Glazed Gammon and Slaphakskeentjies

Wednesday, 10 December, 2014

Judy Brower

Two festive recipes to keep everyone's hunger at bay over Christmas. You're welcome

Stray away from the traditional and often dry Turkey and get your tasetbuds tingling with these two dishes which I love to make and enjoy at Christmas time

Glazed Gammon

Get yourself a delicious gammon from your local butcher – I get mine from Sweetwell Butcher on the R44 near Somerset West. I like those on the bone but you get more for your money if off the bone.

Directions

Keeping the string on… place into large pot, add water and beer (anything you have) to cover the ham.
Add sliced carrots (lengthwise), a couple of bay leaves, a few cloves (3 or 4 is enough), cut up an onion and add.
Boil up for quite a while – about 2 – 3 hours for a 2-3kg ham..I leave it in the water for a few hours.
Then remove from water, and cut off the string and carefully remove just the skin, so that the fat is the outer layer.
Then score the outer fat layer, (cut in diamond shape). Then insert a clove in every occasional cross over.

Glaze

Make up the glaze - 5 teaspoons dry Colmans mustard and half a cup of apricot jam. Stir together and ensure it is not too wet that it drips off the ham too much.
Put ham into roasting pan and take the carrots and onions from the ham water and put in bottom of pan. Then take about a cup or 2 of the stock and put in bottom of pan.
Pour glaze over the ham, ensuring the glazed bit is at the top.
Turn on oven – 180 degrees – and insert into middle of oven.
Keep a close watch so that the top does not burn but let it get really sticky and a teeny bit crisp if possible.
Keep looking to see that the liquid stock does not completely dry out.
Remove from oven after about half an hour.. and let it stand for a while.

Cut and serve. I like to put the cut slices back into the sticky yummy pan and baste with the sauce/juicy bits to keep it moist so that it does not need any gravy.

Slaphakskeentjies

1 kg pickling onions (small ones, peeled)
3 eggs
30 ml sugar
5 ml dry English mustard powder (Colmans)
2 ml salt
125 ml red wine vinegar
30 ml water
200 ml milk or cream

Boil the onions in salted water until just tender. Drain.
Whisk eggs, sugar, mustard, salt in saucepan until frothy.
Add vinegar, water milk/cream and cook gently until sauce thickens.
Be careful that the eggs don't cook and you make a sour scrambled eggs mixture... ensure it is not too hot.
When warm and integrated... pour over onions.