Nothing says Christmas quite like a glazed ham as the delicious centrepiece upon a festive table setting. And if you’re anything like us, nothing says post-Christmas like ham salad, ham sandwiches, and ham-whatever-else-we-can-think-of!
Of course the first step to cooking the perfect festive season ham is selecting a high-quality meat to feed your loved ones. Follow these tips for choosing the perfect ham:
- Always look for 100% Australian pork to guarantee the freshest produce and also supporting local farmers
- Bone-in ham (shoulder or leg) is the traditional Christmas ham and very easy to carve
- Look for ham which is a rich pink colour
- Glazing a ham is best suited to a whole leg ham as the shank end retains moisture which enhances flavour. The 6k – 7kg hams are the pick of the bunch as they neatly fit in the oven
- Opt for free range to further support the natural rearing process of animals.
And with your ham purchased, it’s time for all the trimmings….
Mike McEnearney of Kitchen By Mike has created this simple, yet impressive glazed ham recipe so you can enjoy a restaurant-worthy ham at home this festive season.
Happy Christmas cooking!
Glazed Christmas Ham Recipe with Cumberland Sauce
Ingredients
1 whole Free Range Ham Leg – Cooked
30 whole spice cloves
1 Jar of Hot English Mustard
150g Brown sugar
150ml Cumberland Sauce (recipe below)
Directions
- Pre heat oven 220c
- Remove the skin by placing your hand under the skin and sliding it between the fat and the skin, trim the fat off with a knife
- Cut a lattice in the fat taking caution not to cut into the meat
- Place a clove at each intersection
- Dust with mustard powder or if you are using mustard paste, rub it in
- Dust with sugar
- Bake on a cake rack sitting in a baking dish with a puddle of water
- Bake until the sugar has melted and lightly caramelised with a little burnt edges
- Remove from the oven and rest 10 mins
Cumberland Sauce
Ingredients
3 whole eshallots – Baby
1 whole orange – Juicing
1 whole lemon
15g ginger
125g Wine or Port – Cooking
250g red currant (jelly)
Directions
- Fine chop the shallots and blanch in hot water
- Using the zester, zest the orange and lemon in to fine strips and blanch also
- Cut the ginger into fine julienne and combine with the juice of both fruits
- Add all ingredients and simmer until half volume is a syrup texture
- Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper and allow to cool to tepid
