Ingredients

1 Bottle of MAN MEAT FIRE Hot Ginger Sauce

1 Ham or Gammon joint

1 Handful of Peppercorns

1 Handful of Cloves

2 Lemons, Oranges or anything citrusy

Recipe 

SOAKING

1. A raw ham can be very salty and can be soaked for between 12-24 hours in cold water in preperation for the cooking.
2. Using fresh water, bring to the simmer for 30 minutes, occasionally skimming off any of the scum that boils to the surface.
3. If the water is still very salty, replace the water with fresh water and simmer for a further 30 minutes, subtracting the 30 minutes from the cooking time.

COOKING TIME

1. Place the soaked ham in fresh water long with the peppercorns and lemons/oranges (cut into 4 halves), cloves, and cover.
2. Simmer for about 40 minutes per kilo. If over 5kg, reduce this to between 30-35 minutes per kilo. If under 2kg, increase to 60 minutes a kilo.
3. Keep an eye on the water level. You are likely to have to top the water level up with BOILING water at some point.

COOLING

1. Let the ham cool in it's cooking liquid, then drain it.
2. Peel off all the skin, trim and leave roughly ½" of fat all over.

GLAZING

1. Score the fat with a sharp knife. Diamonds look great. but just plain lines can be just as effective.
2. Pour roughly half the bottle of sauce over and massage it in to the fat all over. You might prefer to use a basting brush, but I find fingers get in to the nooks and crannies!
3. You can stud the ham with cloves if you wish to add that festive touch. The corners of the diamond shapes are ideal for the cloves. But if you prefer not to, then it's fine to leave this out.

BAKING

1. Place the glazed ham in a roasting pan or an oven proof dish. There is no need to cover it at now.
2. Cook in an oven at 370ºF / 170ºC / G/M4 for 20 minutes per kilo.
3.  Baste regularly as the fat and sauce will melt to the bottom of the pan, and that's where all the flavour is. If needed, add the remainder of the bottle of sauce for extra gingeriness.
4. Test the ham is cooked with a thermometre. It's cooked when it is 170ºF / 75ºC. If you do not have a thermometre, the only true way of testing is to cut into the ham and visually access.

SERVING

1. Allow to cool and slice.
2. What you do with it now is entirely up to you.

We enjoy ours between slices of crusty bread with salad, and a cheeky glass of Rosé!

Enjoy!