Milk Stout glazed Ham

Look how moist it is.

This is Wilshire cured ham, not gammon cured.  I haven't checked the difference in  brine/cure but correctly anticipated salt being cheerfully and plentifully involved.

The ham is served with roast potatoes (smaller than I usually cut them) but it made no difference,  twice the usual number were consumed.  Finally, a French classic of green beans and tomatoes added a naturally saucy side

Yesterday, the ham was soaked for 4 hours and the soaking liquor discarded. Add fresh water and bring to a simmer.  Discard the water again. Finally simmer very gently in a fresh court bouillon of herbs and veges, like this.

Once cooked, remove the ham smear it with dijon mustard, a few whole cloves always seem essential too.  Glaze with stout and honey (reduced) and bake the glazed ham until lightly charred. 

The result? A tender and juicy ham, not too salty.  Any leftovers can always be finely sliced (with your best knife) for sandwiches, bagels, served with egg and chips (Brit pub classic) or potato salad.  Perfect.

Ingredients (4):

Ham and aromats (A):

800g ham

1 stalk of celery, chopped

1 carrot, peeled and chopped

1 small or medium onion, halved, studded with 2 cloves and 1 bay leaf

A few stalks of parsley

Glaze:

2 tsp honey

2 TBSP cloves

1/4 tsp black pepper, ground

1 TBSP dijon mustard

10 whole cloves

Method:

Soak the ham for 4 hours in cold water.

Discard the soaking water and bring the ham to a simmer in fresh cold water.

Discard the foamy water from the ham.

To fresh water, add the ham and aromats (A), simmer gently for 20 minutes per 500g of ham.  Remove the ham.  The aromats have given their best.

Make the glaze by warming honey, black pepper and stout over a gentle heat until syrupy, around 3 minutes usually works.

Smear the ham, generously with dijon mustard, stud with cloves and pour over the glaze.  Bake for around 20 minutes on fan and grill (if your oven has this setting) otherwise improvise.. until the glaze is lightly charred.

Remove and rest, ready to slice and serve.

More ham recipes:

Loïc's Ham Primavera With Summer Vegetables

Clementine Glazed Roast-Ham