5 great Christmas ham glazes

1) Sticky caramel glaze

• 1 cup raw caster sugar
• 1 cup orange juice, strained
• 12cm-long strip orange rind
• 1/2 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
• 1 cinnamon stick

Place sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook, occasionally shaking pan, for 4 to 5 minutes or until melted and caramelised. Remove from heat. Carefully stir in juice (the mixture will splatter) to form a toffee-like consistency. Return to heat. Cook for 2 minutes or until toffee dissolves. Add rind, peppercorns and cinnamon. Simmer for 5 minutes or until slightly thickened. Stand for 10 minutes to thicken. Strain through a fine sieve. Discard solids.

2) Apricot and star anise ham glaze

• 250g jar apricot conserve
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup white wine
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 1 star anise

Place conserve, sugar, white wine, cinnamon and star anise in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook, stirring, for 5 minutes or until conserve and sugar have melted. Stand for 10 minutes. Strain mixture through a fine sieve. Discard solids.

3) Mango and chilli ham glaze

• 250g jar mango chutney with ginger 
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup pineapple juice
• 1/4 teaspoon dried chilli flakes

Place chutney, sugar, pineapple juice and chilli flakes in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook, stirring, for 5 minutes or until chutney and sugar have melted. Bring to a simmer. Simmer for 5 minutes or until slightly thickened. Stand for 10 minutes. Strain mixture through a fine sieve. Discard solids.

4) Balsamic and raspberry ham glaze

• 250g jar raspberry conserve
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns

Place conserve, sugar, vinegar and peppercorns in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook, stirring, for 5 minutes or until jam and sugar have melted. Stand for 10 minutes. Strain mixture through a fine sieve. Discard solids.

Peach, whisky and macadamia ham glaze

• 1 cup peach conserve
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup bourbon whisky
• 1/4 teaspoon allspice
• 3/4 cup roughly chopped macadamia nuts

Place conserve, sugar, whisky and allspice in a bowl. Stir until sugar has dissolved. Add macadamias. Stir to combine.

To glaze and cook ham:

Preheat oven to 180C/160C fan-forced. Cut through the rind of a 10kg cooked leg of ham 8cm from shank. Run your thumb under rind to separate it from fat. Peel back, sliding your fingers under rind as you go. Remove rind. Using a small sharp knife, score fat diagonally at 3cm intervals to form a diamond pattern, being careful not to score fat too deeply. Pierce each diamond with a clove. Wrap shank end in foil.
Prepare glaze.
Place ham on a wire rack in a roasting pan. Add boiling water until it reaches 2cm up side of pan. Brush ham with 1/4 glaze mixture. Bake, basting with mixture every 20 minutes, for 1 hour 30 minutes or until golden. Remove foil from shank and serve.

Source

Super Food Ideas — December 2014

Author

Claire Brookman