Brandy and coke gammon

brandy_coke_gammon.jpg

Serves 8 - 10

Preparation time: 15 minutes   
Cooking time:
3½ hours 

Ingredients
2kg gammon joint (no bone) 
2 litres of full fat coke 
2 large carrots, chopped, 
2 medium onions, roughly chopped 
2 celery sticks, roughly chopped 
2 cinnamon sticks 
2 star anise 
½ tbsp black peppercorns  
1 bay leaf 
10 whole cloves 

Glaze 
120ml coke stock (from the liquid the gammon was cooked in)
120ml brandy 
60ml cider vinegar 
150g soft brown sugar 
2 tsp mustard 
½ tsp cinnamon  
20-40 cloves

Method
Place the gammon in a very large pot and put into the pot all the other ingredients ignoring the glaze ingredients.  If the liquid does not cover the meat then top up with water until it does. Bring the liquid to the boil, reduce the heat to a simmer, put on a lid and cook in for at least 2½ hours but 3 hours would be better. The gammon needs to stay covered in liquid so check periodically and if the liquid drops lower than the gammon, top with water to just cover the gammon again. 

Preheat the oven to 200c.  When the gammon is cooked, carefully remove the gammon from the pot reserving 120ml of the liquid.  Leave for 10-15 minutes until cool enough to handle.  

Meanwhile make the glaze.  Put all the glaze ingredients in to a small pot and bring to the boil over a medium heat. Once boiling, cook for 5 minutes until it’s a syrupy consistency.

You now need to very carefully take off the tough outer skin that covers the fat, ensuring you leave the fat behind.  If you start in one corner with a small sharp knife, you should be able to start pulling it off and you should find it comes away quite easily without removing too much of the fat.

Cut a diamond pattern into the fat. Take your knife and carefully score all the way across, ensuring you do not go through into the flesh and do this every 2cm then turn and cut the other way.  When your diamond pattern is done, put a clove into the centre of each diamond, you should find it easily pushes into the flesh. 

Cover with the glaze and put into the oven.  Baste every 10 minutes with more glaze and cook until golden - approximately 40 minutes.

Remove from the oven and allow to rest for 10 minutes and spoon more glaze over the top.