Apricot & Apple Glazed Gammon

As a teenager, the thought of Gammon repulsed me. Yes, I know that’s a strong word to use but it’s the truth. I hated the way the cold (this is the way my family served it), pink meat was covered in a sweet layer of jelly with pieces of pineapple and cherry in it. I’ve said before that (when I was younger) I hated meat with anything sweet and Gammon was the personification of that hatred. Nobody ever understood how much I disliked Gammon but they left me alone, saying that it was my loss. I was happy to indulge in the turkey and stuffing.

Fast forward a few years and I still can’t stand the shop-bought, ready-cooked gammon with the layer of jelly and fruits studded onto it but gammon I’ve cooked myself, with a glaze that I lovingly made myself, I can eat kilo’s of. If you are one of the people who buys a ready-made (overpriced) gammon each year, I urge you to try this instead. I know it’s more effort and it might take some time but believe me, no ready-cooked gammon can ever, and I mean ever, come close to this gammon.

I know that traditionally gammon is boiled and this is to rid it of it’s saltiness but I am terribly lazy and I decided to follow the roasting instructions on the back of my gammon (I bought an uncooked, de-boned, smoked gammon from Woolies). I decided to roast the gammon with carrots, onions, apple slices and some apple juice for just over an hour and then covered it in the delicious glaze. If you wish, you can boil your gammon for the same amount of time with the same aromatics, just cover with plenty of water.  The apricot preserves and apple juice create the most delicious sweet and sticky glaze which compliments the salty, smoky gammon just perfectly. Serve this as part of your Christmas feast and I promise you, your family will sing your praises. And should you have any left-overs, I have two fabulous ideas using them coming up tomorrow so don’t forget to pop in and have a look!

Apricot & Apple Glazed Gammon

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Prep Time: 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 2 hours hours

Total Time: 2 hours hours 20 minutes minutes

Course: Entree, Main, Meat

Servings: 6 -8

Author: Alida Ryder

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Ingredients

• ▢ 2 kg boneless gammon/Ham
• ▢ 3 carrots roughly chopped
• ▢ 2 red onions roughly chopped
• ▢ 2 apples roughly chopped
• ▢ 500 ml apple juice
• ▢ 500 ml water/stock

for the glaze

• ▢ 4 tablespoons apricot preserves/jam
• ▢ 250 ml apple juice
• ▢ 50 g brown sugar
• ▢ 50 ml white wine vinegar

Instructions

• Pre-heat the oven to 160°c.
• Place the gammon in a large roasting tray and add the carrots, red onions, apples, apple juice and water to the roasting tray and cover with foil/lid.
• Place in the oven and roast for 20 minutes per 500g. A 2kg boneless gammon will need 1 hour 20 minutes.
• When the gammon is cooked, remove from the oven and turn the heat up to 200°c.
• In a small saucepan, combine all the glaze ingredients and allow to come to the boil. Cook until the sugar has dissolved.
• Cut the skin off the gammon and cut a diamond pattern into the fat. At this stage you can press cloves into each diamond if desired.
• Pour the glaze over the gammon and place back in the oven to cook.
• Allow the glaze to get sticky but check on it regularly as it can burn quickly.
• When the glaze is sticky and dark, remove from the oven.
• Slice and serve the gammon warm or allow to cool before serving.

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