I’m amazed I’ve never done this before. I’ve been buying mediocre ham from the shops and butcher’s for years. The best I’ve ever had had to be the stuff Dad used to smoke before Christmas years ago. Yesterday a new Good Food mag came through the door, with a festive, glazed ham on the cover. I showed it to Florek and said- this is a sign from God. 🙂

I looked up a few simple recipes, added a small, unsmoked gammon joint to my Sainsbury’s load due to arrive this morning and I thought, the worst that could happen I would have wasted 4 quid. But I didn’t waste it. The house still smells of cloves, but I think for Christmas I’ll make another one, festive, maybe with orange glaze or something, I’ll research the subject and do more of these, now that I know I can!!!

So the small, 750 g gammon went into the pot of cold water, enough of it to submerge the whole thing, alongside the whole onion, a carrot, 3 bay leaves, some peppercorns, a small rosemary sprig, celery stick and some cloves. When it came to the boil, I covered it and simmered for about 40 minutes. Took it out, glazed with half of the combination of honey( 70g), Dijon mustard, about 1,1/2 tsp and 2 tbsps of dark sugar. Roasted it in 200 degrees for 15 minutes, before reglazing it with the remaining mixture and then 15 minutes again.

What I ended up with is a succulent piece of ham, salty, with sweet glaze, juicy and wonderful. I’m looking forward to making some lunch with it tomorrow. Also, reviews say that the stock from poaching the ham will make a fantastic base for a soup. Mine’s saved and waiting. Good stuff!!

The curry recipe is from December edition of Waitrose magazine, from which I also picked up a dessert I will make for Christmas. I actually already made some to try it out, I’m glad I did, as there will be some corrections made.

Now, the duck curry I simply had to try, especially as there were 2 duck legs sitting in the freezer. Florek promised he would give it a go, although he’s not a duck fan at all. For me the whole dinner tonight was excellent, Florek had it, but was not blown away by the duck, by the naan they both were. My lovely kiddo was finishing her picture after dinner and still chewing on the remaining bread, as it was”the best ever”.

Now, the duck legs, once defrosted received a nice sprinkling of curry powder, salt and turmeric and once we came back from school, got browned off on a little oil. 2 large onions chopped went into the pan, once the thighs were set aside, I cooked these down for nearly 15 minutes. Then a garlic and ginger paste went in, about 5 garlic cloves and a significant chunk of fresh ginger. Cooked for a few minutes with the onions. 1 tsp of chili flakes. 300 ml of chicken stock. Some salt- will leave out next time, the whole thing was salted plenty. The thighs back in, about 45 minutes later I was supposed to uncover them and continue cooking for another 40 minutes, but the meat needed longer, so I kept the lid on. In the meantime I got the rice ready, the fried shallots and the apple salad- that was lovely with a rich curry. 2 dessert apples very thinly sliced, some fresh chili, the dressing on juice of 1 lime, 1 tsp of fish sauce and a drizzle of sesame oil.

The naan! I don’t often make it from scratch, but this recipe I’m keeping. Found it on youtube, by some guy who loves curry. It was quick to make and when taken off the pan and smeared with some butter- I had to keep the child away after letting her try some. I used about 210g of self raising flour, 1tsp each of sugar and baking powder, a pinch of salt, then some Greek yoghurt, a splash of milk and some olive oil and all this quickly became a nice, soft dough. Once kneaded for a few minutes, it was rolled out, some garlic slices and fresh coriander were pressed in with the rolling pin and onto the pan on a medium heat for about 4 minutes on each side. Finished with butter and a tiny sprinkling of sea salt. Delicious!

Link to the naan;