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CHRISTMAS CIDER- COOKED GAMMON
There’s no more versatile meat to have standing by at Christmas than a home-cooked gammon. Eat it hot with home-made parsley sauce as a real treat on Christmas Eve, serve it cold on Boxing Day and use it in sandwiches for any of those odd moments when your guests get a little peckish. Any left-overs can go into a pie with the cold turkey or into a quiche, making it a zero-waste buy. Here’s a recipe with a real West Country flavour.
1 gammon joint, 2-3kg, preferably smoked
1.5 litres of strong cider 1 large onion stuck with two cloves 2 sticks of celery 2 large carrots, roughly chopped 3 bay leaves Large bunch of parsley stalks 20 whole black peppercorns 1 tbsp mustard powder 1 tbsp runny honey
1 Place all ingredients except the mustard and honey in a large saucepan or stock pot and add just enough water to cover the gammon.
2 Bring to the boil then reduce the heat, cover and simmer gently for two hours or until a sharp knife will pass easily into the meat.
3 Remove the gammon and transfer to a foil-lined roasting pan.
4 Using a paring knife carefully peel away the rind but not the fat – that is where the best flavour is.
5 Make shallow diagonal cuts crosswise into the fat to form a diamond pattern.
6 Mix together the mustard and honey and spread over the fat with a palette knife and immediately transfer to an oven preheated to 200o
minutes then reduce heat to 190o
C/gas mark
5 and roast for a further 20 minutes.
ENJOY WITH A QUICK AND DELICIOUS PARSLEY SAUCE
Double handful of fresh, chopped parsley 2 tbsp finely-chopped shallots 1 heaped tbsp flour 1 pint of full-cream milk 50g butter 1 heaped tsp salt 20 grindings black pepper
1 Place the shallot, flour, milk, butter, salt
and pepper in a heavy-bottom pan and whisk over a low heat until all the flour has been incorporated.
2 Switch to a wooden spatula and continue to cook until the mixture starts to thicken.
Add the parsley and continue to cook, stirring constantly, for another two minutes.
TOP TIP
This sauce can be refrigerated and microwaved just before serving.
Malcolm Pyne, Pyne’s of Somerset 333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333 PIGS IN BLANKETS
Sausages wrapped in bacon are only usually served at Christmas, but are good all year round. So simple, they should be popped in with the turkey for the final 40 – 50 minutes of the roast, or once the turkey has been removed from the oven to rest. There are a few things to think about when planning these festive treats: Which sausage?
Chipolatas, cocktail sausages or larger pork sausages? What to wrap them in? Traditional back bacon, smoked or unsmoked, works perfectly. Streaky bacon works better for smaller sausages. For a herby dimension try wrapping some blanched fresh sage in between the bacon and sausage.
TOP TIP
If using larger sausages and back bacon, once wrapped pop a cocktail stick through the middle of the sausage to stop the bacon unwrapping in the oven.
333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333 16 | THE WESTCOUNTRY FOODLOVER
C/gas mark 6 for 10
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