Christmas ham with mulled wine glaze

Directions

If you’ve never heard of ‘beer can chicken’ before you may be thinking that it’s a bit of a gimmick, but let us assure you this is a dish set to impress. Not only does the beer keep your chook delicious and moist, but it keeps it lean too as having the bird standing up lets the fat drip away.

1. Preheat oven to 180°C


2. Place ham, fat side up, on a rack in a roasting pan and pour in 2 cups of water.


3. Cover pan tightly with foil; roast for 2 hours, adding more water if necessary to maintain level.


4. If your ham has skin, slide a sharp knife under the skin and lift off. (Discard skin or save for making ham broth for split pea soup).


5. Trim fat layer to 5 mm thickness. Discard the trimmed fat and then diagonally score the remaining fat to form a diamond pattern.


6. In a small saucepan, combine honey, red wine, pineapple juice, butter, pepper, nutmeg, cloves and ginger over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until butter is melted. Stir in Dijon mustard; let cool slightly.


7. Brush enough of the glaze over the ham to cover it, and stud the centre of each diamond pattern with clove.


8. Roast the ham, uncovered and brushing several times with remaining glaze, for 45 to 60 minutes or until a meat thermometer inserted in centre registers 60°C. Transfer to cutting board and tent with foil; let stand for 15 minutes before carving.