Festive Gammon Recipes

Steps:

• For the brining, take all the spices for the glaze and toast them in a frying pan until they begin to release their fragrance. Grind using a pestle and mortar, then tip into a food processor with the sugar and blitz everything together to make a spice mix. Tip two-thirds of the mix (reserving the rest in a sealed plastic container) into a large pan with the salt and 5 litres of water and bring to the boil, then turn off the heat. When the mix has cooled, pour it over the ham and leave in the fridge to brine for 24 hrs.
• After 24 hrs, wash off the brine. Place the ham in a large pan with the stock veg, herbs and vinegar. Cover with water and bring to the boil. Lower the heat to a gentle simmer and cook, uncovered, for 3 hrs, topping up with water as necessary. Turn off the heat and leave the ham to cool in the stock.
• Heat oven to 220C/fan 200C/gas 7. Remove the ham from the stock and cut away the top layer of fat and skin. Score the fat in a criss-cross and brush with the mustard, then pack on the reserved spiced sugar. Roast for 35-40 mins until the glaze has completely caramelised and become sticky. Allow the ham to rest for at least 10 mins before carving.

Steps:

• Score surface of ham, making diamond shapes 1/2 in. deep. Place in a large baking dish. , In a bowl, mix remaining ingredients; pour over ham. Cover and refrigerate overnight, turning ham occasionally. , Reserving glaze, remove ham to a rack in a shallow roasting pan. Insert thermometer. Bake, uncovered, at 325° until thermometer registers 140° about 2-4 hours, brushing occasionally with glaze.

Steps:

• Put the ham into a large saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil and then immediately drain and rinse it in a colander, to remove any excess saltiness. Alternatively, leave the ham soaking in cold water overnight.
• Rinse the saucepan and put the ham back in, and add all remaining ingredients. If the fruit juices do not cover the ham then add some water; it really depends on how snugly your ham fits into the saucepan.
• Bring the pan to a boil and then cook at a fast simmer for about 3 1/2 to 4 hours. Partially cover the ham with a lid if the liquid is boiling away too much and the top of the ham is getting dry.
• Once the ham is cooked, remove it from the hot and now salty juice, and sit it on a board. If you want, you can actually cook this far ahead of schedule and then let it get entirely cold before glazing and roasting it. If that's the case, then cook it for about 1/2 hour less and then just let it get cold in the cooking liquid.
• On the day of cooking, preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
• When the ham is cool enough to touch then cut and peel the rind off the cooked ham, making sure to leave a thin coating of the white fat on the ham. Score the fat into a diamond pattern with a sharp knife, and stud the points of each diamond with a clove.
• Heat the remaining glaze ingredients together in a saucepan until the jelly or sauce melts into the honey, mustard, and cinnamon to make a smooth but syrupy glaze; it needs to be thick enough not to run off the ham completely as it cooks in the oven.
• Sit the ham on a piece of foil in a roasting tin, which will give you an easier time later washing up, as the sugary glaze will burn as bits of it do inevitably dribble down the ham. Pour the glaze over the clove studded ham so that all of the scored fat is covered. Cook the ham for 15 minutes or until the fat is colored and burnished by the sugary glaze.
• If the ham is completely cold prior to glazing, then cook for 40 minutes at 350 degrees F, and turn up the heat to 425 degrees F for another 15 minutes. These timings are based on the ham being cold at room temperature, not refrigerator cold.

Steps:

• Put the gammon in a large, deep saucepan. Add the tied herbs, onion, carrots, celery, peppercorns and cloves. Pour over enough cold water to cover the meat, then bring to the boil, cover with a lid, and lower to a gentle simmer for 1 hr 15 mins. Turn off the heat and leave the ham to sit in the liquid for 30 mins.
• Remove from the liquid (this makes a delicious soup stock) and leave to cool until cold enough to handle. Peel off the thick layer of skin on the gammon to reveal a layer of fat. Discard the skin and score the fat in a criss-cross pattern with a sharp knife.
• Heat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Put the ham in a roasting tray lined with foil. Mix together the mustard, honey and sugar in a bowl, then generously brush half over the ham. Roast for 15 mins, then brush with the remaining glaze. Return to the oven for a further 20-30 mins or until sticky and brown. Leave to cool for 15 mins before carving into thick slices.