The Nosh Family Christmas Dinner: Sticky Honey Glazed Ham with Ben’s Perfect Roast Potatoes

method

We thought we would share with you what we usually do for Christmas dinner in the May household. We have avoided turkey for years and we absolutely love honey roast ham. Everyone has their specialities and joins in with the preparations.

Ben and Katy have very definite opinions on how the roast potatoes should be done and how crispy they are and then have a competition to see who can eat the most. Tim makes sure that the ham is basted properly and often, so that the maximum amount of the sticky stuff sticks on. I am generally in charge of the gravy, but closely supervised by Tim to make sure it is tasty enough. Ron peels veggies and washes up and then really enjoys the eating bit. Nicole is busy looking after the children (no small task) but also, like Ron, enjoys the eating bit.

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Timeline

Day before

Soak the gammon joint in cold water for 24 hours in a really big pan (jam pan or similar). Remove the packaging from the joint but leave on any netting until later.

If you want to have your meal at 2.00 p.m you will need to make a start at 8.30 but there is still plenty of time for breakfast and present opening before the work really begins.

8.30am – Gammon

Take the gammon out of the water and rinse. Drain the salty water from the pan and put the gammon back in. Refill with enough fresh water to cover the meat. Add the onion, carrots, apples, potatoes and celery. Bring to the boil. Cover and simmer for 3 hours.

11.15am

Preheat the oven to 180°C fan oven/200°C/gas 6

11.30am – Glaze

Take the gammon out of the pan and put on a roasting tray. Do not throw away the cooking liquid. Remove any netting and the top layer of fat. Leave a little fat to protect the meat when in the oven.

Mix the glaze ingredients together and pour over the gammon.

Place the gammon in the oven for 40 minutes. Every 10 minutes baste the meat with the glaze.
Take out of the oven, cover with foil and then put a couple of clean towels over the meat to keep it warm.

12.45pm – Roast Potatoes

Potatoes and Carrots
Put the oven up to 200°C fan oven/220°C/gas 7
Put a large roasting tray in the oven with 5 tablespoons of oil.
Boil the potatoes for 10 minutes and then drain, they should be just about cooked. Return to the pan, season with salt and pepper, and shake the pan a little, causing the outside of the potatoes to become fluffy.
Gently place the potatoes in the hot fat and make sure they are covered in the fat by gently turning them. Put them in the oven for about 1 hour until browned all over, you may need to turn them after 30 minutes.
Place the carrots on a large tray, sprinkle with olive oil and season well with salt and pepper. Place in the oven for 1 hour.

1.15pm – Gravy

You will have stock left from boiling the gammon. Taste it to make sure it is not too salty. If it is, add 2 potatoes and boil for 20 minutes, they will absorb some of the salt. Take all the vegetables out of the stock.
Take 4 mugs of the stock and place in a large saucepan. In a small bowl mix together the butter with 4 tablespoons flour to make a paste. Add to the stock and, using a whisk, mix into the stock. The gravy should thicken.

1.40pm – Greens

Put the broccoli in boiling water and simmer for 6 minutes. Drain and return to the pan. Put a lid on to keep them warm.

1.50pm – Serve

Carve the gammon then cover again with the foil and the towels to keep warm.

You are done with 10 minutes to spare, well done! Pour yourself a glass of something bubbly.

These timings should mean that everything is ready at the same time. If not, don’t worry, just keep things warm, either under foil with tea towels over, or in their pans with lids on.

Ingredients

  • 4.5 kg gammon joint
  • 1 onion, quartered
  • 2 carrots, unpeeled and cut into thirds
  • 1 apple, quartered
  • 2 potatoes, halved
  • 2 sticks of celery, cut into thirds
  • 2.5kg potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
  • 1 kg carrots, cut into thick sticks
  • 2 broccoli, cut into florets
  • 75g softened butter, measure using packet
  • 4 tablespoons of plain flour

Glaze

  • 1/3mug/100ml runny honey
  • 1/2 mug/100g soft brown sugar
  • 1/4 mug/70ml marsala wine
  • 2 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 2 tablespoons dijon mustard
  • 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

Key

Cost

difficulty

*****

prep time

50 Minutes

cook time

5 Hours

serves

6-8

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