I have glazed hams several ways over the
years. The very best so far was when I bought a “raw ham” from the
butcher which I then cooked at a very low temperature for about 8 hours on the
day before and then finished off with a glaze at a moderate temperature for
around 40 to 45 minutes – ie enough time to colour the glaze and warm the ham
right through again. If you were glazing at the end of the 8 hours you
wouldn’t need anywhere near as long for the glaze – say 20 minutes. But
the 8 hour thing was a real mission on a hot day. So I will stick with a
cooked ham this year.
The best glazes mix something sweet, with something
alcoholic and something tart/spicy. So mixes like the ones I have listed
all work well:
Brown sugar, whiskey, sherry, port or brandy, hot
English mustard and marmalade
Brown sugar, orange juice, Dijon
mustard and honey
Brown sugar, maple syrup, mustard and orange zest
Apricot jam, brandy and mustard
Cranberry sauce, honey and mustard
Honey and wasabi or horseradish
You could add a little ginger and/or chilli to almost
all of these to add some extra kick.
Don’t worry too much about the relative
quantities. Glazing is pretty forgiving. You do need about a cup
and a half of glaze or more to ensure you can keep basting over the ham every 5
to 10 minutes during the glazing process.
I do stud the ham with cloves. And I think it is
a good idea to buy new cloves every year rather than using the old musty ones
from the year before. I put them either in the intersections between the
diamonds of fat you have scored or in the middle of the diamonds – it doesn’t
seem to make much difference. One year I did the scoring too deeply and
squares fell off which wasn’t so good. So a light scoring is best.
Don’t forget to take the skin off before you
start. Leave a nice layer of fat because this is what holds the glaze and
makes it taste great. Even if you don’t eat fat the rest of the year, a
tiny bit with a Christmas ham will be a treat.
Yum, ham! Thanks for all the cool glazing ideas. The honey mustard is pretty classic, and I like the idea of marmalade or cranberry sauce.
ReplyDeleteI don't think I've ever dealt with a raw ham. I love ham but I've only gotten it pre-cooked and glazed. I love your different flavor profiles - especially the brown sugar, orange juice, dijon mustard and honey. My mouth is watering just thinking about it!
ReplyDeleteWow that looks delicious. I agree that it's worth buying new cloves -- so much more flavorful
ReplyDeleteI've been looking at recipes for cooking a ham in my Crock Pot. Good idea about getting rid of old spices. In fact, I'm tackling and reorganizing my spice cabinet today, so it's a very timely reminder for me to be ruthless!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the reminder, I did one 2 years ago and it was fantastic and I'm not a big fan of ham. Might put it on the menu this Christmas.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations!
ReplyDeleteYour recipe was featured on Full Plate Thursday. Wishing you a very Merry Christmas and enjoy your new Red Plate!
Miz Helen