Baked Guinness and muscovado ham.
serves 6 cooking time 2hrs 40 mins +15 mins resting time
1.5kg boned smoked gammon (we prefer unsmoked)
4 tablesp muscovado sugar
1 tablesp powdered mustard
250 ml bottled Guinness
3 cloves
If your gammon joint is NOT pre-soaked, it will be very salty; you can simmer the joint in a large pan of water for 30mins before you start the recipe. Discard the water afterwards.
Preheat oven to Gas 4/180C/350F. Remove rind from gammon, leaving fat on. Score a criss cross pattern on the fat with a knife.
Put sugar and mustard in a small bowl and stir in 1 tablesp of the Guinness to make a paste. Rub half the paste over the gammon surface, retaining the rest for later.
Pour the remaining Guinness into a roasting tin, add cloves, and the prepared gammon. Cover with foil and bake for 2 hrs.
Take gammon from the oven, remove foil, brush with the remaining sugar paste. Return gammon to the oven uncovered for the rest of the cooking time. When ready, remove to rest for 15 mins while you make the gravy.
Strain the roasting juices and skim off excess fat. Thicken with cornflour if wished. I do this by pouring the juices into a pan, mix cornflour and water in a cup and pour into the boiling liquid, and stir continuously until thickened. Reduce to a simmer until ready to serve.
It's quite a stong grown-up flavour, but the cold gammon is incredibly tasty too. It is lovely and moist because it is sitting in the Guinness while it cooks. It is quite forgiving too, if guests are a bit late it won't spoil.