Great British Food Christmas 2024

SlowCookerRoasted Gammon There is something particularly festive about serving golden, glistening roasted gammon as a centrepiece for a buffet table. My family tradition is to start this off on themorning of Christmas Eve, then serve it with baked potatoes and salads in the evening, going on to nibble on the leftovers at every possible opportunity between Christmas and NewYear. Leftovermeat can also be frozen – it makes a happy discovery to perk up pies or pastas in January. Serves: Prepare: 15minutes Cook: 6 hours For the slowcook: 1 gammon joint (boneless, smoked or unsmoked), about 2kg 1 carrot, peeled and quartered 1 onion, peeled and quartered 3 tbspmixed spice 500ml cider (dry ormedium) 1 litre apple juice For the glaze: 6 tbsp runny honey 3 tbsp soft dark brown sugar 1 tbsp Englishmustard powder (optional) 1. Put the slow cook ingredients into the slow cooker. Place the lid on and cook on HIGH for 4–6 hours or LOW for 6–8 hours. If you can, turn the joint over and baste it halfway through the cooking time. 2. When the cooking time is complete, take the meat out of the slow cooker “There is something particularly festive about serving golden, glistening roasted gammon as a centrepiece for a buffet table” and discard the vegetables and liquid. 3. Preheat the oven to 200°C fan/220°C/Gas Mark 7 and line a roasting tin with two layers of tin foil or use a disposable tin-foil tray. (This is important, as the glaze is incredibly hard to scrub off!) 4. Remove the string and layer of skin (if your gammon has them) and use a sharp knife to score the fat. Sit the ham in the lined pan and drench it with the honey. Pat the sugar (and mustard powder if you’re using it) onto the honey. 5. Roast for 30 minutes until the ham is just turning black at the edges. Tomakeahead Allow the baked ham to cool, wrap well and store in the fridge for up to 3 days, until ready to slice and serve cold Make-aheadGravy If there’s just one recipe youmake in advance, let it be this one. Making gravy on the big day, using the bottomof the roasting tin after yourmeat is cooked is, of course, delicious, but – ohmy goodness – the pressure that adds to the whole proceedings is something else. The added benefit of using thismethod is that the gravy is accidentally vegan (if you use suitable wine), so everyone can enjoy it. It does take a while to let this roast and bubble formaximum flavour, so I often cook a double batch and freeze it in portions for anytime ameal calls for gravy. Serves: 6 Prepare: 20minutes Cook: 2 hours 10minutes 2 onions 500g leeks 450g carrots 4 celery sticks 1 garlic bulb 2 tbsp olive oil 2 tbsp tomato purée 10g fresh thyme 2 bay leaves 2 vegetable stock cubes (no need to dilute) 1.5 litres water 180ml white wine (check the label if you’re vegetarian or vegan) 25g cornflour 2 tbsp dark soy sauce (I use reduced salt) 2 tbsp redcurrant jelly Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper “If there’s just one recipe youmake in advance, let it be this one” If youdon’thave aslowcooker... Work out the cooking time of your gammon joint by calculating 30 minutes per 450g/1lb, plus an additional 30 minutes. Put the ‘slow cook’ ingredients into a large saucepan and boil on the hob over a medium heat for the total cooking time minus 30 minutes. Drain, add the honey and sugar and finish in the oven as per steps 3 and 4 above. If you prefer not to cook with alcohol, replace the cider with additional apple juice RECI PES | SARAH ROSS I greatbr i t ishfoodawards.com 62