My Ginger Beer Boiled Ham with a Southern Comfort glaze is inspired by a Nigella Lawson recipe with added booze. The ginger beer permeates the ham to give a great twist on a classic party centrepiece. And I am rarely allowed to attend a party unless I bring a ham. True story.
Place a 2.5kg Unsmoked Gammon Joint into a large pan.
Quarter 2 White Onions with the skin on and tuck the pieces down the side of the ham.
Add 1 litre Fiery Ginger Beer to the pan or until the joint is covered. Top up with water if required to cover the ham. Stir in 1 tbsp Ginger Paste.
Put the pan onto a medium heat. Cover with a lid and leave for about 2 hours. Check the level of the liquid every now and again and top up with more ginger beer or water if required.
Remove the cooked ham from the liquor and leave to drain on some kitchen towel. Allow to ham to cool slightly.
Leave the cooking liquor to boil away on the hob.
Meanwhile prepare a pan to glaze the ham. Take a pan only a little larger than the size of the gammon joint. Fully line it with at least 2 layers of foil. Or use a disposable foil pan.
Glaze the Ham
Preheat the oven to 250c or equivalent.
Mix 2 tbsp Mustard Powder, 2 tbsp Runny Honey, 1 tbsp Sea Salt Flakes, 3 tbsp Dark Brown Muscovado Sugar and 3 tbsp Southern Comfort in a small bowl.
Remove any skin (but not the fat) from the ham and add it back to the cooking liquor. Continue to boil the liquor down. You want to end up with about 200ml.
Add the ham to the lined pan and score the ham fat in a diamond pattern using a sharp knife.
Spoon the glaze all over the ham.
When the oven is at full temperature, put the ham in for 5 minutes.
Remove the ham from the oven and baste the glaze that has melted off back over the ham.
Repeat this process…
...several times…
….until most of the glaze is baked onto the ham itself and it has turned golden.
Leave the ham loosely covered to cool and then ideally put in the fridge overnight. It will be much easier to carve the next day.
Meanwhile, once the cooking liquor has reduced, strain it to remove the onion and ham fat and leave to cool.
Once it has been in the fridge a while, the layer of fat can be skimmed off.
The sauce can be reheated and served with the ham.