Hamming it Up!
All those ham toasties and samboes enjoyed all year never get the praise & awe of a Christmas Ham, yet here we are again for another year of vinegary rinsed pillow cases & decisions about cloves and glazing. A glossy big glazed ham can make the festive table celebration jaw dropping as a centrepiece. It’s about tradition, the spiced sweet smells, the impressiveness, the versatility, and of course, it’s delicious.
My ham glaze combines maple syrup, Dijon mustard, ground cloves, ground fennel, orange marmalade and a little brown sugar. The ingredients are mixed together and slathered over the scored fat. In a hot oven then turn down the heat and cook gently to get the sugars to bronze over an hour, and while cooling, continual basting of the syrup over the ham to maximise the sticky shine from every angle
If your ham has a bone you know it’s been grown in Australia. Bone-in is great for presentation and flavour, but can get a bit tricky with carving. Bone-out is more convenient as it’s easier to carve and the size is easier to manage, but you lose a bit of the flavour with the removal of the bone.
To prepare for glazing, prepare your strongest oven tray with a double layer of foil & baking paper. Unwrapping the ham, onto a kitchen board, place the ham skin side up. At the opposite end to the hock, feel with your hands, peel under the rind around the bottom and each side of the ham about half way, then peel the rind back till the bend of the hock bone. I like to score a zig zag pattern here for decoration. The rind can be all removed, and I like to lay this in the base of the oven tray and place the ham on top to cook. Scoring diamonds in the fat, half a centimetre deep allows for the glaze to burnish the lovely crispy fat. My ham glaze combines maple syrup, Dijon mustard, ground cloves, ground fennel, orange marmalade and a little brown sugar. The ingredients are mixed together and slathered over the scored fat. In a hot oven then turn down the heat and cook gently to get the sugars to bronze over an hour, and while cooling, continual basting of the syrup over the ham to maximise the sticky shine from every angle. While cooling, prepare your serving platter. A sturdy holder, lined with a little baking paper for easy cleaning later. Lay the ham on the platter, and decorate the base with any or all of the following. Fresh rosemary sprigs, bunches of grapes, sliced oranges, cherry tomatoes, sliced pineapple, mango cheeks and wrap the hock with a cuff of baking paper, and a beautiful ribbon stolen from under the tree.