Jane Barnes’ mother’s Christmas ham

Name: Jane Barnes' mother’s Christmas ham recipe
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 110 min
Total time: 130 min
Yield: 20
Ingredients: 8kg leg of ham; 40.00 ml Dijon mustard; 80g brown sugar; 2 x 450g cans pineapple rings in syrup, drained, syrup reserved; Whole cloves, to decorate; 20 cherries, halved and pitted; 100g butter; Juice of 1 orange; 60ml whisky; 20.00 ml honey; 20.00 ml marmalade

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“We all have our special dishes to make for the family Christmas feast. I’m usually in charge of turkey with peach and pine-nut stuffing, parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme. Sister Kaye does a colourful array of roast vegetables; being the artist she is, the platters are paintings with all the colours of the rainbow. Sister Jep is the trifle specialist and everyone looks forward to that all year long. EJ and young Jim prepare the salmon, Mahalia is on the greens and brother Richard is in charge of bread and cheese. The other must-have, much-loved dish is Christmas ham. This was left up to our mum, who sadly left us a few years ago. We take turns to make this now, and not much has changed from her original recipe, which she used for 60 years.” – Jane Barnes.

You’ll need toothpicks for this recipe. This is an edited extract from Seasons Where the River Bends by Jane and Jimmy Barnes, HarperCollins Australia, available now. Photography by Alan Benson.

8kg leg of ham
2 tbs Dijon mustard
1/3 cup (80g) firmly packed brown sugar
2 x 450g cans pineapple rings in syrup, drained, syrup reserved
Whole cloves, to decorate
20 cherries, halved and pitted
100g butter
Juice of 1 orange
1/4 cup (60ml) whisky (we used Glenmorangie)
1 tbs honey
1 tbs marmalade

Method

1.

Preheat oven to 150°C/130°C fan-forced.
2.

Carefully ease the skin from the ham, leaving an even layer of fat over the meat. Take the skin off the leg of the ham.
3.

Rub the fat with a thin layer of Dijon mustard, then rub with half the sugar. Score the fat in a diamond pattern. Use toothpicks to attach the pineapple rings all over the ham, reserving pineapple syrup. Push cloves in the spaces left in between the rings. Use more toothpicks to attach a cherry in the centre of each pineapple ring. Place ham in a large roasting pan.
4.

Melt the butter and remaining sugar in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the syrup from the pineapple. Stir to dissolve the sugar, then slowly bring to the boil. Add the orange juice, whisky, honey and marmalade. Simmer for 10-15 minutes, stirring often to prevent it catching and burning, until reduced and thickened. Taste and add salt or sugar as you feel might be needed.
5.

Drizzle half the glaze over the ham. Bake for 1 hour, basting with more glaze every now and then. Increase oven temperature to 160°C/140°C fan-forced. Bake for a further 30 minutes. Keep stirring the glaze in the base of pan, and basting with the rest of the glaze so that the ham does not dry out. The edges of the pineapple rings should be dark and caramelised but not burnt, or they will be bitter.
6.

Transfer to a flat platter and decorate with a wide ribbon and branches of bay leaves around the bone. Pour the remaining glaze over the ham and add any remaining pineapple rings.