champagne and marmalade ham

Every year on Christmas Eve I like to serve up a joint of gammon, that inevitably gets served up on Boxing Day as yummy leftovers. I’ve got a ton of gammon recipes on here, such as honey roast, salted caramel and more. This year I had an excess of champagne (disaster!) so I just had to use it.

The process is always the same, simmering the joint in a root veg-packed broth and followed by a brief roasting in a flavoured glaze.

With the addition of marmalade the bitter edge offsets the sweet meat really well.

Here’s to next year’s ham!

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champagne and marmalade ham

Author Gary @ BigSpud

Ingredients

• 5 kg gammon ham joint
• 2 carrots
• 1 stick celery
• 1 onion halved
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tablespoon black peppercorns

For the glaze:

• 1/2 bottle champagne
• 2 tablespoons marmalade
• 1 sprig rosemary
• Cloves to decorate

Instructions

• Put the gammon in a large pan with the veg and spices and cover with water. Simmer for 1.5 - 2 hours until a knife can enter it with no resistance. Switch off the heat and leave to rest in the liquor for half an hour.
• While the meat rests, make the glaze. Add the champagne to a saucepan and crank up the heat. Reduce by at least half and the liquid should be noticeably thicker. Add the rosemary, stir in the marmalade and simmer for another five minutes. Check the seasoning and remove from the heat. Preheat the oven to 200C.
• Put the meat on to a baking tray lined with paper or foil (the sugars in the marmalade will bake on to your tray and be hell to remove otherwise). Stud decoratively with cloves. Coat the ham with a layer of the baste and pop in the oven. Every ten minutes add more baste, building up a glass-like crust. When it's ready leave for ten minutes to rest and carve, or pop in the fridge for another day.