When I roast a ham for Easter I usually buy a big one! Leftovers are the highlight from sandwiches with a savory mustard, ham and eggs for breakfast, adding diced ham to homemade macaroni and cheese and then if your tired of ham you can freeze it up to 30 days. Try the following recipe.
Brown Sugar Glazed Ham with Raisin Drippings
This is a slowly roasted ham with lots of flavour. You can omit the raisins which won’t change the flavour but make sure you do use a Dijon mustard.
1 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup Dijon mustard
1/2 cup apple juice or white wine
1 cup raisins
1 large bone-in ham (8 to 10 pounds/3.5 to 4.5 kg)
A handful of whole cloves (optional)
1. Preheat the oven to 325°F.
2. Stir the sugar, mustard and juice together in a small saucepan over medium high heat. Bring to a boil then reduce the heat and simmer for a few minutes. Cool.
3. Tightly pile the raisins in the middle of a roasting pan.
4. Using a sharp knife, carefully score the fatty surface of the ham in a diamond pattern, cutting all the way through the fat and about 1/2 inch into the meat beneath. Place the ham (cut side up) down over the raisins making sure the raisins stay underneath the ham.
5. Pour about half of the glaze over the ham, thoroughly working it into the crevices with your fingers. If you want to take the time and like the flavour of cloves, pierce the center of each diamond with a whole clove.
6. Cover the ham to make a tight seal (tin foil works better than the lid of the roasting pan). Bake the ham until it is tender, about 2.5 hours.
7. Uncover and carefully pour the remaining glaze over the ham. Bake, uncovered, for another 5 minutes or so. Remove from the oven and spoon the juices and glaze back over the ham. Continue baking for another 5 minutes. Continue basting and baking until you have a rich, shiny glaze, 20 minutes or so.
8. Rest the ham for 15 minutes or so before slicing. Stir the pan juices, drippings, scrapings and raisins together, forming a sauce of sorts. Add some water if needed to make it moiré saucy.
9. Slice the ham and serve with the sauce.
Cheese Crumble-topped Mash
Potatoes to me are just potatoes, I’d rather cook and eat rice. When I do add potatoes to the main meal I search really hard to find a recipe that will take the potato to a new high. It always means extra work but the end result is delicious. You can make this recipe the day before but let it sit out for an hour before putting it in the oven.
2 pounds potatoes, diced (use a potato variety meant for mashing)
2 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp milk
1/2 cup grated sharp cheese or blue cheese
CRUMBLE TOPPING:
3 tbsp butter
1 onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tbsp wholegrain mustard
3 cups fresh whole-wheat bread crumbs
4 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
Salt and pepper
1. Cook the potatoes in boiling water for about 10 minutes, until they are tender
2. In the meantime make the crumble topping. Melt the butter in a skillet. Add the onion, garlic, and mustard and fry gently for 5 minutes, until the onion is softened, stirring constantly.
3. Put the bread crumbs in a mixing bowl and stir in the fried onion mixture. Season with salt and pepper.
4. Drain the potatoes thoroughly and place them in a mixing bowl. Add the butter and milk, then mash until smooth. Stir in the grated cheese while the potato is still hot.
5. Spoon the mashed potato into a shallow ovenproof dish and sprinkle with the crumb topping.
6. Cook in a preheated oven for 20 minutes until the crumble topping is golden brown and crunchy. Serve.
***For extra flavour, add freshly cooked vegetables, such as celery, carrot or bell peppers, to the mashed potato in step 4.
