Nigella Lawson's Aromatic Spiced Ham

Aromatic spiced ham

By Nigella Lawson
From Nigella's Christmas Kitchen
1 recommendation.
Preparation time: 30 mins to 1 hour
Cooking time: over 2 hours
Serves 8
This recipe appears in Nigella's book Feast, published by Chatto & Windus.

Ingredients

For the ham
2.25-2.75kg/4lb 15oz-6lb 1oz boneless mild-cure gammon
250ml/8¾fl oz red wine
3 litres/5 pints 5½fl oz water (approximately)
1 large onion, halved
2 garlic cloves, unpeeled
1 head fennel, halved
2 star anise
1 tbsp coriander seed
1 tbsp fennel seed
1 tbsp mixed peppercorns

For the glaze
approximately 16 whole cloves
4 tbsp redcurrant jelly
½ tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp smoked paprika
½ tsp red wine vinegar

Preparation method
Place the gammon in a large saucepan.
Add all the ingredients for the ham to the pan, adding some more water if the ham isn't covered.
Bring to the boil, before reducing the heat to a simmer and partially covering the pan. Cook for about two and a half to three hours - approximately one hour a kilo simmering time, plus an extra 15 minutes.
When you are ready to glaze the ham, preheat the oven to 230C/440F/Gas 8.
Remove the ham from the liquid and sit the ham on a board. Strip off the rind, and a little of the fat layer if it's very thick, and cut a diamond pattern into the remaining fat with a sharp knife in lines of about 2cm/¾in apart.
Stud each diamond with a clove. Put the jelly, cinnamon, paprika and red wine vinegar into a saucepan and whisk together over a high heat bringing it to the boil. Let the pan bubble away so that the glaze reduces to a syrup-like consistency.
Place a layer of foil over a roasting tray big enough to hold the ham. Place the ham on top of the foil.
Pour the glaze over the clove-studded ham and then transfer it to the oven. Cook for about 15 minutes, or until the glazed fat is burnished.
Allow the meat to rest in a warm place for at least 15 minutes before carving it.