HAM FOR THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS

Jain over at Food For Thought has a wonderful blog with three elements that I love - Food (of course), Books (nearly as good) and Great Photography (and I mean great).  She reviews a book, picking out any foodie vignettes, then she cooks/bakes these dishes and photographs them (often in her magnificent Californian garden).  She has asked her readers to review their favourite Christmas books, and throw a bit of cooking in there too - no better woman!

There are two reasons I am delighted to write this post, firstly just love Alice Taylor's "The Night Before Christmas" and secondly I wanted to introduce any non-Nigella disciples (?!) to her Ham in Cola, which is the nicest way to cook ham ... ever.  I would even be so bold as to recommend it as a way to cook your Christmas Ham.

The Night Before Christmas is a quaint book about a child's Christmas in a backwater* in the south of Ireland in the 1940s.  Alice Taylor remembers with incredible clarity all the details of her childhood Christmases; heading off with her siblings to cut holly to decorate the house, helping her mother pluck the geese for Christmas dinner, hilariously helping a neighbour clean her chimney, waiting for Santy to arrive and the excitement of finding a school bag and a doll on Christmas morning.

Food (obviously) plays a huge part in Alice's Christmas memories - buying muscatel raisins for the Christmas cakes, the excitement of receiving a box of fancy chocolates from a cousin who had returned from abroad for the holidays, goose cooked on the bastable over the fire and of course the ham (which they started eating at breakfast time on Christmas morning)

"When we had the kitchen to ourselves, our first priority was to settle down to attack the big ham in the centre of the table.  This was the ham that had matured up the chimney and hung off the meat hook from the ceiling;  my mother had boiled and baked it in a shroud of breadcrumbs and honey, and now all her loving care paid dividends because it was beautifully moist and tender" 

Moist and tender but not huge!

  I was introduced to this book through my book-club a few years ago, and I now read it every Christmas - it is the most wonderful "get in the Christmas mood" aid ever (along with a carol service or a kiddies Nativity play, tearing up at the thought!!).  When you have spent the day queueing for parking spaces, queueing at shopping tills, queueing, queueing queueing, it is wonderful to come home and escape to a Christmas filled with simple pleasures and NO shopping!!!

*My only issue with the book is that it is set in the 1940s when there was electricity here in Ireland (I have asked someone I know who was a child then about their childhood Christmases, their memories would be of a far more modern type experience, none the less magical for that though!) Alice's memories seem to be of of an older time (there were some far flung pockets around the country that took an age to get "the electric") and are (for the reader anyway) more magical and nostalgic for that.

Now onto the ham, this is a wonderful way to cook it, it has been my method of choice since I bought How To Eat 100 years ago!  I have toyed with other methods over the years but like a faithful Labrador I always return!!!

Ham in Cola

2kg              mild-cure gammon*
2 litre           Coke (minus 2 tbsp for glaze)**
1                  onion
1 or 2           bayleaves (my addition)

100g            fresh breadcrumbs
100g            dark muscovado sugar
1 tbsp          mustard powder
2 tbsp          Dijon mustard
2 tbsp          Coke


* You can alter the recipe for smaller joints, less Coke and cooking time.
**The Coke must be full sugar, but can be any cheap brand.

Place the gammon (raw ham), chopped onion, and bay leaves in an appropriately sized pot, cover with the Coke.
Bring to the boil and then reduce to a simmer.  A 2kg joint needs to be simmered like this for 2 1/2 hours, smaller joints will need less time, but I would err on the side of over rather than undercooking a ham.
Before the ham is finished boiling preheat the oven to 210 C.
Prepare a roasting tin for the ham by lining it with tinfoil (very important if you don't want to spend 3 hours cleaning it afterwards!!)
When ready remove the ham from the pot to the prepared tin and allow to cool slightly (or completely if you want to preprepare the dish to this stage*)
Remove the skin, leaving a layer of fat.
Mix the breadcrumbs, sugar (I used honey this time), and the mustards to a paste, add the Coke a little at a time to bring the paste to a spreadable consistency (you don't want it runny).
Cover the fat side of the ham with the paste (and of course cook it fat side up).
Cook in the hot oven for 10-15 minutes. (I often roast mine at a slightly lower temperature for longer as we like our ham quite dry)
*If you are cooking the ham from cold it will need 30/40 minutes at 180 C.

Enjoy!

