Glazed Ham (plus notes on hosting an afterball supper)

Gail Godfery asked for our never fail after school ball food. I think this is what she is talking about as it is standard fare when the Webber/Jacobsons need to feed a crowd with no effort and can be prepared early on the day.

Required

One baked and glazed ham - recipe below.

Lots of bread rolls

Lots of butter

A bowl of salad if you have too - I am not a vegetable lover

Large bowl of meringues - you already have the recipe

Bowl of whipped cream

Selection of cheese - or quite frankly just a big block of tasty and some crackers. By that time of night who needs fancy cheese.

Ham Glazing Instructions

Buy a good ham - oddly enough the New World at Victoria Park often have an excellent one - the Kinlock semi-boneless Champagne ham (don’t use the enclosed glaze - see below). We also recommend a ham stand for display magnificence. You can buy them at Stevens.

Earlier in the day of the event (if you don’t have an Ella Jacobson in the house, it is her job on Christmas Day and she snarls at anyone who tries to take over) take off the plastic and slip a knife edge underneath the brown skin, not under the fat - keep it on. Carefully peel the skin off, holding one hand on top and just running your finger underneath - it’s like skinning an animal. Once the whole skin is off, cut a diamond pattern in the fat - don’t go all the way through, just score it. In each of the crossovers, stick a clove - you buy them in packets in the spice section of the supermarket (make sure they are whole cloves, not ground). Also, make sure you buy a pastry brush if you don’t have one - in the kitchenware section of the supermarket.

Set oven at 190 degrees C.

Mix together:

half a cup of runny honey

3 teaspoons of French mustard (Colman’s with the yellow cap, ready prepared in supermarket)

2 tablespoons sherry - or port or green ginger wine or anything liquid

2 teaspoons soy sauce

Quarter cup brown sugar

Put the ham on a baking tray - I always put baking paper or tin foil underneath as it makes it easier to clean up afterwards. Brush the fat on the ham with the mixture. Put tray on lowest shelf of oven at 190 degrees for one hour, taking it out and brushing the ham every ten minutes (set the timer) for 60 minutes until it is golden brown.

The recipe originally came from Sue Mist and like all the recipes she has passed on to me (think the health food pavlova) it is excellent.