Ginger Honey Ham With Christmas Spiced Plums Food

SPICED GINGER-GLAZED HAM

Steps:

• Put the gammon in a large pan and cover with 2 litres of ginger ale. Top up with water to cover the joint, if you need to. Add the whole allspice berries and bring to a boil. Turn the heat down to low, and simmer gently, covered, for 2½ hrs. Top up with water, if you need to, while it's simmering.
• Drain the ham and leave until it's cool enough to handle while you make the glaze. Put the remaining ginger ale in a pan with the sugar, grated ginger and crushed allspice. Simmer, uncovered, for 20-25 mins until syrupy.
• Heat the oven to 190C/170C fan/gas 5. Remove the skin from the ham, leaving a layer of fat, then score the fat in a criss-cross pattern. Transfer the ham to a foil-lined roasting tin, and brush over half the glaze. Roast for 15 mins, then glaze with the remaining syrup. Increase the temperature to 200C/180C fan/gas 6 and roast for a further 15-20 mins until you get a sticky golden crust. Leave to cool for 15 mins before carving. Drizzle over more glaze from the tin to serve, if you like. Can be made ahead and chilled for up to four days.

GINGER-HONEY HAM WITH CHRISTMAS-SPICED PLUMS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350°F
• Prep the ham by trimming away any excess fat, leaving about a 1/4-inch layer all over
• Place the ham, cut-side down, on a baking sheet and cover the ham with aluminum foil and bake for an hour
• Meanwhile, place all the ingredients for the glaze in a bowl and whisk
• Remove the ham from the oven after an hour and increase the oven temperature to 425°F
• Discard the foil and using a sharp knife, score a 1-inch-wide diamond pattern over the entire ham
• Stud each diamond pattern with a clove
• Place all the ingredients for the plums in a bowl and mix well
• Brush the ham with the glaze, and place the spiced plums around the ham
• Return it to the oven, and bake uncovered for 30 minutes
• Remove from the oven, and give the plums a good stir, cover the whole baking tray with aluminum foil and return to the oven for a further 30 minutes
• Let the ham rest 20 to 30 minutes before slicing
• Serving the juicy spiced plums over the baked ham
• MORE: Clodagh McKenna's Roast Rosemary and Garlic-Infused Beef with Celeriac and Crispy Roasties Clodagh McKenna's Pork Loin Filled with Butternut Squash, Hazelnuts and Sage on Whole Shallots Clodagh McKenna's Tarragon, Mustard and Honey Roast Chicken on Parsnips

SPICED POMEGRANATE & ORANGE GLAZED HAM

Steps:

• Put the gammon in a large pan with the bay leaves, star anise, cloves, 6 allspice berries and 8 peppercorns. Pour over the pomegranate juice to cover the gammon (you may need to top up with water). Add one of the orange halves, then bring to a simmer and partially cover with a lid. Cook for 2 hrs 30 mins, topping up with water as needed to keep the gammon covered. Leave to cool in the liquid for 20 mins, then lift out and place on a baking tray lined with baking parchment.
• Heat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Cut the skin off the gammon, leaving a 1cm layer of fat. Score lines into the fat at ½cm intervals using knife. Bake for 15 mins until the fat is starting to crisp.
• Meanwhile, crush the remaining allspice berries and peppercorns with a pestle and mortar. Combine the crushed spices with the molasses, mustard, sugar and 1 tsp orange juice. Remove the gammon from the oven and brush over the molasses mixture. Arrange the orange slices over the gammon, securing them with some cloves.
• Turn the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4 and return the gammon to the oven for another 20 mins. Brush the honey over the orange slices and bake for another 5-10 mins, or until the glaze is bubbling. Leave to rest for at least 20 mins, then serve with bay leaves and pomegranate seeds scattered over, if you like.

