COOKING HAM - I know there have been a few threads, but pls, just some advice

[ChristmasDisco]

Do you buy supermarket or butcher, and if you buy from butcher and you want something off the bone, what do you ask for? Also, I usually use quite a sweet baste for roasting (honey, marmalade and OJ) and DH really likes this but was thinking of something different but obviously don't have the time to do a trial run, so I see quite a few people have been using coke. What does this taste like?

We usually get gammon joint from tescos but I always think they're a bit like plastic. Will pay a visit to butchers tomorrow and see what they've got methinks.

Thanks

I usually buy from supermarket but wanted to buy from butcher this year - just didn't get around to doing so. I buy almost all my meat from Waitrose as I find it much better quality (not pumped up with water etc) than most supermarkets, IMO.

I made Festive Ham from Feast (by Nigella) last year - it was cooked in cranberry juice I think and was delicious.

oohh mrs simm do you have a link for that or cut and paste the recipe?

I always do Delia's Citrus, Rum and Raisin sauce to go with my gammon.

It's very sweet and very tasty.

1 large, juicy orange

1 lime

3 fl oz (75 ml) dark rum

3 oz (75 g) raisins

4 oz (110 g) dark soft brown sugar

1 slightly rounded teaspoon arrowroot

All you do is remove the outer zest from the orange using a potato peeler so that you don't get any of the pith. Then pile the little strips on top of one another and, using a very sharp knife, cut them into really thin needle-sized strips. If you've got the orange peel piled up, and your knife is sharp, this is a lot easier than it sounds. Next, remove the zest from the lime, this time using a fine grater, and squeeze the juice from the lime and the orange.

Place all the sauce ingredients, except the arrowroot, into a small saucepan. Now whisk the arrowroot into the mixture and place the pan on to a gentle heat, whisking all the time until it starts to simmer. As soon as this happens, the sauce will change from opaque to clear, so then remove it from the heat and when it is cool enough, pour it into a serving dish, cover with clingfilm and chill until needed.

Carve the gammon into slices and spoon the sauce over it on a serving plate. I have been known to make double and have some in a jug/gravy boat too as it is always very popular with sweet toothed guests.

Just remebered I reduce the raisins to 1 - 2oz as 3oz is too much.

Fully Festive Ham Recipe:

(feeds 8-10 so adjust accordingly)

3.5kg gammon
2 litres cranberry juice
2 litres apple juice
2 cinnamon sticks, halved
2 onions, halved but not peeled
1 tablespoon allspice berries

For Cranberry glaze:
approx 30 cloves to stud ham
4 tablespoons cranberry jelly or 6 tbspns cranberry sauce
1 tbspn runny honey
1 tbspn english mustard powder
half tspn ground cinnamon

Put the gammon into a large sauce pan and cover with cold water. Bring to boil and then immediately drain and rinse the gammon in a colander which will get rid of any excess saltiness.

Rinse the saucepan and put gammon back in. Add all above ingredients (except those for the glaze). If fruit juices do not fully cover ham then top with water.

Bring to boil and cool at a fast simmer for 3.5 - 4 hours. Partially cover the ham with a lid if the liquid is boiling away and the top of the ham is getting dry.

Once cooked, remove ham from liquid and let it get cold on a board until its bearable to the touch.

Cut and peel the rind off the cooked ham, leaving behind a thin layer of white fat.

Preheat oven to GM7/220

Score the now trimmed fat into a diamond pattern with a sharp knife and stud each point with a clove

Heat the remaining glaze ingredients together in a saucepan until the jelly or sauce melts into the honey, mustard and cinnamon to make a smooth glaze. Let it bubble into a syrupy sauce: it needs to be thick enough not to run off the ham.

Sit the ham on a piece of foil on a roasting tin. Pour the glaze over the ham so that all scored fat is covered.

Put ham in oven and cook for 15 minutes or until fat is coloured and burnished by sugary glaze.

If you have let the ham get completely cold before glazing, you will need a good 40 minutes at GM4/180.

ham in coke sounds so awful doesn't it? But DH was drooling over Nigella on the telly last night so I suppose if it went wrong I would blame her and he'd be forgiving.

There are two versions of the recipe! I'm going to mix & match with treacle and dijon mustard, no breadcrumbs.

I'd second the fully festive ham - it is really lovely.

I order my ham from my local farmshop - don't think supermarket ham is as good to be honest.

can also boil the ham in cider (another Nigella recipe - it doesn't include glazing, though).

Can anyone help me with how long I can keep cooked ham for? If I go for the Fully Festive today, when will it have to be eaten by (assuming kept in fridge etc)?

Sorry for hijack

Sorry have been busy reading 'other threads' which have taken a while. I'm going to the butchers today to see what ham I can get and then will read the various glazes etc to see which one I think will be suitable for us. Thanks again.

