22 November 2010

FAVOURITE GLAZED HAM WITH ORANGES

Cooked hams are improved by very slowly heating them in the oven and glazing with juice, sugar and spice to give extra sweetness. Choose a ham on the bone, or for really easy carving a ‘champagne’ ham with almost all the bones removed which is far chunkier and rounder than the traditional ham.

• 1 whole cooked ham on the bone (6kg to 9kg)

For the glaze: * 1 cup brown sugar * 1 tablespoon cardamom * 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard * 1 1/2 cups fresh orange juice

For the garnish: * Sugar syrup made with 2 cups water and 1 cup granulated sugar * 3 oranges * 3 tablespoons cloves

Carefully cut around the skin at the shank end of the ham, leaving about 6cm on the bone. Remove the skin from the ham by sliding your fingers under the skin to loosen it, leaving a good coating of fat on the ham. With a sharp knife score the surface of the fat into small even diamonds. Place the ham in a large baking dish and pour over one cup of the orange juice. Put the ham in an oven pre-heated to 160°C and cook for about 15 minutes per kilogram. (Hams are generally between 6kg and 9kg.) About 15 minutes before the total cooking time, remove the ham from the oven and turn the heat up to 200°C. Mix the sugar, cardamom and mustard together with the remaining orange juice and spread this over the ham. Place in the oven and cook for the final 10-15 minutes so the skin is nicely glazed. Remove and decorate with the oranges and cloves. To make the orange garnish, bring the sugar and water to a simmer, making absolutely certain all the sugar is dissolved before the syrup boils. Allow the syrup to boil for 20 minutes to reduce and thicken. Cut the oranges into thin slices with the skin on, and drop them carefully into the syrup. Poach for 5 minutes and leave in the syrup to cool. The ham can be done well ahead, but keep refrigerated until serving and it will last for ten days at least when wrapped in a damp ham cloth.

Recipe by Lauraine Jacobs fro Christmas