GINGER BEER & TANGERINE GLAZED HAM

Steps:

• Put the gammon, onion, tangerine zest and star anise in a large pan. Pour over all but 100ml of the ginger beer and, if necessary, top up with water so the gammon is just covered. Bring to the boil, skim the surface to remove any fat, reduce to a simmer, then cover and cook for 3-3½ hrs or until the meat is tender. When the gammon is cooked, remove it from the pan. Reserve the cooking liquor and use to cook lentils (see 'Goes well with'). Cool, cover and chill at this stage if you want to prepare ahead - bring back to room temp before continuing.
• Heat oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7. Carefully cut the skin off the gammon, making sure to leave a layer of fat, then lightly score the fat into diamond shapes. Place in a roasting tin lined with foil. Warm the honey, mustard and reserved 100ml ginger beer in a pan and boil until it thickens. Spoon over the fat, then stud a clove into the middle of each diamond. Bake for 20-25 mins or until the glaze has caramelised. If you did prepare ahead, add another 10 mins to the cooking time. Slice and eat warm or cold.

HONEY-GINGER GLAZED HAM

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325°.
• Remove ham from refrigerator 1 hour before cooking to bring to room temperature.
• Put ham in a roasting pan and place on a rack.
• Using a knife, score fat on top in a diamond pattern.
• Mix remaining ingredients in a bowl.
• Brush about 3/4 of honey mixture on ham with a pastry brush.
• Bake 2 hours, basting with remaining mixture and pan drippings every 45 minutes.
• Remove from oven and serve warm or at room temperature.

STICKY GINGER-GLAZED HAM HOCKS

Steps:

• Put the ham hocks in a large saucepan with the star anise, peppercorns, bay and orange slices, then pour over the ginger beer. If there's not quite enough liquid to cover the hocks, top up with water until they are submerged. Bring to a simmer, then reduce the heat so only a few bubbles break the surface now and then. Partially cover with a lid, bring to the boil and cook for 1 hr 30 mins, topping up with water to keep the hocks submerged as needed. When ready, the meat should feel tender but should not fall away from the bone.
• Remove the ham hocks from the stock to a board using tongs and leave until cool enough to handle. Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Combine the mustard, sugar, allspice, stem ginger and ginger syrup in a bowl.
• When the hocks have cooled slightly, use a sharp knife to cut away the skin, leaving a layer of fat. Put the ham hocks on a tray lined with foil and bake for 30 mins until the fat starts to crisp.
• Remove the ham hocks from the oven and brush over half of the spiced ginger glaze. Return to the oven for another 20-30 mins, then brush with more glaze every 10 mins until the ham hocks have a thick, sticky crust and the meat is tender. Serve warm or leave to go cold and eat with gherkins or slaw, bread and mustard. Will keep covered in the fridge for up to five days or frozen for three months.

CHRISTMAS HAM WITH STICKY GINGER GLAZE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to fan 160C/ conventional 180C/gas 4. Weigh the ham and calculate the cooking time at 25 minutes per 500g. Scatter the onion, ginger, thyme and cloves over the base of a large, deep roasting tin. Put the soaked ham on top and add water to 3-5cm deep. Cover the whole ham and tin with two or three layers of foil (making a tent over the ham to allow the steam to circulate), sealing the foil around the edges of the tin. Bake for 1½ hours, then reduce the oven to fan 140C/conventional 160C/gas 3 for the remaining 2 hours 40 minutes of the cooking time. When the ham is cooked, remove it from the oven. Leave to rest for 30 minutes.
• Now make the glaze. Put the sugar and 100ml/3½⁄2fl oz water in a medium pan. Heat gently until the sugar melts, add the fresh ginger and simmer for 3-4 minutes. Add the kumquats and cook for a few more minutes, just until they soften. Scoop out and reserve the kumquats, discard the ginger and add the stem ginger strips. Bring to the boil, then turn down the heat and let the mixture bubble for 3-5 minutes until thick and reduced by just under half. Remove from the heat and set aside.
• Line a clean roasting tin with foil and oil it. Unwrap the ham and put it in the foil-lined tin. Cut off the skin, leaving a layer of fat all over. Using a sharp knife, score the fat into a diamond criss-cross pattern. Turn up the oven to fan 200C/conventional 220C/gas 7.
• Rub ground ginger over ham, then brush over all but a couple of spoonfuls of the glaze, distributing stem ginger strips. Scatter over kumquat slices, studding cloves through some to secure. Drizzle over remaining glaze. Roast for another 20 minutes or until golden and sticky and kumquats start to colour. Serve garnished with halved kumquats and sprigs of bay leaves. If serving hot, allow to rest for 15-20 minutes before carving.