Ham to carve after cooking (7)
I believe the answer is:
overact
'ham' is the definition.
('overact' can be a synonym of 'ham')
'to carve after cooking' is the wordplay.
'after cooking' indicates an anagram.
'to'+'carve'='tocarve'
'tocarve' anagrammed gives 'OVERACT'.
(Other definitions for overact that I've seen before include "Be excessive on stage" , "Play (part) in an exaggerated manner" , "Ham (on stage)" , "Exaggerate" , "Be unsubtle on stage" .)