8inch wide in the center of the
dough, going down into the filling, to allow for escaping steam during
baking. Then, with the ball of your first three fingers, firmly press the
two pieces of dough in place all around. Bake the Pithiviers for about 20
minutes, until it has puffed and is beginning to brown nicely. Turn down
the oven to 400 degrees and continue to bake for 20 to 30 minutes. If the
Pithivier begins to brown too quickly, cover the pie with foil loosely and
continue to bake. Remove from the oven and allow to rest for 5 minutes
before slicing. Slice the pie into wedges. This recipe yields 8 to 10