Fennel Glazed Ham

My family and I often go to Suffolk on holiday, and the last time we went, we visited a delicatessen noted for its smoked hams, bacons, and other yummilicious pork products. While there we tried a fennel glazed ham that was rather nice, so I decided to create my own version, and the result turned out so well that I wanted to share it. This dish can be enjoyed hot, but I prefer to let it cool, and slice it to enjoy in a cold meats and salad meal, or even as part of a ploughman's lunch.

Fennel is a gorgeous spice with a flavour  that is reminiscent of aniseed. However, if you aren't keen on aniseed and liquorice, don't let that put you off. I can't stand liquorice or strong aniseed flavours, but I love fennel so it's well worth a try.

This recipe is for a fairly small gammon joint, if you want to cook a larger ham, then you only need to increase the amounts for the glaze as the amount of spices in the cooking liquid should be fine for the flavour. However, if cooking a particularly large joint - say a 4-5lb gammon, it would be worth doubling the spices due to the drastically increased amount of water.

Ingredients: A Small Unsmoked Gammon (About 1lb in weight) 1 Tbsp Whole Fennel Seeds 1 Tsp Whole Black Peppercorns Pinch Sea Salt For the Glaze: 2 Tsp Whole Fennel Seeds 15g Butter 2 Tbsp Runny Honey 1 Tbsp Soft Brown Sugar

Method:

1. To start with you will need to soak the gammon joint in water overnight. This will help reduce the saltiness of the joint, making it more tender when cooked.
2. Take the fennel seeds for the cooking and place in a pestle and mortar with the peppercorns and salt, and lightly crush. don't pulverise the spices, you just need to bruise and lightly break them up to release the flavour of the fennel.
3. Tip the spice mix into the bottom of a large saucepan. Drain the gammon from its soaking liquid and place it on top of the spices. Fill the pan with clean water until the joint is covered and put on the lid. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer for about half an hour. A good guide for cooking gammon joints is to cook the meat for 25 minutes per 1lb (450g) weight. So if you had a 2lb joint you'd need to cook it for 50-60 minutes. If you go over the cooking time, it won't matter too much, but too long may cause the meat to break apart. When cooked, leave the gammon to cool then remove from the water and pat dry.
4. In the meantime, you need to make the glaze. Lightly crush the fennel seeds in a pestle and mortar and put to one side.
5. Gently melt the butter over a low heat, and add in the crushed fennel seeds, honey, and sugar. Heat through and stir well until the glaze begins to bubble and froth. Remove from the heat.
6. Place the gammon on a baking tray lined with parchment and brush with plenty of the glaze. Bake in the oven for 20-30 minutes at 180C, glazing the meat again two to three times during the cooking.