What to have with Christmas Ham?

[CosmicMonkey]

Having decided to deviate from the usual chicken for a change this year we have settled on a Christmas ham with mustard crust. Problem is I am not sure what to have with it sides wise.

If you have ham what veg do you tend to cook, should there be stuffing? Also do I do gravy or some different sauce?

Can you tell I am pretty clueless when it comes to ham!

We always have turkey & ham then you can just have all the regular sides.

We have with sweet potato chips for me and DH and pasta for DD (as she doesn't like any spuds at all).
I cook it in the oven, well covered in tin foil for about 4 hours on 160 degrees, as a liquid I use pineapple juice and water and add star anise, cinnamon, whole cloves, juniper berries, dried blackberries and black pepper.
After it's been cooked and it's nice and falling apart soft, I remove it from the pan and discard the liquid. Then I marinate it for few hours in any marinade you like (left-over pineapple juice with mustard and black pepper or teryaki sauce or honey and mustard with some ground cloves and pepper). Bake it on 200 - 220 degrees for about 15 minutes and let it rest.
I use a lazy sauce for my ham as I would sometimes finish the ham during the weekend when I don't have the time to tinker around.
I cook water with strong beef stock (Marco White's Knorr jelly things), add onion and a garlic clove, juniper berries, black pepper and a splash of red wine. When it starts boiling, I reduce the heat and add flour mixed with a bit of water and then add it to the stock and reduce it. Then I would add cream, red currant jelly (or any red berry jam which isn't too sweet) and mustard.
Strain the sauce. I would normally serve the ham with the sauce and either potatoes or pasta with cranberry sauce and some green beans.

To eat on Christmas Day?
I do ours on Christmas Eve and we have it with egg and chips then and also have it cold sliced on Boxing Day with all the normal bits - cheeses, pickles etc.

If we were to have it on Christmas Day I'd probably do baked cheesy leeks, braised red cabbage, peas and green beans, roast parsnips and roast potatoes. Dd would demand Yorkshire puddings too.

Forgot to add that I make the leeks with enough cheese sauce that gravy is optional.

With the ham you have chosen to do, I would serve stuffing as well, and you could offer things like apple sauce or dessert apple wedges fried in butter. You can serve ham hot with a gravy, Knorr do ham stock cubes to help with that, and you could add some wine to it. Or you could stir in some cranberry jelly for a more fruity sauce. People can have gravy or not.

We have gammon in Guinness on Christmas eve, the gammon sits in the roasting tin with the Guinness around it and there is muscovado sugar and mustard powder in it as well. I thicken the Guinness gravy with cornflour to serve with the hot sliced meat.

You can do all the usual veg, we just have mashed potato and broccoli with ours as it's just Christmas eve dinner, and will be having the more extensive meal on Christmas day.

We always have cauliflower cheese and pineapple on the side, with small roasties, it's a complete winner. I stick cloves in the ham, baste in in apple juice and cinnamon, then do a quick brush with maple syrup for the last 10 mins. Delish 😋

Last year we had baked ham on xmas eve with mashed potato and braised red cabbage (I did this in the slow cooker). Obviously with mash you need plenty of sauce - MIL tells me that traditionally you should serve white sauce with parsley in it, but personally I don't like parsley sauce so did a light chicken gravy which worked well. The braised red cabbage added some liquid too. I think I served some steamed carrots as well - the sides can be quite sweet as as ham is fairly salty.

I'd have either cauliflower cheese and all the regular sides or a cheesy potato gratin instead of roast potatoes.

I'd probably do mustard mash or roasties with cauliflower & broccoli cheese and honey mustard roast parsnips & carrots (we like mustard!!).

For actual Xmas dinner I'd do Savoy cabbage with fresh peas/asparagus/other greens and a jug of cheese sauce if ppl wanted extra. The addition of star anise, bit of nutmeg in the apple juice would be nice too. I've found that if I steep the ham in water for a few hours before I cook it, it takes the salty edge off. Sounds lovely OP, I like it!

Braised red cabbage with cider and apples here:
www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/3064/braised-red-cabbage-with-cider-and-apples

We have our ham cold on christmas morning for breakfast with eggs and branston pickle. Then again on Boxing Day, with bubble and squeak and more pickles!

I do not eat meat but my family seems to love it!

I am extremely fond of really good mash.

Roast some onions and plenty of parsnips.

Have you included apple sauce?

Some people I don't like red cabbage.

I would find it difficult to make a good gravy with this.

We have gammon on Christmas Eve, tend to have it with jkt pot and red cabbage, as these can cook alongside the ham in the oven, so it's a stress free option.

Also love it with dauphinois and green veg, or with cauliflower cheese and petit pois.

I should add, the dcs don't like red cabbage so I go all out and crack open a tin of sweet corn for them

www.deliaonline.com/recipes/international/european/british/cumberland-sauce Cumberland sauce, roasted vegetables, baked carrots (baked in a foil parcel) and sprouts cooked with bacon and chestnuts in goose fat.

Wow, thanks everyone. I posted and then went straight to butcher to order said ham and came back to all your replies.

Yes, it will be Xmas dinner as my mum is doing turkey Xmas eve and like I mentioned don't want to do chicken again.

Thanks for all your suggestions - difficulty now is to pick what to do from them all!

We always have ham with mash and parsley sauce.

Lots of mash and parsley sauce with loads of parsley, not the measly two tablespoons the recipes often say.

If I'm serving It cold after the day, I often do it with a big macaroni pie (lots of cheese, eggs, milk and macaroni and baked in the oven - it's delish - and my own coleslaw, which is red or white cabbage sliced very thinly and chopped, plus onion, carrot, apple and celery, all chopped very small, and all moistened with just a enough mayonnaise to bind it - NOT swimming in the stuff.
This combination always goes down very well. There is never any macaroni pie left!

I always make this red cabbage to have with ham. Keeps well in the freezer and reheat in the microwave.

www.deliaonline.com/recipes/international/european/british/traditional-braised-red-cabbage-with-apples