Pineapple Glazed Christmas Ham
INGREDIENTS
Whole leg ham on the bone
6kg, Berkshire or heritage breed ham
Cloves
30
Canned pineapple pieces in juice
1 x 425g can
Apple juice
3 cups
Brown sugar
2 cups
Cinnamon quills
2
Star anise
3
Fennel seeds
1 tsp
Ginger
4cm piece, finely grated
Five-spice powder
1+1/4 tsp
METHOD
To begin...
Preheat your InAlto oven to 250°C, allowing 20 minutes to heat up to temperature…
Place all ingredients, except the ham and cloves, in a saucepan on your cooktop over a medium heat. Once the sugar has dissolved (stirring can assist this) bring it to the boil. Reduce the heat back to medium and simmer for 30 minutes or until reduced by half. Strain the liquid into a heatproof jug and discard the solids.
Using a large shallow roasting pan, line this with baking paper. Cut around the ham shank, a small knife works best for this. Now run the knife under the skin, around the edge of the ham, be careful not to pierce the skin. Next, lift the skin off by running your fingers between the rind and the fat — it should come off in 1 piece. Discard the skin.
Rub the ham with with 1/3 of the glaze. Place in the oven and bake for 10 minutes.
Take ham out of oven and score in a crisscross pattern. Brush with another 1/3 glaze.
Stud with cloves and return the ham to the oven for 30 minutes, basting every 10 minutes, until caramelised.
Remove the ham from the baking dish and place on a serving platter. Spoon any remaining glaze over ham.
InAlto Tip!
To get a stunning caramelised glaze it's important to have the oven preheated to its highest level — and make sure the oven rack is in the right position before you start. It’s then best to work quickly when pulling the ham out of the oven when basting so you don't lose temperature.
