3. Cloves - Baked Ham

As the weather gets bitterly cold, comfort food comes to the front of my mind. It seems like every conversation I have at the moment is to do with casseroles, roast dinners, mashed potato and custard. During one such conversation with a fellow food lover there was a mention of baked ham, cauliflower cheese and a jacket potato. That was it. That was all I could think about for the next few days. I became obsessed.

After several hours of research I decided that the simplest recipes, using honey and mustard, were the best to try out (although I would have loved to have looked to Fanny Cradock for inspiration and used some pineapple rings - maybe next time).

Using this size gammon gave four very generous portions of ham for dinner and made a few delicious ham and mustard/pickle sandwiches.

Ingredients

Unsmoked gammon joint approx 1.4kg (make sure it has a good thick layer of fat)
500ml stout

2 onions
2 carrots
2 bay leaves
A few peppercorns
Approx 25 cloves
3 tsp mustard (I used a good quality dijon mustard but I'm sure a stronger English mustard would work too)
3 tsp honey

Method

Place the gammon joint in a large pan and pour in the stout and enough water to cover. Chop the onions into quarters and the carrots into chunks and add these to the pan along with the bay leaves, peppercorns and 5 cloves. Bring to the boil, lower the heat and gently simmer for 40 minutes. Allow the gammon to cool in its cooking liquor.

Preheat the oven to 220C/200C fan/gas mark 7.

When the gammon is cool enough to handle place in a roasting tin lined with foil. Gently slice off the skin leaving as much of the layer of fat as possible. With a sharp knife score the fat into a diamond pattern making sure you don't slice all the way down to the meat. Stud the centre of each diamond with the remaining cloves.

In a small bowl mix together the honey and the mustard. Brush the glaze over the layer of fat. Place in the centre of the oven for 20 minutes or until the glaze turns a caramelised golden brown and the meat is cooked all the way through. Keep an eye on the gammon as the glaze might brown quickly but the meat might not be thoroughly cooked. If this happens cover with a piece of foil for the remaining cooking time.

The result was a succulent and spicy hunk of meat with a layer of incredibly flavoursome fat. Boiling the gammon in the stout broth was definitely a success as the meat took on its warm flavours. It worked incredibly well with the longed for cauliflower cheese but it was great for leftovers too - ham, egg and chips one evening and the rest was used for crusty bread sandwiches. This would also be a great addition to the Christmas table.