… so here it comes… twenty-eleven… two-thousand-and-eleven.. two-oh-one-one… however you say it, here it comes, relentless in it’s stubborn way of trampling all over your tired and alcohol-fuelled brain and delicate, ‘why am I such a failure?‘ emotions…
…’oh yes‘ you promise yourself, this year will be a better year, you will lose weight, you will spend less and save more… you will finally get round to changing the light-bulb in the oven hood extractor…
… or… to HELL with all that crap… be good and kind to others… treat all living things with the respect you’d wish upon yourself and eat lovely things that make you happy…
… it’s now Sunday and we’ve just come out of a four day alcohol-fuelled fugg into a brighter, better world… somehow we managed to spend most of our waking hours playing a board-games marathon in between eating copious amounts of cake and chocolates whilst drinking our way through most of the Northern hemisphere’s supply of grain and grape based intoxins… all whilst nursing a dearest friend through heartache… which is why this ham is dedicated to her… I know it’s an unusual dedication, but it was sweet and delicious, just like her…
Honey and Mustard Glazed Ham
… so ever since ordering my ham a couple of weeks ago i’ve been scouring through my books and the internet for a suitable glazed ham recipe… i’ve never cooked one before and always thought they looked so festive, so I wanted to give it a try… most of the recipes are pretty much the same… soak, boil, glaze then bake… it’s all about what you boil it in and what you glaze it with that makes the difference. I wanted to boil it in either cider or ginger beer a la Nigella’s coca-cola boiled ham but everytime I went to the supermarket I forgot to pick up the fizz… so it was just water this time… anyway here’s what I did and it was totally moist and tender whilst amazingly having that ‘slow-cooked’ taste and texture too…
for the boil
a ham (I think it’s called a horseshoe gammon)
cold water
1 medium onion
1 large carrot
1 star anise
a teaspoon of fennel seeds
for the glaze
honey
whole-grain mustard
– place the ham in a very large pan and cover with cold water and leave to soak over-night… this isn’t always needed nowadays as the preparation method for butchers has changed over the years… but the soaking draws out any excess salt… I soaked my ham anyway as I thought it wouldn’t hurt and in fact i’m sure it added to the moistness and fabulous texture… and it’s hardly like hard work…
– the next day, tip the water out and put fresh cold water in with the quartered onion, roughly chopped carrot and the spices… the star anise and fennel seeds add a wonderful warm but subtle aniseed taste to the flesh but also make the house smell amazing and less like your boiling a ham…
– bring to the boil, then turn down the heat and simmer gently for 1 hour per kilo
– once this process is finished, remove the ham from the pot (keep the liquid to make a tasty gravy) and let it cool slightly before removing the top layer of rind. Score the remaining fat and smother it in your honey and mustard mix… many people place cloves in each diamond shape on the flesh but I honestly think the cloves totally overpower the ham flavour and i’m not mad about them anyway… of course this is your choice.
– bake in the oven for 40 – 50 mins until the honey glaze turns dark golden, if not a little black… keep your eye on it though because you don’t want it to totally char… I removed it from the oven after 30 mins, covered it in foil and left it whilst I made my mash then poured on some of the boiling juice before placing it back into the oven for a further 30 mins… god it was good!
eat and of course enjoy!
Awe – aren;t you sweet! Bet your friend loved this … and can I please get an invite to your next new year celebration, it sounds a much better way to see the year in to me ;0)
Happy New Year to you Dom. Hope its a good one for you.
I love the dedication too, have a friend with heartache too, I can see why you did this, I am definitely making this, I am not a lover of sweet and savoury foods with the exception of the glaze on a ham, thank you.
We have one ham left from the pig we had slaughtered last January. Will give this a try sometime this week when my daughter comes back from school again (she has a little part-time job at school). It will be her birthday dinner, she turned 21 today. She loves ham and sweet potatoes, so there is our meal.
The finest resolution , IMHO, is to eat, drink, be merry, and take care of those we love … looks like you've taken care of all those in the first hours of your New Year, Dom. Good lad!
As for the ham … oh! A ham, a ham with glistening glaze. A ham, a ham to eat for days! A ham, a ham a poor pig's lot is to give up a ham for my soup pot!
That is the prettiest ham I've ever seen! Hamming it up for the camera also, LOL!!! I haven't had a ham since Easter, I think I'll work one into this weeks menu, thanks for the great idea and the recipe! Happy to hear you had great holidays – pinot noir is good to serve with ham, enjoy. And I hope your friend feels better soon.
Mary
o.k….that's it…ham is on the menu this week here at farmhouse…looks so good…
happy new year, my friend
looking forward to a continued friendship in 2011….
kary and teddy
xxx
I'd be happy with a dedication like that and I'm sure your friend was.
I do a similar recipe from bbc wesbite that's a Hairy Bikers recipe and you cook the ham in apple and pineapple juices with fruit and spices. It's lovely and fruity!!
You can't beat a good piece of ham. Enjoy and Happy New Year
I agree with Susan! Repeat after me Dom, 2011, it's gonna be heaven (or at least, that was our mantra on Friday night). And you surely can't fail to be happy with this beautiful ham in your kitchen (or the memories thereof!)
I love the addition of Anise, I bet the smell was amazing in the house. God bless pigs for having such devine meat..mmm ham…baaacon…ok moving on, Happy New Year!
Hope you have a good New Year. I think I've achieved my equivalent of the 'must change the light bulb in the cooker hood' – I now have a new tube in my fluorescent light. I think it originally died 18 months ago…..
The ham looks amazing – good on you for tackling it, I've never, ever made a baked ham! This might tempt me though.
Ham looks scrumptious Dom – wonderful for soaking up the extra alcohol!
I hope your friend is doing better now, at least she knows she has wonderful friends, who are prepared to brave a hangover for her – what more could a girl ask for???
Have a fantastic 2011.
thanks all for the lovely comments, the ham really was very very good… and delicious cold the next day….
and yes, i am a lovely friend… it's official!
Happy New Year Dom. Sounds like you had a great one. 🙂
Yeah, I need to get rid of the holiday weight asap.
What a beautiful looking ham. And you're such a nice friend.
Ha ha, I have a dead bulb in my cooker hood almost permanently and it's my new year's resolution to stock up on them.
We did ham too on NYE (in Nigella style cherry coke then glazed with apricot jam and smoked paprika) and I'm really enjoying it this week. I'm with you on the studded cloves too, unless you want to channel Fanny Cradock they're best left out!!
By the way, yes it is me who organised Forever Nigella and I've been so horribly busy over Christmas I didn't manage to reply to your email yet! Have returned to the land of the living and the blogging today…
Sounds delish, I love a good glazed ham, particularly cold with chips & pickles. In fact probably one of my fave parts of Christmas!
happy to see you at farmhouse today
looking forward to 2011 with you too
kary and teddy
🙂
Hi Dom, thanks for visiting and for the pasta water tip, I totally forgot about that one!
Your new year's sounds so much fun – and what better salve to heartache to have a whole ham dedicated to your honour. Looks delish too – that crust!
x