My mother would always boil the Christmas ham on Christmas Eve. The first cutting of it would be thinly sliced and packed between thick slices of batch bread. These sandwiches generally weren’t eaten until just before midnight mass and by far were the tastiest sandwiches of the year. I love baked ham at Christmas as it pairs so perfectly with turkey and the leftovers will keep you in sandwiches for 3-4 days.
Sweet Glazed Gammon
Ingredients
- 2.7 kg (6lb) unsmoked gammon
- 2 onions, cut in half and studded with 2 cloves in each half
- 1 tsp whole peppercorns
- 1 bay leaf
- 500 ml cider
- 1 liter apple juice
For the glaze:
- 4 tbsp Redcurrant jelly
- 2 tbsp muscovado sugar
- 1 tbsp wholegrain mustard
- 20 whole cloves
Method
1. Weigh the gammon and place in a large pan, cover with water and bring to the boil. Remove from the heat, drain and then return the gammon to the saucepan.
2. Add the clove-studded onions, peppercorns and bay leaf. Pour over the cider, apple juice and enough cold water to cover the gammon completely.
3. Bring the liquid to the boil, skimming off any scum as it rises to the surface, then reduce heat and cover. Simmer gently for 20 mins per 450 g (1lb) — around 2 hours for a 2.7 kg (6lb) piece of gammon, adding more hot water to the saucepan as necessary.
4. Remove the pan from the heat and lift out the gammon. Set aside for 10 mins until it is cool enough to handle.
5. Preheat the oven to 200 ̊C /fan 180 ̊C/gas mark 6.
6. Use a sharp knife to remove the skin from the gammon, leaving behind a thick, even layer of fat. Score the fat into a diamond pattern and stud the center of each diamond with a clove.
7. Put the gammon, fat-side up, into a roasting tin lined with a double thickness of foil, and cover the sides of the gammon with the foil. This will avoid the sides of the meat from drying out.
8. For the glaze combine all the ingredients together in a bowl. Spread the mixture evenly over the piece of gammon.
9. Cook the gammon for about 30 minutes, regularly basting with the glaze and juices from the roasting tin.
10. Cover and set aside to rest for 30 minutes before carving.
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