Lisa Faulkner's glazed gammon with piccalilli recipe

Lisa Faulkner's glazed gammon with piccalilli is an easy way to feed a crowd over Christmas. A glazed ham is delicious hot or cold, so you can make it ahead and use it as the centrepiece to your Boxing Day feast, or make it for a buffet. The marmalade and black treacle glaze is SO good! It's so worth the extra effort of making your own piccalilli and this recipe makes 2kg and keeps for year, so you could even put some in jars to give as Christmas gifts.

Ingredients

For the piccalilli:

• 1 litre malt vinegar
• 3tbsp coriander seeds
• 1tbsp fennel seeds
• 1 large cauliflower, cut into small florets
• 2 large onions, chopped finely
• 4½tbsp mustard powder
• 4½tbspplain flower
• 1½tbsp turmeric
• 3tbsp ground ginger
• 200ml cider vinegar
• 125g French beans, chopped into 1cm pieces
• 2 red peppers, deseeded and chopped into 1cm pieces
• 1 cucumber, diced
• 3 garlic cloves, finely sliced
• 250g caster sugar

For the glazed gammon:

• 1 unsmoked gammon joint, weighing about 4kg
• 1 carrot, cut in half
• 1 onion, cut in half at root
• 1 celery stick
• 1 bay leaf
• 7 peppercorns

For the glaze:

• 8tbsp marmalade
• 2tbsp wholegrain mustard
• 2tbsp black treacle
• 8-10 cloves

Method

1. For the piccalilli: Put the malt vinegar, coriander seeds and fennel seeds into a large preserving pan and bring to the boil. Add the cauliflower and onions, and cook until softened, but so that they still have a bit of ‘bite’ to them.

2. Mix the mustard powder, flour, turmeric, ginger and cider vinegar together in a bowl until you have a smooth paste.

3. Add the French beans, red peppers, cucumber, garlic and sugar to the pan and lightly simmer until the sugar is dissolved. Drain over a large pan or bowl and reserve the vinegar liquid.

4. Put the mustard paste into the large pan containing the vinegar liquid and bring to the boil. Reduce the temperature and simmer until thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Transfer the vegetables back to the large pan and mix until combined.

5. Spoon the piccalilli into clean, sterilised jars and seal. It will keep for up to 1 year in a cool, dark place.

6. For the gammon: Soak the gammon in water overnight, but ask your butcher if this is necessary and, if so, discard the soaking water before starting.

7. Place the gammon in a large saucepan, cover with water and add the carrot, onion, celery, bay leaf and peppercorns. Bring to the boil and then turn down to a low simmer, covered, for 2¾ hours.

8. Preheat the oven to 180C, gas 4. When the gammon is cooked, make the glaze by mixing all of the ingredients except the cloves together in a bowl.

9. Remove the gammon from its cooking water and drain well. Cut the rind and some of the fat off the gammon, leaving a thin layer of fat. Score the fat diagonally in a criss-cross pattern and then stud with the cloves all over. Put the gammon joint in a roasting tin, brush over the glaze and bake in the  oven for about 25-30 minutes until sticky and golden. Serve hot or cold.