Cider Soaked Gammon Ham
Sometimes you just have to be realistic with yourself. I had plans this evening for a friend to come over but overwhelm resulted in me listening to my intuition and cancelling. Sometimes when we bail on these things it’s more about the energy we don’t want to bring to others rather than the energy they bring to us. And with a few big shoots next week I think my head and body was telling me I was desperately in need of some solitude and sitting in the overwhelm. Next week is the week that my ankle fusion happens, 6 years leading up to this and my brain is fizzing with worry and apprehension.
So I’m left with a joint of gammon bubbling in cider on the hob - so without wanting to put too much effort in I whipped up a simple glaze and popped in the oven while I steamed a bit of veg to accompany it.
I was talking with a friend on Friday that I never have much faith in myself cooking meat but this turned out to be a beautifully tender, melt in your mouth joint. Of course, the supplier of the joint matters too. This one was from the ever amazing Townings.
Prep time: 10 mins
Cook time: 2 hours
Total time: 2 hours 10 mins
Serves: 4-6
Ingredients
One medium to large gammon joint - if been previously frozen, soak in water overnight to 'loosen' the salt content
tbsp coriander seeds
tbsp mustard seeds
2 bay leaves
3 star anise
4 cloves
1 litre dry cider
salt and pepper
For the glaze:
1 tsp good quality mustard (English, French or Dijon)
1 tbsp runny honey
tsp coriander seeds
tsp fennel seeds
Instructions
Find a large saucepan and put the gammon joint in it - cover up to 2cm above the joint with cold water. Bring to the boil and then discard the water (and all the froth that builds up which is the salt residues). Now put your cider and spices in the pan and top up to the same level as before with water. Bring to the boil, cover and simmer on a low heat for around 90 mins.
While the joint simmers, mix together the glaze ingredients (I like to heat the coriander and fennel seeds in a pan and then grind them to bring out all the flavour) in a bowl and set aside. Now preheat the oven to 220°C, fan 200°C, gas 7.
Bring the joint out of the saucepan (you can keep the cooking water as stock for gravy and freeze the rest for soups) and pop onto a roasting pan. If there's any skin, remove this and then score any top fat before rubbing the glaze mix onto it. Season with salt and pepper.
Roast for 20 mins or until browned on the top and then rest for 10 minutes before carving and serving. This gammon keeps beautifully in the fridge for sandwiches or ploughmans.