Roast Gammon with Caramelised Apples
A festive centrepiece with a maple syrup and mustard glaze, served with sweet caramelised apples. This method uses the roasting oven, but you could slow cook in the simmering oven.
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2kg piece of gammon, unsmoked
2 onions, peeled and roughly sliced
Parsley stalks
1 cinnamon stick
Black peppercorns
440ml dry cider
Glaze:
25ml maple syrup
2 tsp mustard
Garnish:
Cranberries or Maraschino cherries
Fresh bay leaves
Caramelised apples – see end of recipe for details on how to make
Serves 6 - 8
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1. Check with your butcher to see if the gammon needs soaking. Soaking overnight reduces the salt.
2. Place the onions, parsley stalks, cinnamon stick and bruised black peppercorns into the base of the Portmeirion for AGA Roaster with Pouring Lip and place the gammon joint on top. Pour over the cider then cover with foil – do not put foil over the edges as this will hinder sliding the roaster onto the oven runners!
3. Slide the roaster onto the lowest set of runners in the roasting oven and cook for 1½-1¾hours, until the gammon is cooked (a skewer slides easily into the meat / meat thermometer reading of 68-72°C). Take the gammon out of the oven and remove any string. Take a sharp knife and peel off the rind. Score the fat into a diamond pattern.
4. Place the gammon onto a piece of Bake-O-Glide placed on a baking tray. Mix the maple syrup and mustard together and brush this glaze over the scored fat. Slide the baking tray onto the third set of runners down in the roasting oven and cook for 10-15 minutes, brush over more glaze and cook for a further 10 minutes, brush over any remaining glaze and cook for 5 minutes when the top of the gammon should be deep golden.
5. Place on a serving dish and garnish with cranberries or maraschino cherries (fixed with part of a cocktail stick) and bay leaves. Serve accompanied with caramelised apples, made by sautéing quarters of 2 Cox’s apples in 25g butter and 25g demerara sugar.
