Spiced Festive Ham

Christmas isn't Christmas without a festive ham for our family.

We'll even do without a turkey in favour of a ham.

Try this festive way of preparing it,

It's deliciously different.

Although you could use any white wine or cider here,

I rather like the flavour that "Pinot Grigio" gives to the meat.

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Ingredients:
2.5 kg boneless gammon or ham
1 bottle of Pinot Grigio, Italian white wine.
2.5L water
1 large onion, halved
2 cloves of garlic
1 head of fennel, halved
2-3 star anise
15ml coriander seed
15ml fennel seed
15ml mixed peppercorns
2-3 clementines, halved through the middle
so the segments are cut in half and
each half studded with a whole clove.

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For the Glaze:
12-16 whole cloves
60ml smooth orange marmalade
2ml cinnamon
2ml smoked paprika
5ml white wine vinegar

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Method:
Place the gammon in a large saucepan.
Add all the ingredients for the ham to the pan, adding some more water if the ham isn't covered.Bring to the boil, before reducing the heat to a simmer and partially covering the pan. Cook for about two and a half to three hours - approximately one hour a kilo simmering time, plus an extra 15 minutes.
When you are ready to glaze the ham, preheat the oven to 230C.
Remove the ham from the liquid and sit the ham on a board. Strip off the rind, and a little of the fat layer if it's very thick, and cut a diamond pattern into the remaining fat with a sharp knife in lines of about 2cm apart.
Stud the cloves into each diamond. Put the marmalade, cinnamon, paprika and white wine vinegar into a saucepan and stir over high heat, bringing it to the boil. Let the pan bubble away so that the glaze reduces to a syrup-like consistency.
Place a layer of foil over a roasting tray big enough to hold the ham. Place the ham on top of the foil. (This saves on washing up later as the foil can be discarded and there is little, if any, sticky residue to clean up.)
Pour the glaze over the clove-studded ham and then transfer it to the oven. Cook for about 15 minutes, or until the glazed fat is burnished.
Allow the meat to rest in a warm place for at least 15 minutes before carving it.