Celebrity chef’s guide to cooking the perfect Christmas ham
MKR’s Colin Fassnidge has given news.com.au his sage advice on how not to stuff up your Christmas ham.
There’s no better Christmas table centrepiece than a glistening ham.
Whether you serve yours hot or cold with a couple of bread rolls, a slather of aioli there’s nothing more festive than a baked ham.
But cooking the humble ham isn’t entirely foolproof, so to save you a Christmas day disaster we’ve called in the experts to help you nail yours.
Celebrity chef Colin Fassnidge and Luke Mangan have shared their top tips for “perfect” ham, so get up to speed now and avoid a dreaded cooking fail.
For Fassnidge, he suggests a few simple ingredients and a couple of hours on the clock.
“I like serving a pineapple, rum and ginger glazed ham, baked on the bone for two hours, basted and dark,” he tells news.com.au.
“I’ll then serve it with homemade pickles, crunchy bread and green salad.
“Ham is a tasty, low fuss Christmas option and perfect for our warm weather. It also means leftovers for a lazy holiday, from slices carved straight from the bone to sandwiches, croquettes and, finally, pea and ham soup.”
According to Australian Pork, around 1.7 million hams were sold in the four weeks leading up to Christmas last year.
“While around 80 per cent of ham and bacon sold in Australia is made from imported pork, the beautiful bone-in hams used as Christmas centrepieces are proudly Aussie pork. If it’s on the bone, it’s one of our own,” Mitch Edwards, Australian Pork Limited marketing and communications manager said.
TOP TIPS FROM OTHER CELEBRITY CHEFS
LUKE MANGAN, CHEF AND RESTAURATEUR
Luke said you can use picnic ham but he prefers a cooked ham leg on the bone.
“Look for one with unblemished skin and a bronzed glow,” he said. “I bake my ham in a 190C oven. I prefer that to the barbecue for a few reasons: It helps to retain the meat’s juiciness and you have more control over the temperature. I also think Christmas hams already have a nice smokiness to it and cooking on a barbecue might overpower its natural smoky flavour.
“If you think you’ve overcooked your ham, don’t worry because you can just add more glaze on top once it’s been carved. It will soak into the meat and moisten it.”
LUKE’S RECIPE FOR GLAZED CHRISTMAS HAM
Score a shallow crisscross pattern in the fat of the ham and stud the middle of each crisscross with a clove then place the ham in a large roasting pan. For the glaze we use Guinness beer, maple syrup, honey and seeded mustard.
Put these ingredients into a pot and bring to the boil then pour the glaze over the ham and bake for 1 hour or until golden, basting with juices at 10-minute intervals. If juices in the pan evaporate too quickly, add a little more water.
To speed things up, you can score and stud the flesh 24 hours ahead of time then cover with the removed skin. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to glaze and cook.
As the ham is already cooked, the purpose of glazing is to add your own flavour notes and to caramelise the fat. If your ham is larger or smaller, reduce or increase the cooking time until you are happy with the level of caramelisation.
LEFTOVERS
Leftover Christmas glaze is a perfect condiment for barbecues, cheddar cheese, in sandwiches or with cold meats.
Use leftover ham to make a seasonal salad, like a simple ham salad with cherries, good quality feta cheese, slivered almonds and baby rocket — a delicious combination perfect for an Aussie summer’s day.
RYAN MCBURNEY, CORPORATE CHEF OF ARCADIAN ORGANIC AND NATURAL MEAT CO.
McBurney’s biggest tip is to use free-range ham.
“It’s no secret that farming with the animals’ welfare as an absolute priority translates to be the best ham you’ve ever experienced in terms of taste and texture. You’ll never look back,” he said.
RYAN’S 5 MINUTE 5-STAR HOTEL HAM GLAZE
Ingredients:
400g cumquat jam. Other varieties that work well are apricot, marmalade or red currant but I prefer the tartness of the cumquat.
150g brown sugar which really helps develop that golden colour and is a must for presentation
2 tbsp. of wholegrain mustard
50ml apple cider vinegar
Place all ingredients into a Pyrex bowl and microwave on high for approximately four minutes checking and stirring in one minute intervals until a syrupy liquid is achieved. Spoon or brush this on to ham liberally every five minutes during the last 30mins of roasting the ham.
*You can add cinnamon stick x1, star anise x 1, tsp of fennel seed and small quantity of cloves if you want an authentic Christmas taste.