I’m a smidge proud of this VERY MERRY Raspberry Glazed Ham number.
It’s 100% AIP-friendly and it tastes GREAT. The secret ingredient is the wasabi powder – it adds a little kick of heat to the sweetness of the raspberry glaze.
I’m one of those Christmas tragics. I lurve Christmas. I get all the loved up feels and want to sprinkle it everywhere. On everyone.
“I wish we could put up some of the Christmas spirit in jars and open a jar of it every month.”
―
I’m that girl. David just laughs at me.
I blame my Mum. She started it. I have childhood memories of the smell of the Christmas tree and Mum’s world-famous in New Zealand Christmas Mince Pies baking in the oven, ‘O Tannenbaum‘ playing – at volume – on the stereo, and feeling very happy when we got to nibble on the chocolate tree decorations my Omi used to send over from Germany for the festive season.
So, when I received this text from my sister, I knew it was time to share my glazed ham recipe with you…
I know, I know – it’s still November. And you lot over there in the U.S. of A are yet to even celebrate Thanksgiving.
But, Christmas decorations are starting to go up. I’m receiving gift buying advice emails from retailers I really should unsubscribe from. And, good quality hams must be ordered from reputable sources. Like our mate, Farmer Greg over at Linga Longa Farm.
I’ve been wanting to play with my AIP-friendly ham glaze for a while now. But, it’s a tricky thing – preparing a glazed ham and then having the opportunity to photograph it…
This year, I got my shizzle together. I ordered a ham off Farmer Greg in the middle of the year (our winter!) I’ve been very quietly waiting to pull this baby out of my hat at the right opportunity.
And, here she is.
Of course, you don’t have to save this recipe for your Christmas glazed ham. It’s good at any time of year. A glazed ham is always a great option when you need to feed a crowd. I’m just used to serving glazed ham at the Christmas table… And then ham with breakfast throughout the whole of January. And, lots of ham salads (because it’s summer here). And, ham terrine for when you’re feeling creative. And then finally, when you are left with naught but the meaty bone – ham bone soup.
It’s a HAMTASTIC time of year…
- 4-5 kg half leg of ham on the bone (skin on)
- cloves, for studding
- Raspberry glaze
- 1 teaspoon wasabi powder (more if you'd like added heat)
- 500g raspberries (I use organic frozen berries)
- 200g coconut sugar
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 cinnamon stick
- Heat your oven to 170°C/340°F.
- To make the ham glaze, mix wasabi powder with 2 teaspoons of water in a small bowl and leave to stand. Place the remaining ingredients in a small saucepan and over low heat. Heat gently, stirring occasionally, until sugar dissolves. Simmer for 5 minutes. Add the wasabi paste and stir. Set aside for flavours to infuse
- When cool, strain mixture through a mesh sieve.
- To prepare the ham, score the skin around the ham bone where the knuckle joins the meat. Carefully run a knife under the skin to separate from the fat. Work your fingers in between the skin and the fat to lift off and discard the skin. Take your time with this.
- Place your ham on a rack and set on top of a deep oven tray, to catch the cooking juices. Score the fat approximately 5 mm deep into a diamond design. Stud with cloves. Pour 2 cups of water into the tray to prevent drips from burning.
- Brush one-third of the glaze over the ham. Bake for 1½ hours. Glaze ham every 20 minutes or so, until caramelised to your liking. Top the drip tray up with water as required.
- Remove ham from the oven.
- Serve warm, at room temperature or chilled.
