Sorry I haven’t been able to blog for awhile; I’ve been taking a quick holiday on the Isle of Skye and the rules were made pretty clear that we should be keeping work and the Internet to the bare minimum! Ever since then, I’ve been trying to get some new recipes up but my WordPress app has not been playing ball. 

More on our trip another day….

As we were staying self-catering, we went to the butcher on the morning we left. On Sunday afternoon, I made my mango-glazed ham, which always seems to go down well. I’ve made this twice for Christmas and once as a hostess gift and it’s a much thriftier way of acquiring enough cold meat to see you through. You’ll need to pay attention to the cooking time on the packet, as this will depend on the size and type of ham.

You will need:

1 smoked gammon joint

1 litre orange and mango juice

1/2 litre chicken stock 

1 bouquet garni

2 bay leaves

Mango chutney, enough to cover the top of the ham – about 3/4 of a small jar or half a largish jar

Cloves

large stock pot

  

1. Unwrap the ham and remove any film or paper. Check the cooking time suggested. I normally knock off about 10 minutes from the boiling time as it will be baked as well.

2. Put the ham in the pot and add the juice and stock. If there isn’t enough liquid to cover the ham, top it up with water until the gammon is just covered. Add the bouquet garni and bay leaves. 

3. Bring to the boil then turn down to a simmer. Check on the pot every now and again to make sure the ham stays covered. After the recommended cooking town, allow to cool for 10 minutes or so then carefully remove the ham. 

4. Allow to sit to cool a bit more. Trim off the rind and some of the fat. And preheat the oven to about 190C.

5. Score into the fat, but not all the way through, into a criss cross pattern. Stud each corner of the squares you have made with cloves. Spoon on the mango chutney until coveted. This will require some patience as it will melt and drop off the sides a bit when gravity takes hold – just scoop up and pour back over. 

6. Pop on a foil lined tray in the oven and bake for 40 minutes or until the glaze is golden. You might want to take it out half way through to scoop on any chutney that has come off and turn. 

Carefully slice when cool and enjoy with chutney, crusty bread and salad!