Miguel Maestre’s Honey-Glazed Ham

“I really recommend using a good quality, free-range ham for this recipe. Free-range hams have a higher fat content, more moisture and better flavour. If price is an issue, go for quality over quantity and choose a smaller two kilogram one. When it comes to the glaze, you need to give it a lot of love and keep glazing the ham constantly as it cooks to achieve that really shiny look. It’s all about that baste, ’bout that baste, no treble.’ You don’t need to stick to this traditional glaze either – try being adventurous with Asian flavours like the sweet chilli variation I’ve given below. Ham works with everything! In fact, you can make this dish all year round. If you have ten people coming over, cook a ham! Make it Christmas everyday.”

Serves 12 – 14

Ingredients:

  • 1 large (4 kg) smoke leg ham, skin on (or 2 small 2kg hams)
  • Cloves for presentation
  • 90g (1/3 cup) seeded mustard, plus extra to serve
  • 90g (1/3 cup) dijon mustard, plus extra to serve
  • 2 tablespoons of hot English mustard, plus extra to serve
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons Worscestershire sauce
  • 300g honey
  • 2 1/2 tablespoons chicken stock
  • 80g (1/3 cup) brown sugar

Method:

  1. Skin and peel the ham, leaving some fat on the leg. Using a sharp knife, score the ham in a criss-cross pattern, then push in one clove at the join of each score. Place the ham leg in a large roasting tin.
  2. Combine the mustards, Worcestershire sauce, honey, chicken stock and brown sugar in a large saucepan over medium heat. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer until the glaze was reduced and thickened.
  3. Brush some of the glaze over the ham, then place in the oven and bake for 20 minutes. Brush with more glaze three times as it bakes until the ham is golden and crispy.
  4. Pour the glaze from the roasting tin into a jug and brush over the ham immediately before carving. Serve with a range of mustards.

Glaze Variation:

For a sweet chilli glazed ham, combine 80ml (1/3 cup) sweet chilli sauce, 1 lemongrass stalk, white part pounded and finely chopped, 2 tablespoons honey, 1 tablespoon fish sauce, 1 tablespoon soy sauce and the juice of 1 lime in a bowl. Garnish with coriander, basil and mint leave mixed with 1 chopped red chilli, a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil and a good handful of crispy fried shallots.

Discover the Harris Scarfe Cooking Club for exclusive celebrity chef recipes, cooking tips & tricks and more!

Recipe Credit: This recipe is from Miguel’s new book Feast. Feast has 100 generous recipes that are designed to share and is now available to buy from your favourite book retailer. Feast by Miguel Maestre is published by Plum.