A big ham

[Letshopeitsagoodonewithoutanytear]

Costs around £20? Planning on doing one on Christmas Eve for the first time. How do I cook it, what do we eat it with etc?

And we have braised red cabbage and mashed potatoes with it.

I boil mine in full fat Cola then make a marinade of honey, soy sauce, tomato paste, lemon or lime juice, smoked paprika and glaze it for a times in a hot oven to caramelise the criss crossed skin. It's sticky and delicious. Everybody loves my ham and I get requests for it all through the year. Is at the point not where if we start a fb page for any family parties, the first question is "will you/your mum be doing that ham again?"

Work out cooking timings. I always use unsmoked ham. Bring to the boil, drain and add fresh boiling water to getbrid of some of the saltiness. Half an hour before cooking time ends, drain and trim off any rind, leaving just a thin layer of fat, or none. Baste with maple syrup. Get a few rosemary twigs and pierce through the ham. You will probably need to make holes with a knife or skewer first. Back in the oven for 40 minutes (because you take it out regularly, so not just 30). Remove every 10 minutes or so to baste with more maple syrup. Serve with whatever you like and make sure you have enough for leftovers.

Bake in the oven covered loosely with foil. 20 minutes before the end of cooking time, strip,off the rind (carefully), score the fat into diamond shapes with a sharp knife, and brush with a glaze made of orange marmalade, brown sugar, mustard and a very little Allspice (not to be confused with mixed spice).

Back in the oven, minus foil, for the rest of the time.
The smell is gloriously Christmassy.

"Why does the fact it's Christmas mean you can't have potato salad and coleslaw?
Not everyone wants meat and two veg type meals.

We are having the cherry coke served options of with salads, bread rolls, crunchy red cabbage, homemade coleslaw, halved jacket potatoes with sour cream and chives, etc.

Mind we don't go for the traditional Christmas foods. Christmas Day meal out is a curry. 🤷 "

Meat and two veg?! How very dare you? 😅

What you've described is summer ham, except for the cherry coke shite, that's vile all year round and I won't have it said otherwise! Grim

We always have a ham roast on Christmas Eve. Everyone loves it. The Nigella recipe works really well but my mum always used to tip whatever old jam or marmalade she had in the fridge. Full fat ginger beer works too. We use black treacle and mustard on the glaze.

Served with salads Christmas Eve buffet. Or if a hot meal preferred its lovely wot roast sweet potatoes. Cauliflower cheese. Savoy cabbage. Redcurrant gravy or even an old fashioned Cumberland sauce.