My mum is an amazing cook and every Christmas, we head to her place for a huge feast. We always have Turkey and possibly Roast Beef too. It is a huge party because my grandma had quite a number of children. No one goes home hungry, ever.
Well, when i got married, I thought it would be fun to have my parents and sisters and my grandma come over to my place for a Christmas meal. The idea was to savour Christmas together and my mum would be able to relax and enjoy the meal without hustling to the kitchen. So I decided to invite them over for Christmas Eve dinner.
Now since we already had Turkey on the menu for Christmas day, I searched for another recipe that I cook whip up the day before. I found Nigella's Ham in Coca Cola recipe which sounded crazy but sometimes crazy is fun so I decided to try it. Of course, it also had really great reviews so it seemed there was a safe chance that it would work out.
Thankfully, it turned out to be really easy to make and a real treat for Christmas. So it has become somewhat of a tradition for us.
The only problem is that the recipe calls for Gammon.
If you are wondering, Gammon refers to the thigh and rump cut of the pig.
A few years ago, bone-in Gammon Ham only came in 5kg sizes*. So I had to pre-order the bone-in Gammon Ham from Carrefour (which was huge) and picked it up on the day that I wanted to cook it as I didn't have space in my fridge to store it.
For smaller families, a smaller ham would be more suitable, so I decided to try the recipe with a honey baked ham. They are easily available in Singapore and much smaller in size. The texture is certainly not the same as cooking gammon ham and if you ever get the chance, do try the actual recipe with Gammon Ham. You won't regret it.
Honey Baked Ham in Coca Cola
(adapted from Nigella Lawson)
Ingredients:
- 1 honey baked ham
- 2 bottles of coke
- 1 onion
For the glaze:
- 1 handful of cloves
- black treacle
- 2 tsp english mustard powder
- 2 tbsp sugar
Directions:
1. Put the honey baked ham and peeled onion in a pot.
2. Pour the coke over the ham and into the pot.
3. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cover the pot, leaving a slight gap and cook for around 2-3 hours. Be careful not to cook it for too long or the skin will peel and it won't look very pretty.
4. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 240 degrees celsius.
5. Take the ham out and let it cool.
6. Score the ham with a sharp knife to make fairly large diamond shapes and stud each diamond with a clove. Then carefully spread the treacle over the fat, taking care not to dislodge the cloves.
7. Gently pat the mustard powder and sugar onto the fat.
8. Cook in a roasting tin for approx 10 minutes or until the glaze is burnished and bubbly.
* After trying out this recipe on honey baked hams, I recently chanced upon a smaller 2kg boneless Gammon Ham at Fairprice Finest. Grab that if you see it and try Nigella's recipe here.
This post is part of the Festive Fare Blog train hosted by Dinomama.
Next up is Ai Sakura.
Ai is a full-time working mother with a beautiful toddler daughter. She hopes to inspire and show how passions like travel, food, crafts, fashion and photography can exist in a family setting. Ai Sakura shares insights and ideas about parenting and living in Singapore on her personal blog, Saruka Haruka.