Hassled-I would've thought if you cooked today it would be ready to bin on Thurs evening. Could be wrong though just my personal opinion.

I do a similar glaze to you oj, honey but i add dry mustard for a little kick.

I think we may be using mustard this time. It was a bit sickly sweet last time (which is why i'm looking for an alternative)

I boil mine in water/onions/celery/cloves/carrotts. Then i take off rind, score the fat in diamonds then clove it.

Then i smother it in english mustard and brown sugar and bake. Yummers.

I have done the cola ham (1 onion, peeled and halved and a 2 litre bottle of coke) but did not fancy the treacle glaze so just did my own version with a couple of teaspoons of honey, english mustard, demarara sugar and a dash of vinegar.
I have had a sneaky taste and it's absolutely delicious.
It was not an expensive gammon, just a co-op owbn brand, but it tastes great.

Have done the ham in coke as well, you won't go wrong with it.
DP says he would marry Nigella

My dad fancies Nigella, she is (in his words not mine) really fit. and [boak]

Thanks Mrs simm. Sounds fab

I have got a really small gammon, would i still need as much coke?? Does it make the ham go really dark? Is the recipe for the coke ham on here anywhere? Sorry for all the questions!!

I did this last year and am doing same this year, was gorgeous. I think the coke/cider/ginger ale whatever must just break down the meat in some way to make it tender - the sugar or the carbonated water?

Here is Nigella's ginger recipe Ivy-Alice. Having tried coco cola and ginger ale ,I now cook my gammon in Sains Vintage Cider Med Dry. Smells and tastes wonderful!

1 (12-pound) joint (mild cure boneless) ham
7 quarts dry ginger ale
1 cup chunky ginger preserves
2 tablespoons hot English mustard
1/2 cup soft dark brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
Cook's Note: If you can not get hold of ginger preserves, you can use ordinary orange marmalade and add 1 teaspoon of dry, ground ginger.

Place the joint in a large pan over the hob, or burner, and add 7 quarts of dry ginger ale. Bring the pan to the boil then lower the heat slightly so that it keeps bubbling steadily for 4 1/2 hours.
Towards the end of the 4 1/2 hours, preheat the oven to 425 degrees F and begin the glaze.

In a bowl, add 1 cup of chunky ginger preserves. Stir in 2 tablespoons of hot English mustard. Add 1/2 a cup of soft, dark brown sugar and sprinkle in 1/2 a teaspoon of ground cloves.

After 4 1/2 hours, gently lift the ham out of the pan and place on a foil-lined baking tray. Carefully cut away the skin, leaving a thin layer of fat. There is no need to score the surface, simply slap on the glaze and place the tray with the ham into the oven for 20 minutes.

Serve hot or cold.

Recipe Summary
Difficulty: Easy
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 4 hours 50 minutes
Yield: 8 to 10 servings

Right I bought a gammon joint if anyone has had both would they say festive or coca cola ham.

Oh dear.......having been a huge fan of Fully Festive Ham for the last 4 years.........I have just tried Nigella's Aromatic Christmas Ham and not only is it quicker to do, it is also (IMO) very tasty and a huge rival to the FF Ham. The recipe for those who want it is:

Smoked gammon (I used unsmoked and tis still delicious)
250ml red wine
water to cover
1 large onion, halved
2 cloves garlic (unpeeled)
1 head fennel, halved
2 star anise
1 x tablespoon coriander seed
1 x tablespoon fennel seed
1 x tablespoon mixed peppercorns

For the glaze
approx 20 cloves
4 tablespoons cranberry or redcurrant jelly
half teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
half teaspoon red wine vinegar

Put all ingredients, except those for glaze, into a large pan, adding water until the ham is covered.

turn on heat and bring to boil. Turn down to simmer and partially cover. Nigella says cook for 3.5 hours but thats based on a 6.5kg gammon with knuckle bone intact.....mine was a mere 1.2kg and I cooked on the basis of 55 mins per kg plus 30 mins).

Preheat oven to 200C/GM6. Lift ham gently out of hot liquid, sit on a board and let it cool enough so that you can touch it without burning yourself.

Strip off rind, leaving a little of the fat layer and score a diamond pattern in the remaining fat. Stud the points of each diamond with a clove.

Put cranberry or redcurrant jelly, cinnamon, paprika and red wine vinegar in a small saucepan and whisk together over a high heat, bringing it to the boil. Let it bubble away for 5 mins so that glaze reduced to syrupy consistency in order to coat the ham.

Place ham on a roasting tin lined with foil. Pour glaze over the ham and then put in oven for 15 mins or until glaze has caught and burnished. Take ham out of oven and sit on wooden board for 2 -3 hours before carving.

Make ahead tip: cook the ham, cover loosely in a "tent" of foil and keep chilled for up to a week.

Enjoy