In The Centre #11 | The Ham
With a rosemary, honey and orange glaze. Plus the two best sides.
Hi there
Trying to keep things succinct in this one, as I know we’re all a bit busy at the moment. Still, I do think you should at least have a quick scroll …
BECAUSE GLAZED HAM IS THE BEST TRADITIONAL MEAL OF THE FESTIVE PERIOD AND ALL THE DETAILS FOR AN EXCELLENT VERSION OF IT ARE SET OUT BELOW.
And breathe.
Although also
THE REASON IT’S SUCH A GOOD MEAL IS BECAUSE THIS IS THE ONE WHEN YOU GET TO SERVE THE TWO BEST SIDES.
Braised red cabbage and boulangere potatoes, in case you’re in any doubt. Happily, I’ve included recipes for each of those too.
I mean, I could just Google that sort of thing.
Sure. Go for it. Although, for what it’s worth there are a handful tricks and tips in each recipe, which IMO take them to the very top tier, without unnecessary faff.
That’s it. The recipes are below the paywall. With all the gift buying you’re doing for other people, why not treat yourself to something that’ll keep on giving for another twelve months?…
Have a great Christmas, Ed
A few things to think about
‘Gammon’ = meat from the rear leg of a pig, cured, uncooked; ‘Ham’ = the same piece of meat, once cooked.
Festive recipes often suggest you buy a bone-in joint. But in my experience these are not actually that easy to stumble across. And I live in an embarrassingly well-resourced area for good ingredients. Basically, a boned and rolled joint is totally fine. Easier for storing and carving, too.
When buying my gammon for this post, I panicked in the face of an impatient butcher and bought a sensible-sized half joint (as we are only 3 people, and 2-ish kg of meat would cover a number of meals). Man I regret it. The larger, full-sized joints (3.5-4.5kg where there’s no bone) are so joyous to serve and carve, and can be repurposed multiple times: Sandwiches, of course; ham, egg and chips; my stilton and ham gnocchi ‘Mac n cheese’ etc etc.
It’s rarely necessary to soak an unsmoked gammon in cold water. I think brines in ye olden days must’ve been more aggressive. Check with the butcher and go for it if you want to play it safe. But also, panic if you don’t have the time.
Gently does it and take it slow — when you simmer the joint, it should be in something be more akin to a warm, occasionally undulating bath than a vigorous jacuzzi. More on this below.
Save the water you cook the pork in. Boil it to reduce it by half while you’re finishing the meal. There’ll. be loads of it, and it makes THE BEST soup. Use it for this roast tomato, fennel seed and squash one, for example.
When roasting, use a small roasting tin (or other oven proof dish) that just about holds the meat, with not too much surface area around it (thus the puddle of glaze is not cooked/burnt away).
You must let the pork rest and cool between simmering and roasting. Otherwise that core temperature gets too high, too quickly and for too long. And then your ham will be too dry, rather than lovely and succulent.
It’ll take about 25-30 minutes of roasting to get a lovely colour. Baste 2-3 times over that time.
If your ham is too narrow to stand upright on its own in the roasting tin, prop it up with a potato!
See: potatoes = useful
The Recipe(s)
Rosemary, honey and orange-glazed ham (plus a ‘jus’ to go with)
Braised red cabbage (and beetroot)
Boulangere potatoes
