Another Christmas tradition bites the dust.....

It would appear that I have saved myself oodles of time and curses by not liking ham.

phoenix not only a recipe that anyone could follow but a laugh out loud as well - many thanks

Charleygirls

I do the same as loopylou Fri 05-Dec-14 12:36:12 (take the skin off when it is nearly cooked, score it, then spread on honey and mustard).

That's twice I've called you Charleygirls, Charleygirl

Or are you cloning yourself?

Loopylou I love the thought of Hugh Ham

I did cook mine in cider one year, but usually I prefer to drink the cider whilst it's cooking

I think I've only ever cooked a ham once in my life too much faffing about so I cook one that comes in a bag, shove it in the oven and it comes out perfectly cooked... not so cordon bleu but the whole thing gets eaten.

There's never a scrap of ours left over, even though there are only 2 of us and the one I did last year was a tad over 2.5kg (Little piggies)

Hot Christmas Eve, some with the cold turkey, bubble & squeak etc on Boxing Day, various random raids on it (Mr P!) some for the turkey and ham pie, then pea and ham soup.

The lovely thing about a ham joint is that you can eat a slice as a snack when you're rooting around looking for something to eat because you 'just fancy something'.

Sounds like our menus, phoenix

Also with some home-made chutney, pickles and mashed potatoes!

I think the Ham Cursing went on in our house, too. My mother would cook it in her big pressure cooker, then she would put it in a huge biscuit tin and put a plate on top of it (like pressing tongue, which she also did), then it would go under the leg of my bed, so I would have to sleep lopsided for a few days. I deeply resented that ham tin and never did make it for my own family, deciding that we would have cold beef instead.

janerowena you have just made me remember something! Jack's second Christmas, we spent with our dearest friends, and D had done a proper pressed tongue (he was always one for doing things the traditional way, providing it made a better result!).

After a lovely Boxing day lunch with all the usual cold meats etc, my then dh asked me what the "sort of spiral" meat was!

His face was a picture when I told him!

I know! When I tell people that my mother used to make pressed tongue - and brawn from pigs' heads - they go quite green! I used to get quite excited on the day that the pig heads would be delivered, my mother used to squeal when she removed the eyeballs but it never stopped her from making it!

Strangely I don't seem to be inclined to make it for myself.

My DF used to make brawn in cake tins, delicious to eat but I could never watch him make it.

Christmas Eve was giblet night. The turkey or goose was all ready for the oven, and my Dad, not wanting to waste anything, made a giblet stew with the neck and innards of the bird. I don't know what he did to them but they were delicious. It was a ritual I have never repeated as my DH can't stand offal.

I remember that tongue was quite fiddlely sp? to prepare and involved taking little bones out and skinning it but the result was delicious although I couldn't do one myself.

Boxing Day. The sheer pleasure of a slice or two of smoked gammon, home-made sweet pickled onions, red cabbage, mustard pickle and a little mountain of fluffy, white mashed potato, and as a special treat some Sharwoods Mango Chutney. Magic! I remember a very nice mustard pickle called Pan-Yan which vanished years ago, made I think by MaConachies, but I could be wrong. Then a decent helping of good old-fashioned sherry trifle, drooling with custard, jelly, jam sherry, nuts, cream, hundreds and thousands on top, not to mentioned almonds and glacé cherries. And that was only brunch. High tea was always bubble and squeak followed by Christmas cake. Handsome!

My traditional Boxing Day breakfast was a large helping of trifle

Mr P doesn't eat puddings, so there doesn't seem any point in making it just for me

That was what my DB always used to eat for Boxing Day breakfast, phoenix - or any time a trifle had been made for a special occasion!

I agree with those who find the Nigella cola ham pretty pointless. It also does you out of lovely stock for soup.
I did a tongue one year in the traditional way. Masses of faffing around and then very little got eaten. I cut it into four and froze it. We used to have it for dinner in the last week of the month when our food budget was very tight. Horrible! I don't think we've eaten tongue since.

I (now a veggie) used to cook an Ox tongue from scratch. Very good it was too! but I could not now even face eating meat and I am not sure if I could prepare it either.

I don't like cola anyway!

So glad that some of you add carrot, peppercorns, bay leaf etc when cooking the ham.
I remember one Christmas getting told off by DMIL - 'ham should be cooked plain without all that rubbish with it' she told me sternly!

I believe tongue is a delicacy in Italy at Christmas. My lovely DIL is Italian and before they married DS was invited out to Italy (on an 'inspection tour' as he described it!) for Christmas. He'd never eaten tongue in any form and when it was presented at the table, in skinned or pressed, he said he had a major problem trying not to show his sudden loss of appetite!
Must have managed ok as now been married for 7 years and gets on extremely well with his in-laws.

I cook the ham the easy way, and it's always lovely. Put it in an enamel roaster tin [the oval kind with a lid] and add some water. Check now and again to see that there is still some water, if low add a bit more.Cook in a low-ish oven for 2 hours.

I remember when the Croatian relatives 'killed the fatted goat' for us; the skull etc was sitting in pride of place on the table.