Glazed Gammon with Plum Sauce

A Christmas lunch in our family would be incomplete without a gammon on the table. I like serving it with a fruit-based sauce and this year I am going with a delicious, tart plum sauce that cuts through the richness of the pork. I halve the plums which are not used for the sauce and roast them in the oven to serve on the side. If you are lucky enough to have leftovers, thin slices of gammon with mustard and rocket make a really good sandwich the next day....

one whole, de-boned gammon, mine was 2,3kg

2 onions, cut in quarters

2 carrots, roughly chopped into chunks

2 bay leaves

10 peppercorns

Glaze:

30ml soy sauce

30ml honey

juice of half an orange

10ml mustard

Plum sauce:

6 plums, pips removed and chopped

30ml balsamic vinegar

45ml brown sugar

zest and juice of one orange

a pinch of salt

3 whole star anise

Making the gammon:

Take out the largest saucepan you have and place the gammon into it.

Cover the meat with cold water and add the onion, carrots, bay leaf and peppercorns.

Bring the water to a boil and then lower the temperature to a simmer. Put on the lid and cook the gammon for 20 minutes of each 500g of its weight. (I had a gammon of 2,3kg which I cooked for 1 hour 40 minutes).

Turn off the heat and leave the meat in the liquid for at least 30 minutes. Remove from the liquid and cool until you can comfortably handle it.

If your gammon was tied in netting, cut it loose with a pair of scissors. Use a small sharp knife to peel off the outer skin, leaving the layer of fat. Score a diamond pattern in the fat.

Line an oven tray with foil and place the gammon in it.

Preheat your oven to 200℃.

Add all the ingredients for the glaze into a small bowl and mix well.

Brush about half the glaze onto the gammon and place the oven tray in the preheated oven.

Roast for 15 minutes and remove from the oven. Quickly brush on another layer of glaze and stick the meat back into the oven for 10 minutes. Repeat the glazing once more but leave the gammon to roast for 20 minutes.

Remove the roasting tray from the oven and allow it to stand for 10 minutes before carving.

Making the plum sauce:

Add all the sauce ingredients to a saucepan and cook over a medium heat until the plums are very soft. (About 10 minutes)

Add the pan juices from the rested gammon to the saucepan and blitz together with a stick blender.

Put the saucepan back onto the heat and simmer until you have a beautiful thick sauce.

Serve the sauce in a separate bowl with the gammon.