Honey-glazed leg ham

(serves 16-20)

Ham off the bone - the centrepiece of Christmas!!! This dish definitely serves the masses, and this sweet basting sauce definitely helps to crisp up the fat and gives it a nice glaze. The great thing about ham is that you can prepare it a day in advance, serve it cold or warm, and there's always leftovers for days on end!

Prep time: 20 min

Cooking time: 1hr 10min

Ingredients
5kg cooked leg ham (from a good butcher!)
40 cloves

Basting sauce:
2 C brown sugar
2/3 C honey
50g butter
1 T worcestershire sauce
1 T seeded mustard
2 T rice wine vinegar
2 T dessert wine

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 180˚C
2. Remove the ham from packaging, remove the skin and roast for 15-20 minutes to cook.

3. Meanwhile, put the brown sugar, honey and butter into a shallow saucepan and stir until the sugar is melted and it has created a smooth sauce. Add the worcestershire sauce, rice wine vinegar and dessert wine, and season to taste.
4. Remove the ham from the oven, place the cloves into the skin about 2cm apart (approx in the middle of where you will score it).
NB. The cloves should hold the skin in place.
Criss-cross score the skin and ham, then baste and put back into the oven for another 15 minutes.

5. Repeat by basting again twice at 15 minute intervals.
NB. You can do this in advance and leave the last basting for when you're reheating the ham.
6. Let the ham rest for at least 10-15 minutes before carving it up to serve.