gammon with a mulled wine glaze
I cannot get through the Christmas season without having a gammon nearby. And most years I come up with a new glaze to finish it off. I’ve blogged about lots of them. This year I wanted mulled wine with my gammon.
it’s very salty and strong, a slightly sweet flavour as well it’s one of my absolute favourites. We call it gammon in the UK: it’s the hind leg of a pork but just the top part so you get that big round of meat. just one of those weird quirks of Butchery that we have a joint called the Gammon which is a basically like bacon but a big joint of bacon or ham. like bacon it’s cured and usually smoked not always but not ready to eat. It needs cooking.
You can roast it in the oven, you’ll get a more intense flavour and it is relatively difficult to keep it tender with this method as all the fat in the joint is on the top – hardly any runs through the meat itself. You can cook it sous vide which I’ve done on this channel before where you have a lot of control over the cooking. Today I am going to cook it in the more traditional method of simmering on the hob with a load of aromatics. This is usually root veg and hardy herbs. The finished gammon is usually juicy and fairly mellow. Some people like to do a quick first simmer before replacing the water to remove impurities, I find this doesn’t seem to be a thing any more.
Mulled wine is a warm, spiced concoction that’s perfect for chilly evenings. It’s a blend of red wine, typically a robust one, infused with spices. Common additions include cinnamon sticks, cloves, star anise, and citrus zest, to make it rich, warming and aromatic. But to some extent it’s up to you what’s in the mix.
To prepare this comforting drink, you gently heat the wine with the spices, allowing the flavors to come together. Sweeteners like sugar or honey are often added to balance the robustness of the wine and enhance its overall warmth.
It’s perfect for the colder months and as such favoured at Christmas. I confess to also enjoying mulled cider too!
This recipe is very straight forward. Simmer the gammon for a couple of hours, then baste in a reduced mulled wine. It’s dead easy to do – the main thing to watch out for is overreducing the wine and burning your pan.
mulled wine gammon
Ingredients
- 750 g smoked gammon joint any size will do
- assorted root veg for the stock onions, carrots, etc
- 350 ml mulled wine
- 1 clementine or other small orange citrus
- 1 heaped tablespoon icing sugar
Instructions
- Put the gammon in a large pot with any old veg and if you have it, a spoon of black peppercorns and hardy herbs like bay. But no worries if you don't. Cover with water, bring to a simmer and bubble away for about 2 hours. The gammon is cooked when a skewer is inserted and removed easily. Allow it to cool in the broth for 30 minutes.
- Meanwhile reduce the mulled wine. Add the halved orange and icing sugar and boil really hard. Keep boiling and bubbling until it is sticky.
- Preheat the oven to 200°C. Transfer the gammon to a rimmed baking dish. Baste the meat in all the wine generously and place in the oven. Every 5 minutes pull the gammon out and spoon on the glaze that has collected in the pan. Keep going for 20-30 minutes until the glaze has hardened and crystallized. Remove from the oven and carve.