Orange, ginger beer & smoked sugar ham

Serves 3-4 with sides, but also 1-2 greedily (and for a day or so afterwards)

REMOVE a 750g joint of smoked gammon from its packaging and place it into a large pot. Empty in a litre of ginger beer and then add some water to cover the gammon.

With a vegetable peeler, peel off a few strips of skin from an orange and add to the pan, slice the orange and squeeze in the juice of one half. Now add two peeled and halved white onions to the pan along with two peeled garlic cloves, a small scattering of peppercorns, a cinnamon stick and some bay leaves.

Bring the pan to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 55 minutes. During this bubbling time, preheat your oven to 200°C and, in a small bowl, squeeze in the juice of the remaining orange half. Now add two tablespoons of smoked sugar (or light brown sugar), two teaspoons of mustard powder, half a teaspoon of ginger and a tablespoon of honey. Mix these together.

Line a roasting tray with some foil and, once the gammon’s boiling time is up, carefully move it from the hot liquid to the foillined tray. Spoon the sugar and mustard glaze over the joint until it’s well coated.

Cover the joint loosely but tightly with more foil and then slip in the hot oven for 15 minutes. After this time is up, remove from the oven, take the foil cover off, spoon any caramel juices in the pan over the ham and bake for a further 10 minutes.

After this time, remove from the oven and let it rest for about 15 minutes before carving and serving.