#baked ham

Was thinking about those polls about getting rid of a particular food and wanna do my own so. Choose one of my favorite foods to sacrifice forever! If the food's got different variations to it (cheese vs pepperoni vs whatever pizza, etc) those all vanish too!

Our Sunday Lunch today takes inspiration from my recent journey across Aotearoa New Zealand. The pièce de résistance, this beautiful Manuka Honey Glazed Ham, was one of the meats I ate when we lunched at Te Puia in Rotorua. It was most excellent, and I vowed to recreate the recipe at home. I also loved the Hāngī lamb and chicken, but digging an umu (earth oven) in the garden is little more complicated, especially on a rainy day! Happy Sunday, mates!

Ingredients (serves 4 to 6):

1 onion

2 small carrots

1.4-kilo/-pound ham on the bone (uncooked, and preferably not smoked)

1/2 tablespoon juniper berries

1/2 tablespoon whole black peppercorns

1/2 tablespoon coarse sea salt

1 litre/4 cups water

1 large garlic clove, minced

1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary

2 heaped tablespoons good Manuka Honey

Peel onion, and cut it into quarters. Peel carrots, and cut them into thick chunks.

Add onion and carrots into a large Dutch oven and place the ham onto them. Sprinkle liberally with juniper berries, whole peppercorns and coarse sea salt. Cover with water (the ham doesn’t need to be completely submerged as it will cook in the steam). 

Place Dutch oven on the stove, over a high flame, and bring to the boil. Then, cover with the lid, reduce heat to low, and simmer, one hour.

In a small bowl, combine minced garlic, dried rosemary and Manuka Honey. Give a good stir until well-blended.

Preheat oven to 200°C/395°F.

Once the ham is cooked, lift it out of the Dutch oven, and onto a roasting or baking dish. 

Carefully remove the skin from the ham, so you are left with a thin layer of fat. Using a sharp knife, score the fat in a criss-cross manner.

Generously spread Manuka Honey mixture onto the ham. Place baking dish into the hot oven, and roast, at 200°C/395°F, for 20 to 25 minutes, until golden brown on top, occasionally basting it with its fat and the Manuka Honey glaze.

Serve hot, with its roasting juices and Manuka Honey and Thyme Roasted Kūmara. A Waiheke Island Pinot Noir, or a French Beaujolais Nouveau would pair nicely with it!

From The Country Cousin in An Academy Award Review of Walt Disney Cartoons

The History

It's time to tackle the meats on this gorgeous spread.

The Food

We have a recipe for baked ham here from 1936. The year that the short came out.

Ingredients

1 1/2 pound ham

Whole cloves for studding

1 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup mustard

Cookware

Pot for boiling

Knife

Pan for roasting

Directions

Boil the ham in a large pot of water for 2 hours.

Then drain and score the meat into squares

Glaze on the mustard

Then rub in the brown sugar

Stick one clove into each square

Bake for 1 hour in a 350 degree oven