SKRUMMY OLIVES

It was my turn to host the book-club evening a couple of weeks ago (there was another birthday cake involved, will blog about that later!!).  These evenings are always relaxed and casual - no fuss allowed!! - but you know me - I have to add a few home made touches!

I made my usual spiced nuts and they went down really well with this newest addition to my repertoire, these olives were a revelation, incredibly easy and they taste wonderful, the combination of olives, lemons, chilli and garlic, works really well.

I know I shouldn't use the "C" word, but I just have to - a jar of these olives would make a fantastic Christmas gift.  Arrive with a jar of these beauties and you will be welcome at any party, meal, shindig ... you name it, you'll be welcomed with open arms!!

Skrummy Olives

adapted from Lotte's Country Kitchen (Lotte Duncan)

400g              olives (I used black pitted and green stuffed with garlic)

2                    cloves of garlic, grated or minced

1                    lemon, zested and juiced

1 tbsp             chilli sauce (I used Frank's because I am addicted to it!!)

1 tbsp             chopped basil

1                    chilli - seeded and chopped

1 tbsp             olive oil

Drain and rinse the olives. (Olives without stones are best as they soak up the marinade like a sponge!)

In a bowl mix them with all the other ingredients.

Spoon back into some jars.

Although you can serve immediately they are best after a day or two.

Store in the fridge, they will keep for weeks and weeks.

Sit back and wait for the praise!!

BOOKCLUB NIBBLES

It's bookclub night soon (yahaa!) and I've realised that I didn't blog about the one I held here last month.
Our bookclub is a very relaxed affair, the host supplies cheese, grapes and crackers.  The guests bring along the wine.  We discuss the book for a short while and then get down to the important business of putting the world to rights!!

We discussed Colum McCann's "Let The Great World Spin", everyone enjoyed it, found it multi-layered, the type of book you could re-read and get even more from it next time round.  He definitely deserves all the awards he has received.

Back to the food - I have never been one to allow an opportunity to try out new recipes pass.  This time I was anxious to try out an idea I had had for a candied, spiced nut mixture - they were a huge success, I don't think I will be allowed to host another evening without serving them!!!

At my son's request I made cheese straws, I wanted to try a new recipe and found one that looked good on Deb's blog "smitten kitchen" - I subsequently made these into cheese biscuits using different cheeses (actually the ones left over from the spread above) and they were even better than the first time.

I, of course served brownies towards the end of the night - I will blog about these tomorrow.

Here's what I did:

Spiced Candies Nuts

200g         hazelnuts
200g         almonds
100g         pecan nuts
1/4 cup     brown sugar
1/4 cup     caster sugar
1/2 tsp      ground cumin
1/2 tsp      ground coriander
1/2 tsp      ground cinnamon
1   tsp       curry powder
1               egg white
1 tsp         maldon salt

Preheat oven to 150 C
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper

Whisk the egg white until light and frothy and set aside.
Mix the sugars and spices.
Combine the nuts and egg white until evenly coated.
Add the sugar mixture and toss well.
Spread in a single layer on the baking sheet.
Bake for 20 - 30 minutes, stir occasionally to ensure there is no clumping.
Remove from oven sprinkle with the salt and allow to cool.

Serve and Enjoy.

Cheese Biscuits/Straws

1 1/2 cups    grated hard cheese*
50g              softened butter
3/4 cup        plain flour
1/4 tsp         chili flakes (optional)
1 tbsp          milk

Preheat oven to 180 C




Combine the cheese, butter flour and chili flakes in a food processor, in short pulses until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.  Add the milk and process until it forms a ball.

Roll out between two sheets of cling film until about 1/2cm thick.  then either cut into strips (use a knife dipped into flour) or use a cookie cutter.  The cookie cutter option makes them very attractive to kiddies.  I think these cheese biscuits would be a great option for a children's birthday party,  make you feel less guilty serving all the sugar rich food. (I would of course leave out the chili).

Gently transfer the strips/biscuits onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.  They expand a little bit so leave some space between them.

Bake the straws/biscuits for 10 - 15 minutes,  until they are a nice golden brown.  Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the sheet for 10 minutes and then transfer to cooling rack.

These biscuits keep well in a  sealed container.


*First time round I used a strong cheddar,  second time I used an Irish hard herbed cheese and a small piece of spicy cheese (left out the chili flakes).

Hope you enjoy the nibbles.