Honey glazed ham with apricot and sage stuffing and proper gravy

Tue, 5 December 2017

 

Ingredients

·         1 gammon or ham about 2-3kg

·         2 onions diced 

·         2 carrots

·         2 sticks celery

·         2 bay leaves

·         2 oranges

·         1 lemon

·         1 table spoon peppercorns 

 

Glaze for ham

·         2 table spoons Dijon mustard

·         2 table spoons honey

·         15 cloves

·         1 tablespoon brown sugar

·         bottle of apple cider

 

Stuffing

·         250 g fresh bread crumbs

·         100g butter

·         2 onions finely diced

·         2 table spoons sage chopped

·         80g dried apricots diced

 

Gravy

·         2 llt chicken stock

·         25mls white wine

·         2 table spoons tomato puree

·         1 kg of chicken bones

·         2 onions diced 

·         2 carrots

·         2 sticks celery

·         2 bay leaves, thyme and rosemary

·         1 bulb garlic cut in half 

 

Method

To make the gravy-

Preheat the oven to 190. Place the chicken wings on a roasting tray and drizzle with a little oil and salt and pepper.

Roast for 1 hour until roasted and golden, then add the vegetable and herbs and roast for a further 15 minutes.

Put the tray on a low heat on the stove and add the white wine, reduce by half and 10 minutes of cooking.

Add the tomato paste and cook for 3 minutes and transfer to pot with the chicken stock. Cook for 2 hours.

Pass through a sieve to remove the bones, vegetables and herbs. You will need to reduce the sauce until it thickens a little.

 

To make the stuffing-

Put a medium sized pot and add the butter, sauté the onions for 2 minutes.

Add the herbs, cook for a further 2 minutes then add the apricots and bread crumbs and mix well, I like to put it into a oven proof dish and bake for 25 minutes until golden.

 

Cooking the ham

Place the ham in a snug fitting pot, roughly chop the carrots, celery, and onion and add to the pot with the peppercorns and bay leaf.

Add the zest from the orange and lemon and cover the ham with cold water. Put on a high heat and bring to the boil, when the water boils lower to a slow simmer and cook for 1 hour and 30 minutes.

When the time is up remove from the heat and allow the ham to cool in the stock for 30 minutes- this will help the ham take on some of the flavours .

Pre heat the oven to 160. Place the ham onto a clean board and take off the skin. Scour the fat in a diamond shape.

Spike the ham with cloves, brush with Dijon mustard, and drizzle with honey and sprinkle with brown sugar, place the tray in a tray with the bottle of cider and roast until the fat becomes golden and the sugar caramelises. I like to baste the ham every 10 minutes with the cider and the honey that runs off into the tray.