A glazed ham is perhaps my strongest Christmas memory. My Nana would be up at the crack of dawn on Christmas Day to begin preparations for the day ahead. The ham would be glazed and roasted early so that we could enjoy warm ham sandwiches for breakfast, yum yum!!
I love this combination of ham, pineapple and spices – it is a recipe I came across a number of years ago by Tony Tan in Gourmet Traveller.
1/2 leg of ham
1 pineapple, peeled and cut into wedges
cloves for studding
Glaze
1 cup pineapple juice
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tbsp Bundaberg rum
2 tbsp dijon mustard
1 tsp each ground coriander and ground fennel
1/2 tsp each ground cinnamon and chilli powder
Method:
Preheat oven to 180C.
For the glaze: combine all ingredients in a saucepan and stir over medium heat to dissolve to the sugar. Bring to the boil and simmer for a few minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside whilst you prepare the ham.
For the ham: carefully remove the ham skin, leaving as much fat as intact as possible. Score the fat, either in a diamond pattern or slice across the ham, being careful not to cut all the way through to the meat. Stud with cloves.
Place the ham in a large roasting pan, and scatter the pineapple around the base of the pan. Brush the ham and pineapple liberally with the glaze, then place in the oven and roast for about 1 1/2 hours, basting every 30 mins, until golden and caramelised.
Remove from the oven and keep warm until ready to carve. Serve on a platter with the roasted pineapple.
Notes:
For a classic marmalade glaze try this recipe by the Australian Women’s Weekly.
Our ham of choice is prepared and smoked by Metcalf Quality Meats in Evans Head. It is a really beautiful product and hard to beat. Their bacon is particularly good too. You can contact them on (02) 6682 4678.
In Yamba, contact Locke’s Butchery on (02) 6646 2786.