Cider Ham

It is a Christmas tradition in my house for a Delia Smith special to be cooked alongside the traditional turkey.
We have a joint of gammon infused with cider, cloves and mustard and I think it is definitely my favourite part of the Christmas Day meal. 

It is my Dad's baby so I asked him for the recipe so that I could re-create the magic for our flat Christmas party. 

Ingredients:
1 piece of middle-cut gammon.

1 onion peeled and stuck with a few cloves

1 bayleaf

1 pint dry cider

2 dozen cloves

Half tsp of black peppercorns

2 tbsps dark brown sugar

1 tbsp English mustard.

To start you must place the gammon in a pan and completely cover in cold water.

Once this has been brought to the boil you must remove the water and then replace with the cider and top up the pan with water.

Add the peppercorns, studded onions and bay leaves.
This must then simmer for about an hour.

(I made the ham a couple of days in advance and I just left the gammon in the pan full of cider in the fridge over night for added flavour).

Pre-heat the oven to Gas Mark 6.

Remove the skin from the gammon and then score the fat in diamond shaped cuts.

Within each diamond insert a clove.

Then cover the joint in mustard and press in the brown sugar.

Place in a roasting tray with some cider and roast in the oven for at least 1 hour - continue to baste the cider throughout the roasting.

Then serve!!

I also made a cheeky Baileys cheescake with honeycomb pieces for one of the desserts:

What are your essential Christmas recipes?