Honey-roast ham
- ½ unsmoked country-cured ham, bone in, about 10 pounds, soaked overnight
- 1 large carrot, halved
- 1 large onion, quartered
- 2 celery ribs, cut into large chunks
- 1 bay leaf
- few sprigs of fresh thyme
- 1 teaspoon black peppercorns
- about 50 whole cloves
- ½ cup honey
- ½ cup Demerara or Turbinado sugar
- ÂĽ cup Madeira wine
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce
- 3 tablespoons English mustard
- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1½-inch piece of fresh ginger, finely grated
- 3 tablespoons port
- 1/3 cup red-currant jelly
- 1½ cups fresh cranberries
- small pinch of cayenne pepper
- juice of ½ orange
- finely grated zest of 1 large orange
- finely grated zest of 1 lemon
- 1 piece of stem ginger in syrup, finely sliced into matchsticks
Instructions:
A large, glazed ham need not be confined to a holiday feast.
- Find a pot large enough to hold the ham and put it inside. Add the carrot, onion, and celery, and fill with cold water to cover. Bring to a boil, then turn down the heat to a simmer. Scoop off any scum that rises to the surface of the liquid. Add the bay leaf, thyme, and peppercorns. Simmer for 3–4 hours, replenishing the water level with boiling water as necessary. The ham is ready when the meat will come away from the bone easily.
- Meanwhile, prepare the glaze. Put the honey and Demerara sugar in a saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring until the sugar has dissolved. When the mixture begins to foam, remove the pan from the heat and carefully pour in the Madeira. The sugar will spit and splatter, so take care not to burn your hands. If the sugar hardens, return the pan to the heat and stir until it dissolves again. Let cool slightly, then stir in the remaining ingredients. Cool completely.
- Lift out the ham to a large roasting pan and let cool slightly. (If the stock is not too salty, keep it to make soup.) Preheat the oven to 325°F. Cut away the skin of the ham, leaving behind an even layer of fat. Score the fat all over in a crisscross pattern, then stud with whole cloves, pressing each into the middle of a scored diamond.
- Brush the glaze over the ham. Bake for about 1 hour, basting frequently with the glaze. When nicely browned, remove from the oven and let rest for 15 minutes before carving.
- For the Cumberland sauce, put the ginger, port, red-currant jelly, cranberries, cayenne, and orange juice into a saucepan and bring to a simmer. Cook until thickened and syrupy, 5–10 minutes. Take the pan off the heat and stir in the lemon and orange zests and the stem ginger. Transfer to a serving bowl and let cool completely. Serve with thin slices of honey-roast ham.