CHEF'S DELIGHT: Spiced orange honey glazed ham

A WORD FROM THE CHEF

I cannot explain to you how delicious this spiced orange honey glazed ham is. It really is well worth a try this year.

INGREDIENTS

One Smoked/Unsmoked ham joint 2.5 kg

Whole Cloves

1tsp ground Cinnamon

Two star anise

A heaped teaspoon of dijon Mustard

100g Honey

Two oranges juiced

One carrot chopped roughly

Two onions chopped roughly

One celery stick chopped roughly

Two sprigs of Rosemary

A small bunch of Thyme

One bulb of Garlic halved

15g black peppercorns

METHOD

Place your ham in a pot/container and cover completely with cold water. Leave to soak overnight. This draws out all the salt so don't skip this step!

Drain off all the water and in the same pot, add the chopped onion, carrot, celery, rosemary, thyme, black peppercorns, garlic and the ham. Cover again with water and bring to a boil. Continue to slowly Simmer for 90 minutes until the core temperature reaches 75C.

In a saucepan make the glaze by adding the orange juice, honey, cinnamon, mustard and star anise. And place onto a high heat to caramelise for 2-3 minutes.

Once the ham is cooked and slightly cooled, peel off the skin and score with a knife diagonally across the whole ham, and again the other way, creating a diamond shape.

Now stud a clove into each diamond before pouring over your glaze.

Place it in the oven at 180C for 30 mins, basting every five mins with the glaze.

Once glazed remove and baste again. Place onto a cutting board and with the remaining glaze place into a pan to reduce to a very thick syrup. Baste that over the ham once more before carving. Enjoy!

Have a wonderful Christmas to all The Anglo-Celt Readers from Adrian, Maria and Kai Martin in Kilsob, Bawnboy.

ABOUT THE CHEF

Adrian Martin from Bawnboy is a regular on our TV screens and an ambassador for Odlums.

He runs the Mayflower restaurants in Dublin and Camden, London.