Christmas Ham

You can’t go past a traditional ham for Christmas, especially if you’ve got plenty of visitors.

This apricot, clove, cinnamon and ginger wine glaze adds a warming, sweet and spicy flavour to the salty, savoury ham. Easy to put together, this flavourful glaze requires minimal effort and delivers maximum flavour. A crowd pleaser for sure, it’s just as good (if not better) as cold leftovers the next day.

Ingredients:

8-10 kg ham on the bone

Glaze:

100g Westgold butter

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 cups ginger wine

3-4 cinnamon sticks

1 ½-2 teaspoons whole cloves 4 teaspoons mustard seeds Juice of 2 lemons

2 thumbs fresh ginger Fresh ground pepper

To serve:

200g gourmet dried apricots (soaked in boiling water) Watercress

Method:

Preheat oven to 180°C. Remove ham from the packaging and carefully cut the skin around the hock bone and push your fingers between the fat and the skin, being careful to leave the layer of fat on the ham to keep it moist. Score the ham with a sharp knife, being careful not to cut too deep.

To make the glaze:

Put all ingredients in a saucepan except the butter. Simmer with the lid on for 20-30 minutes to infuse. Remove from the heat and whisk in the butter.

Put the ham in a large roasting dish and pour over the glaze. Place in the oven for 20-30 minutes until the fat has turned golden brown.

Turn down oven to 140°C, re-baste the glaze over the ham. If during the baking process the glaze starts to reduce too much, add ½ cup water to the roasting pan. Bake for a further 1 ½ hours.

Remove ham from the oven and re-glaze. Add the strained dried apricots and coat with the glaze. Bake for another 30 minutes.

Remove from the oven and allow the ham to rest for 20-30 minutes before carving. Remove the spices from the dish and discard. Place the ham on a large platter. Spoon over the glaze and apricots and serve with watercress to the side.

Note: don’t eat the cloves!