Saturday 29 March 2008

Gammon Ham with Spiced Black Pudding Crust

Gammon Ham with Spiced Black Pudding Crust

This is a bit of a labour of love. The flavouring starts right from the off with the boiling liquor.

Ingredients

One Gammon Ham (sized for the number of people to feed)

For the pot

12 peppercorns
6 juniper berries
2 bay leaves

For the Glaze

2 tablespoons of thick cut marmalade
2 tablespoons of cinnamon cranberry sauce
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
12 cloves
50 grammes black pudding


Take the Gammon Ham and place in a pot filled with water until it is covered. Add the peppercorns, juniper berries and bay leaves.

Boil the gammon as the size requires. Mine was for an hour and a half. My cook book suggests for hams up to 2.25kg/5lb boil for 30 minutes per 480g/1lb; for hams weighing 2.5 to 5kg/5.5 to 11lb boil for 15 minutes per 480g/1lb and those over this weight boil for 10 minutes per 480g/1lb.

When the boiling is complete remove the ham from the pan - retain the stock for a risotto.

Remove the skin with a sharp knife - make sure to retain the fat layer though.

Cross cut the fat and stud with the cloves.

Mix the glaze ingredients together and cover the meat before roasting in a hot oven for 15-25 minutes. The black pudding adds texture and the cranberry/orange mix is luscious.

I served this with:
- a baked sweet potato (cross cut a sweet potato and rub with olive oil and sea salt, wrap in foil and bake for 45 minutes).
- boiled carrots and roast Jerusalem artichokes method as per the sweet potato above).

The next day's ham sandwiches were exquisite - the flavour penetrates the meat marvelously.

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