Le Couvent Diary

Our Christmas ham looks and tastes so delicious I thought I'd share my recipe. It's an amalgamation of many other recipes, so I take no credit for it.

Ingredients
1 x 4.2kg smoked gammon on the bone (ours was from Sainsbury's in Brighton, via the cross-channel ferry and a long drive)
1 large carrot, peeled
1 leek, trimmed
2 sticks celery, cut into four
1 cinnamon stick
1 tsp peppercorns
1 tsp coriander seeds
2 bay leaves
1 litre dry cider

about 40 whole cloves for studding

for the glaze
3 tbsp honey
3 tbsp mustard
100ml dry cider

1. Soak the gammon overnight in cold water and ditch the water the next morning. This gets rid of the excess salt.

2. Place the gammon in a large pan and cover with the all the ingredients in the first list and top up with water. Cover with a lid and simmer for 2 ½ hours, until the meat is tender.

3. Remove from the liquid and leave it to cool a bit. Carefully cut the skin off the ham, making sure to leave the fat on. Criss-cross the fat with a sharp knife and put a clove in each square. Preheat the oven to 220C/gas 7.

4. For the glaze, warm the honey, mustard and cider in a pan and boil the mixture carefully until it thickens to a treacle-like consistency. If it isn't thick enough to glaze it will all run off into the bottom of the pan and turn to tar so black you'll never get it off. Place the ham in a roasting tin and spoon the glaze over the ham fat. Bake for 20 minutes. Don't be tempted to bake it any longer or the ham will become dry.

Tip: If the pan is difficult to clean afterwards, put an inch or so of water in it and put it on the cooker. Keep a gentle heat and stir - all the sticky bits will melt off leaving the pan clean.

This ham is so delicious it's worth doing it for a special lunch any time of the year.

Happy Christmas to you and all the ones you love.

Lizzie & Ali xx