Glazed gammon
It wouldn’t be Christmas without a glazed gammon, would it? And there is no need to complicate things. No intricate scoring needed, no need to place an individual clove in each square before roasting.
Who started this clove thing? It’s a bit like when you’re eating a nice curry and you crunch through a whole cardamon seed, definitely not enjoyable.
Who wants the cloves? Just give me thick slices of sweet, smoky, salty ham. Mustard is a must, sweetness is needed, marmalade is the go-to in my house, and lots of black pepper to finish things off.
Go big on your ham, its great cold on Boxing day, or with a fried egg and some chips, in a left-over turkey pie, in a baguette with lots of butter and some cornichon, I can go on…
Prep time: 10 mins
Cooking time: 150 mins
Serves: 10 (comfortably)
4-5kg Gammon
1 Onion
2 Carrots
2 Celery (sticks)
½ Garlic bulb
4 Sprigs thyme
4 Sprigs rosemary
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350g Marmalade
2 Tbsp Dijon
2 Tbsp Wholegrain mustard
2 Ladles of cooking stock (from above)
1 Tbsp Cracked black pepper
Two options for removing some salt from your ham, depending on how organised you are. My preferred method is leaving the ham to soak overnight in cold water and cooking it the next day. You could also bring the ham to the boil, simmer for 5 minutes, discard the water, fill with fresh water and start again.
Once soaked or pre-boiled. Place your ham in a large pan of water and add your roughly chopped vegetables and herbs. Bring to the boil and gently simmer for 1.5 hours. Remove the ham from the stock and remove the top layer of skin – leave maximum fat on your ham.
Roughly scored in opposite directions, season with black pepper and place in the oven at 170C fan or 190C for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and add the marmalade, mustards and stocks. Mix and baste over the ham, place back into the oven for another 20 minutes. Remove and baste again. Continue giving the ham 20-minute stages in the oven until it is beautifully coloured and glazed all over. Somewhere around the 1h mark it should start looking finished. All that’s left to do is slice, grab a long sharp knife and make long confident strokes.
