Christmas cooking: Lime-glazed ham

This is a sponsored post for Woolworths.

If there’s one thing that screams Christmas and family to me, it’s a big Christmas ham. Each year my Dad would go down and buy the ham and we’d outdo ourselves with ham for breakfast, lunch and dinner – and then when it was done Dad would whip up his famous pea & ham soup.

When I married Hubby and started to experience Christmas with his family, as well as mine, it was interesting to see that a Christmas ham is a tradition for his family too. Perhaps it’s an Aussie thing?

I never cooked the ham before. We’ve always just had it as it is, nothing fancy. Hubby’s family was the same. But this year I decided to get a little bit fancy by glazing it. I used this recipe from the Woolworth’s Fresh magazine {it’s free in the supermarket if you want to grab a copy – but otherwise the recipe is also below}. It was super delicious and I’ll probably make the same effort every year. Perhaps it’ll be a new little family tradition.

Ingredients

1 leg of ham {around 7kg – mine weighed a whopping 10kg}
1 cup of brown sugar
2 tsp ground ginger
2 tbs Dijon mustard
1 lime, finely zest
1/4 cup lime juice
2 tbs rum
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup water
3 limes, extra
Whole cloves {about 10}

Method

♥ Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celcius. Line a large roasting pan with foil or just buy one of those disposable BBQ trays {I did that}. Weigh your ham {you might have to use the bathroom scales like we did!} and calculate 20 minutes per kilogram.
♥ Remove the skin from the ham. You can do this by running your thumb between the skin and the fat layer. Cut the skin around the shank {the bone at the end so the skin will detach}. You can keep the skin to place back on top of your ham to keep it moist.
♥ Score the fat in a diagonal pattern. Don’t cut too deep. Use a really sharp knife to make it easier. Place in the roasting tray.
♥ In a bowl, mix the brown sugar, the ginger, the Dijon mustard, the rum and the lime zest and juice. Mix it together until a paste forms. Use half of the paste over to brush over the ham.
♥ Place in the oven and cook for 20 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 160 degrees celcius, use the other half of the paste and brush over the ham. Continue cooking the ham {using the time you calculated when weighing it} and baste the ham every 30 minutes. It sound laborious, but put on a movie, set a timer and it only takes a few minutes to baste {so worth it for the end flavour. I promise!}.
♥ While the ham is cooking, make the final glaze. Place the white sugar and water in pot over medium heat. Simmer until the sugar dissolves, stirring until it does. Slice up 1 of the limes and add to the sugar/water mix. Simmer gently for 5 minutes. Turn off heat and allow to cool.
♥ Once the ham is cooked and out of the oven, brush over with the lime glaze. For a little extra wow factor, slice the 2 remaining limes and place on the cooked ham, securing with the cloves or a toothpick {if the cloves won’t stay}.
♥ Serve the ham warm or cold.

Starting from this week right through to Christmas, the Woolies ham will be on a special offer. You can find out about it here.

Do you have any family traditions when it comes to food and Christmas? What are they? Do you have a ham at Christmas time – I’d love to know what glazes you’ve tried and loved.

Ingredients

Method

16 thoughts on “Christmas cooking: Lime-glazed ham”

  1. I am obsessed with Xmas Ham. It is an illness. My Mum does the best one with brown sugar and stout. Yours looks amazing too xx

  2. Is it a fan forced oven or conventional? Looks so yummy. Have decided I’m going to do a baked ham this year. Might even do one before Chrissy hehehe

  3. yum! is it ham omelette, ham salad, ham sandwiches, ham frittata for the next few weeks! my grandma always buys us a ham each christmas and the kids and hubby love it!

  4. Love the sound of Mrs Woogs, brown sugar and stout glaze. I use apricot jam, but may be mixing a little stout into it this year

  5. It’s not just an Aussie thing. Ham is the traditional Christmas fare for many American families as well. It’s just not Christmas without a Christmas ham. After seeing this photo, my family’s Christmas ham this year might have to be lime-glazed!

  6. yum – this looks amazing! my mu glazes hers with english mustard and overs with bacon – ham on ham! its pretty damn good

  7. Christmas ham is a very Finnish tradition as well. Also sweet smashed potato and carrot casseroles and different kinds of smoked and raw spiced fishes are a must. The ham is cooked in the oven as it is, with the netting, skin and fat all there, and after the meat is the right temperature inside, the skin and most of the fat is removed. Brush a thick layer of strong mustard on top, and batter with breadcrumbs, put in the oven for another 20 minutes to get a golden color. The ham is eaten cold, with more mustard and the casseroles. Our own family tradition is the boiled and salted beef tongue.

  8. I am very tempted to do the one with coke in one of the Nigella cookbooks. Looks revoltingly sticky and delicious.

  9. I really like that you post recipes on your blog too, I liked the pavlova, the fruity flavoured water and this one and I felt compelled to pin them on my Food & Drink board on Pinterest. Thankyou and have a lovely weekend, looking forward to December’s FMSphotoaday 🙂 I’m doing the November one and have participated in the past. Can’t wait to try this recipe.

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