Merry Christmas Eve!
I get lots of email from readers looking for pointers on basic recipes that they have never attempted before. One recent email was from a young couple spending their first Christmas away from home and who were looking for a fool proof recipe for a Christmas Eve ham having never cooked one before. There's a first time for everything and this ham will be appreciated by beginner and veteran cooks alike.
Now Spouse loves ham and if allowed, would chuck the turkey in favor of this sweet and savoury glazed ham at any Christmas celebration. We normally make one a day or two previous to the big day and serve the leftovers with our traditional Boxing Day cold plate or just to "pick on" as my mothers family would say.
7-8 pound bone in smoked ham
2 tbsp pepper corns
1 tbsp whole cloves
1 whole star anise
1 large onion roughly chopped
1 bay leaf
Add these ingredients to a large stock pot along with the ham, rind side down and cover almost completely with water. Bring to a gentle boil and cook for 1 hour.
After an hour remove the ham from the stock and let it drain on a rack for a few minutes. Remove the rind and most but not all of the fat underneath the rind. Leave about 1/8 inch of fat on top of the entire ham. Score the fat with a sharp knife in a square or diamond pattern.
Place ham in a roasting pan and brush the top and sides of the ham with
½ cup whole grain Dijon mustard (Use your favourite mustard, almost any one will work)
Sprinkle the mustard with
1 cup demerara sugar (or brown sugar)
Press the sugar gently into the mustard to get good contact with the surface of the ham.
Bake at 375 degrees F for another hour.
Allow ham to rest for 10-15 minutes before carving and serving.
Having this tonight :) is on the oven... Hope it turns ot OK. Had problem finding smoked ham that was not cooked, so I asked the person in the meat-section. But I am not sure he gave me the correct ham (I think it's already cooked, but then it will be cooked twice:) wonder if it will be dry then ?
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